Gary Haveron heaps praise on Larne's hat-trick hero - and provides injury update on star striker
Larne manager Gary Haveron hailed hat-trick hero Paul O’Neill with his hard work rewarded by netting a treble in Saturday’s 5-2 Premiership victory over Carrick Rangers.
O’Neill scored 11 goals in 28 league appearances as the Inver Reds reclaimed the Gibson Cup last season and opened his account for this term in style at Taylors Avenue.
The former Glentoran striker netted twice within five first half minutes before seizing the match ball after the break.
O’Neill has been a key player for Larne across the club’s golden period of success, playing 28 matches or more in each league campaign since joining from Cliftonville in 2022, and Haveron wasn’t surprised to see him shine on Saturday.
“Paul has confidence in abundance, he has a great belief in himself,” Haveron told the club’s media channel. “When you’re a striker you need to have that reset of ‘I missed a chance, I’ll get the next one’.
"Paul has that. He has the belief in himself to cut in and score his first goal, we’re right behind it, it’s a wonder strike, he does it every day in training and he practices so hard.
"This lad puts the work in, he works so, so hard, he’s a proud guy and he’ll be celebrating that hat-trick with his wee daughter.”
Matty Lusty has started the season in stunning form for Larne, scoring in wins over Glentoran and Cliftonville, but worryingly pulled up after 62 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
"With Matty, because he’s such an athlete, you always know he’s on the brink, it’s a fine line for athletes,” added Haveron. “When he first made the initial run through he felt it tighten and he has pulled up.
"Hopefully he has pulled himself up in time because he has had previous ones.
"He has a couple of weeks to freshen up and hopefully it’s not as serious as it first looks.”
Larne were 3-0 ahead after 38 minutes on Saturday with Dan Bent adding to O’Neill’s early brace, but went into half-time with only a one-goal advantage as Danny Gibson struck twice in the dying moments.
However, O’Neill and a second Bent penalty, which came after Joe Crowe was sent off, ensured there’d be no further drama.
"We got off to the perfect start, 3-0 up and cruising, you feel at that stage it’s how many goals can we get,” said Haveron. “We had other chances.
"The delay with Mikey Place’s injury before Dan hit the penalty and then maybe the last four or five minutes of the first half we just switched off.
"It’s so unlike us to make mistakes and give up such a commanding lead after that performance in the first half.
"The pitch is difficult and it was blustery, this is the last place you want to come in those conditions, but for us to give up those two goals, I was disappointed and let the boys know that at half-time.
"I know it’s a resilient group, I’ve spoken a lot about their character, and we had to come out and manage the second half, which they did brilliantly – we got the next goal and killed the game.”