'I would have made 11 changes': Gary Haveron blasts 'pathetic' Larne performance after Carrick Rangers defeat
Larne manager Gary Haveron blasted his side’s first half performance during their 3-2 defeat to Carrick Rangers as “absolutely pathetic” – and insists he would have made “11 changes at half-time” if possible.
The Premiership leaders entered Friday’s clash at Inver Park on the back of a 14-game unbeaten home league run and had conceded only five goals in that period, but found themselves 3-0 down at the break.
Danny Gibson, Joe Crowe and Paul Heatley all struck for the visitors, and while Tiarnan O’Connor and the returning Dan Bent found the net in the second half, the damage had already been done to Larne’s hopes of victory.
It continues Carrick’s superb recent record – since being hammered 7-0 by Glentoran on January 3, Stephen Baxter’s side have only lost one of their last 11 across all competitions.
During that time, they’ve collected the club’s third senior trophy and moved into the Premiership’s top-half, putting themselves in contention for a European spot.
Across the last 10 league matches played by each top-flight team, only Glentoran (22) have collected more points than Carrick (21), while none have scored more than their 23 goals.
While Baxter’s men departed delighted, Haveron was left questioning his side’s performance, falling to a second consecutive league defeat after last weekend’s loss to Portadown.
They’re now only two points clear of Coleraine at the summit while Linfield and Glentoran have an opportunity to narrow their own gap in Saturday’s ‘Big Two’ showdown at Windsor Park.
"Pathetic, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, absolutely pathetic,” Haveron told the club’s media channel. “That first half was completely unacceptable.
"We’d hardly conceded three goals all season here, never mind three in a first half, but it was so wide of the mark of where we have been and what we have done to get ourselves in the position we find ourselves.
"I’m bitterly disappointed with how we have defended those three moments.
"We had a lot of the ball in the first half without doing much with it, playing in the wrong areas, over-playing, turning the ball over too many times, and if I could have made 11 changes at half-time I would have made them.
“For 35 or 40 minutes on Saturday, I thought we were very good and created a lot of chances, I know results can impact on the mood of a camp but I deliberately didn’t say too much this week.
"I was expecting a reaction from our senior players, for them to grab hold of the dressing room and sort it out because I felt it was a blip, but it was more concerning how we went about our work in the first 45 minutes (on Friday).
"We didn’t look like we were joined up in any shape or form and never did any of the things which has put us in this position.
"We need to address that quickly, get around each other and stick together as a group...I can’t say too many times this season where this team has really let us down, but they let themselves down tonight with that first half performance.”