There are things we need to change if we are to compete on the European stage, says Tiernan Lynch after Shamrock Rovers loss
Larne manager Tiernan Lynch says his side will have "to do better" if they are to pick up points on the European stage after a 4-1 defeat to Shamrock Rovers.
The Inver Reds were largely second best against the League of Ireland champions and found themselves 3-0 down at half-time as defensive lapses were punished.
Despite grabbing a goal back through Chris Gallagher's effort, the visitors added a fourth to make it an emphatic victory at Windsor Park.
Lynch said: "It was disappointing as I thought we showed Shamrock Rovers far too much respect tonight.
"For 45 minutes we never got anywhere near them, we didn't get close to them, we stood off them and let them pop the ball around.
"We let them get into a little bit of a party mood with the goals that we conceded and how early we conceded them.
"It was always going to be an uphill battle. We had a conversation at half-time as a group and thought we came out in the second-half, got our goal and we wanted to be different in how we approached it.
"Then, we gave away another completely soft goal and that put us on the back foot again.”
Larne return to league duty over the next two weekends before welcoming Swiss side St Gallen to Windsor Park for matchday three of the Conference League.
When asked what his side can do better in their next European tie, Lynch replied: "Tonight was another fantastic learning experience for us. There are areas of our game that just weren't good enough and we weren't at that level.
"If we are serious about Larne doing this again, and maybe even getting to the stage where you can compete, there are things that need to change. We know that.
"There are lots of things from the Molde game and tonight that we have to learn from, and get better at. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror.
"If you want to compete at this level, you need to be better."
Lynch stressed though that those changes will take some time as they get used to competing on the European stage.
"It won't be an overnight fix. It is a process. It took us eight years to get to this point and we need to keep learning. Hopefully we can turn things around."