Larne Claims 3-0 Victory Over Dungannon Swifts at Inver Park
Larne returned to form with a commanding 3-0 victory against Dungannon Swifts at Inver Park. The home team gained momentum from first-half goals by Leroy Millar and Kevin O’Hara, followed by a third from Matt Ridley in the second half.
This win alleviates some pressure on manager Gary Haveron following last week’s disappointing 4-2 loss to Cliftonville. Meanwhile, Dungannon Swifts face continued struggles as they have now secured just one win in their last 10 league matches due to a lack of finishing power.
The match started energetically for Larne, with Millar nearly scoring just two minutes into the game. His left-footed shot from 20 yards went just over the bar. Larne continued to press, and in the 23rd minute, Millar set up O’Hara for a clever back-heel attempt, which was saved by Dungannon goalkeeper Declan Dunne.
Larne found the breakthrough six minutes later. Millar threatened down the left flank and executed a smart one-two with Sean Graham before curling a low shot into the bottom right corner. They doubled their lead shortly after when O’Hara intercepted a poor pass from Dungannon’s Jamie Glackin and fired a shot from 20 yards into the left corner, leaving Dunne with no chance.
Dungannon started the second half with vigor and nearly pulled one back within 90 seconds when Andrew Mitchell’s close-range effort was saved by Rohan Ferguson. However, on 58 minutes, Larne capitalized on Dungannon’s missed opportunity. Graham delivered a corner from the right, and Ridley soared to head it past Dunne into the net.
Five minutes from the final whistle, Dungannon substitute Leo Alves posed a threat with a superb free-kick from 25 yards, but Ferguson’s impressive save secured another clean sheet for Larne.
What the managers said
Larne manager Gary Haveron expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance, stating, “I felt we were dominant in the first hour. I thought we took our goals well, I felt our shape was good and we caught them out. Really pleased to see Matt Ridley score; he gets on so many at the other end of the pitch to clear and has just been unlucky not to score more.”
On the other hand, Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree acknowledged the challenge of playing against the reigning champions, particularly away, but emphasized the need for improvement. “We have to give a better account of ourselves without the ball than we did tonight. We gifted Larne three goals. The first one was a poor header, the second one was an awful ball, and the third one came about from playing ourselves into trouble. I’m frustrated overall,” he said.
