Paddy McLaughlin backing 'top, top talent' to thrive in the Irish League with Glenavon for years to come

The 20-year-old arrived at Mourneview Park from Championship outfit Institute in January and started his second consecutive league match during Tuesday’s dramatic 1-1 draw against reigning champions Larne where David Toure netted in injury time to cancel out Tiarnan O’Connor’s opener.

Carlin was a key part of the ‘Stute squad that progressed to a Premiership promotion/relegation play-off with Ballymena United last term as Kevin Deery’s men came within 12 minutes of top-flight football, but the former Coleraine youngster has now earned his own Premiership opportunity at Glenavon.

He’d already racked up over 50 Irish League appearances at the Brandywell, gaining crucial senior experience before making the step up, and after another assured performance, McLaughlin is backing his midfield maestro to thrive in Northern Ireland’s top-tier.

"Technically he's a gifted footballer, good on the ball, has a good understanding of the game, not just in possession but out of it too - he reads things really well and protects that backline with his positioning,” he told the club’s media channel. “You have to remember that it's only Sean's second start in the Premiership so he has a lot to learn about the club, players around him and the Premiership.

"He has given us a glimpse of what he is about and he's going to be a class act over the next few months of this season and years at this club.

"He's a player that I've always admired seeing him play at Institute and he's a top, top talent. He's fitting in really well so far."

Toure’s late equaliser is credited as the 20-year-old’s first senior league strike – finding the net on his 36th Premiership outing for Glenavon after also making four League of Ireland appearances for previous club Shelbourne.

It helped extend Glenavon’s unbeaten league run to six matches and kept their outside shot of a top-six finish alive, while Larne are now winless in their last four outings.

In the frantic late scenes, McLaughlin thought it was goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan, who was making his second league start since joining from Derry City last month, that scored, but was just happy to see the ball cross the line after an inspired performance from Rohan Ferguson.

"We changed his position a few times with wing-back, right-back and he finished up playing as a striker,” added McLaughlin on Toure. “I wasn't too sure who scored the goal...I thought it was Tadhg Ryan and I didn't know what he was doing there to start with!

"I was in as much shock at seeing Tadhg on the six-yard line with the ball dropping to him as I was seeing DT scoring the goal!

"It doesn't matter who scored, we were just delighted to see the ball hitting the net...big Ferguson was unbelievable for them.

"It looked like he was going to get the better of us himself and was on a one-man mission...it's a good time to score and a good point."