WHAT THE MANAGER SAID: Larne's Gary Haveron breaks down why scrappy winner was 'unbelievable'
January signing Tiarnan O’Connor stepped off the sidelines for a decisive finish from a few yards to leave Larne celebrating success over Glenavon by a single goal.
Here’s the verdict of Larne head coach Gary Haveron:
OVERALL PERFORMANCE...
"When you come down here and see the wind, rain and the pitch you know it's never going to be pretty.
"It's going to be a case of rolling up the sleeves, digging in and fighting for what you want.
"Our boys have been absolutely relentless now for months with two games a week.
"We're at a stage now where any sort of win or result is going to have to be fought for...and it was.
"We had some heroics where Aaron Donnelly and Shaun Want threw their bodies on the line with unbelievable blocks.
"But that's what is absolutely required.
"Every game this season has been incredibly competitive...congratulations to Linfield, they've been the most consistent team in the league.
"But everybody else is taking points off each other...so coming to grind out a result against a much-changed Glenavon side under Paddy (McLaughlin) is very, very pleasing."
CONDITIONS...
"It was always probably going to be a game like that because of the wind.
"I was probably a bit harsh on the boys at half-time and didn't maybe take into consideration how strong the wind actually was.
"The players were quite calm and felt it would change second half, so happy to come in 0-0 feeling there would be chances second half.
"And that's exactly how it panned out.”
TIARNAN O'CONNOR...
"Andy Ryan has been nursing a wee bit of a hamstring strain and it tightened up at half-time, so there was no point making it potentially worse.
"Tiarnan missed the last game with an ankle injury so it was great to welcome him back and that's what he has done since he's come here.
"He's got on the end of things, scored really vital goals and has already become a big player for the club.
"It was an unbelievable finish for me...to see it hit the back of the net was very, very pleasing.
"He came on and was incredibly lively...he's got pace, left foot, right foot and not afraid to have a dig.
"He's a big boy...people really struggle to handle him.
"But Paul O'Neill was tireless even if it wasn't his best day.
"He never shirks or stops trying and whenever the break came down the right-hand side he did unbelievably well to show the composure and square it for Tiarnan to score.
"Sometimes when not going your way it's easy to hide and Paul never did...but none of the boys ever have.”
POST-SPLIT TARGET...
"This was something like our 58th game of football this season...it may not always be your best day but you always give your best effort.
"The target is to win all five because then you'll be where you want to be.
"Everyone will want to finish second when still mathematically possible.
"We've played six of our last seven away from home, our first three in the split will be away from home too.
"That's the way it goes...we roll our sleeves up and we're ready for it."
DEFENSIVE DISPLAY...
"Glenavon had good spells in the game, asked a lot of questions and put the ball into dangerous areas.
"I thought our backline was immense...they stood up to be counted.
"Glenavon lumped balls in the box but we backed ourselves to deal with it.
"And when it did get scrappy people were prepared to put bodies on the line and that shows character and heart.
"A lot of people had us written off...we're sitting second in the table, albeit on goal difference.
"It shows grit and how much it means to the boys to play for the football club, to represent our fans and the town.
"We've been fighting, we'll refresh and go again for the last five games."