'He sees passes that others don't' - Larne hat-trick hero Andy Ryan gives praise to teammate for key role in emphatic Cliftonville victory

Ryan’s first-half brace combined with strikes from Lee Bonis and Aaron Donnelly helped the Inver Reds head into the break with a 4-0 lead and they showed their ruthless streak by adding another four in the second period.

The 29-year-old has been a revelation since arriving at Larne 15 months ago and took his tally to 22 goals in 29 league appearances this season, which also included a brace against Cliftonville 11 days prior.

Reds striker Ben Wilson, who scored a second-half penalty, is Ryan’s nearest challenger for the top marksman accolade while Bonis is one further behind him and Loughgall ace Benji Magee took his record to 16 by scoring in their 3-1 victory over Glenavon.

"Not really,” Ryan told the club’s media channel when asked if he has an eye on the Golden Boot race. “I'll look at that sort of stuff when the season ends, but the most important thing is to keep chipping in with goals and getting performances and results like we did today.

"When we're scoring we are doing our job and nine times out of 10 the team gets the win.

"Getting three goals is an added bonus, but the most important thing today was the performance and from the start we came out of the traps and made it difficult for them and we reaped the rewards."

It was the perfect response from Larne to their first home Premiership defeat in 18 months – and only second league loss of the season – against Crusaders last weekend and Tiernan Lynch’s men returned to the summit, restoring a one-point advantage over Linfield, who struck late at Seaview on Friday night.

"One thing about this team is that we haven't had many disappointments this season, but when we have we've bounced back strong,” added Ryan. “We've been relaxed all week and the message was to not panic and get back to what we're good at.

"I think we did that...the early goal helps slightly and we could have stopped after two or three, but we were relentless and ruthless."

Mark Randall also had an important role to play in Ryan’s goalscoring exploits and he says it’s a pleasure to play alongside the ex-Arsenal midfielder.

"It's a joy to play with Marko,” he said. “He sees passes that others don't. It's a pleasure to play with him. All you have to do is make your runs and he'll find you."