Nathan Rooney praises European performances of Larne star who 'kept things alive for us'
Larne boss Nathan Rooney praised the performances of goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson throughout their Conference League run, which came to an end at the third qualifying round stage despite Thursday’s second-leg stalemate against Portugal’s Santa Clara.
Ferguson was the star performer for the Inver Reds during consecutive penalty shootout wins over Auda and Prishtina, saving two spot-kicks in each tie alongside scoring his own in Kosovo.
The 27-year-old collected another European clean sheet at the Estadio de Sao Miguel, credited with four saves against the Portuguese top-flight outfit, and remains the only Larne player to feature in every minute of their exploits on the continental stage, dating back to 2021.
"I just said (in the changing room) that Ro has had a busy summer, there's no doubt about that,” Rooney told the club’s media channel. “It's for the right reasons.
"We are playing a way where we're slightly open at times, but I think you could see tonight when we do hold more of a higher line, be a little bit braver, that Rohan can then cover and give us that support behind as well.
"In terms of key moments across six games of football, he has pulled off some tremendous saves and he kept things alive for us."
Larne created Irish League history last season by becoming the first team to reach the League Phase of European football and picked up a famous win over Belgian side KAA Gent at Windsor Park.
That memorable run impacted their Premiership title defence, ultimately finishing 22 points behind champions Linfield, and Rooney hopes they can carry the positives from Thursday’s showing into the league campaign, where they’ll next be in action against Cliftonville on Tuesday.
"I think we have to be really happy in terms of what we've done defensively,” he added. “We bow out of the competition with our heads held high, especially with the chances that we created in the last 25 minutes.
"Unfortunately we lost this game over 10 or 12 minutes of lack of organisation and lapses of concentration. We were getting to know the team we were playing against each well.
"I think we have to be super proud. I'm really happy. It was disciplined, committed and hopefully we can now bounce with that moving forward.
"We're not new to this and the games we've won in extra-time and penalties, it has given us a new dimension. It shows that we have heart.
"Their manager was saying they've scouted and watched us and knows we show true heart and discipline within our performances. That's what we need to do and the dressing room must take that into the domestic campaign."