Hat-trick heroes Matty Lusty and Andy Ryan help Larne seal another Premiership title in style
Larne emphatically completed their Premiership title mission to seal a third Gibson Cup crown across the past four seasons with an impressive 8-0 win over Dungannon Swifts on the final day.
Gary Haveron’s men knew a point would secure title glory but finished the job in style with Matty Lusty and talisman Andy Ryan both registering hat-tricks.
Sean Graham got his name on the scoresheet in the second half alongside Paul O’Neill to round out a comfortable victory.
It continues a golden period of success for the Co Antrim club, who won consecutive Premierships in 2023 and 2024 alongside creating a piece of Irish League history by qualifying for the Conference League.
The triumph will be extra special for hometown boy Haveron – he was appointed manager in October following Nathan Rooney’s exit after just one league match.
Here’s the story of the match which sparked another Larne title party:
TEAM NEWS
Larne: Ferguson, Ridley, Donnelly, Gallagher, S Graham, Millar, McEneff, Cosgrove, Ryan, Lusty, Wallace.
Subs: D Graham, McKendry, Randall, O'Neill, O'Connor, Doherty, Simpson.
Dungannon Swifts: Glass, Maguire, Marron, Kelly, Knowles, Dillon, Alves, McGinty (c), Smith, Anderson, Liggett.
Subs: Henderson, Doyle, McCarron, Johnston, Bigirimana, Smith, McAllister.
Referee: Evan Boyce
FIRST HALF
7: Slight scare for Larne as Kealan Dillon tries his luck from inside the box – the effort is deflected for a corner which comes to nothing.
9: Jordan McEneff whips in a corner for Larne which Matt Ridley meets, but Dungannon clear their lines in the nick of time.
12: GOAL – LARNE (ANDY RYAN): Dream start for the hosts as talisman Ryan rises to head home from Jordan McEneff’s. Huge goal in the title race. 1-0.
16: Ryan is played in again, this time by Lusty, but teenager Dylan Glass does well to deny the Larne striker from close range.
21: GOAL – LARNE (MATTY LUSTY): Title race over? Larne double their advantage as Leroy Millar slides in Lusty, who makes no mistake to slot past Glass. 2-0.
29: GOAL – LARNE (MATTY LUSTY): Larne in dreamland as Lusty latches onto the ball following a defensive error, rounds Glass and finishes into an empty net. 3-0.
34: Lusty runs through one-on-one with Glass with a huge chance to complete his hat-trick, but the 18-year-old does well to deny him.
39: Larne look certain to add a fourth as the ball arrives to Ryan at the back post, however, Mal Smith produces a stunning last-gasp block to stop the Inver Reds going further ahead.
43: First yellow card of the game is awarded to Sean Graham for dragging down Leo Alves as Dungannon countered with numbers.
HALF TIME: Larne 3 – 0 Dungannon Swifts
SECOND HALF
47: GOAL – LARNE (MATTY LUSTY): Title party now in full flow at Inver Park as Lusty completes his hat-trick with a fine finish into the bottom corner. 4-0.
53: GOAL – LARNE (ANDY RYAN): Ryan nets his second of the match – and 15th league goal of the season – to add further gloss to the scoreline.
55: Triple sub for Dungannon as Jack Johnston, Gael Bigirimana and Corey Smith replace Cahal McGinty, Leo Alves and Kealan Dillon.
Larne’s hat-trick hero Lusty also makes way for Paul O’Neill while Chris Gallagher and Jordan McEneff are replaced by Ronan Doherty and Mark Randall.
61: GOAL – LARNE (SEAN GRAHAM): Larne continue to dominate and add to their advantage – Graham this time runs free into the box before slotting into the bottom corner across Glass. 6-0.
63: Another two changes for Larne as Leroy Millar and Sean Graham are replaced by Conor McKendry and James Simpson.
70: Rodney McAree makes his final two changes as Daniel McCarron and Paul Doyle come on for Tiernan Kelly and Caolan Marron.
72: GOAL – LARNE (ANDY RYAN): Ryan claims a match ball of his own as his deflected finish rounds off fine work from O’Neill. 7-0.
79: GOAL – LARNE (PAUL O’NEILL): Larne continue to push forward and O’Neill gets in on the action with his effort looping over Glass. 8-0.
FULL TIME: Larne 8 – 0 Dungannon Swifts