Navid Nasseri dedicates goal to his uncle

The midfielder came off the bench to fire his new side ahead in the 79th minute of what was a tense encounter at Inver Park.

But Larne were to be denied the chance to close the gap at the top of the Danske Bank Premiership as Marty Donnelly, who moved in the opposite direction as part of the Nasseri deal, crossed for Jordan Stewart to level with two minutes to go.

Speaking afterwards Nasseri admitted it was a bittersweet moment, but revealed the extra significance of the goal.

“Football works in mysterious ways,” said the 25-year-old.

“Late last night my uncle went into a coma and I said to my parents that if I scored I would dedicate it to him.

“He’s supported me a lot growing up as a kid with football, so that one was for him.

"Yeah it was bittersweet coming on to score and then conceding a late equaliser.

“It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth but it is what it is.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been on the score sheet.

“I’ve had to be patient, the chance came and I’ve taken it well.”

It was a game of few chances and Nasseri felt it was definitely two points dropped for Tiernan Lynch’s men after they had broken the deadlock with 11 minutes to go.

“I think where we are aiming to be, that’s definitely two points dropped for us,” said the midfielder.

“We’re going to have to clean up in certain areas and look at the positives from the game.”