It was a night that will live long in the bumper crowd that turned up to watch Tiernan Lynch’s men become the first Irish League side to make the group stages of any European tournament following a dramatic win over Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.
The prize now for Larne is massive… something in the region of £3million. They are the envy of every other Irish League club by forcing their way in with the big boys in the UEFA Conference League.
And, with the possibility of a bank-bursting draw, perhaps against the likes of Chelsea, Real Betis or Fiorenta, the sky is the limit for Lynch and his men.
The Inver braves returned from Faro last week with a 2-1 deficit to settle – but they achieved the win with a bit of style.
It began badly for Larne, with Imps captain Bernado Lopes shooting them into an early lead.
Ryan had the place in hysterics by converting two spot kicks before the interval and he then produced the coup de grace with seven minutes left. The only sour note for Larne was the dismissal of Chris Gallagher, with 30 minutes left.
It’s not only a massive achievement for Larne Football Club, but for the Irish League in general.
Amid scenes of celebration at the finish, reality soon kicked in because Larne must now come down off cloud nine to focus on their opening game in defence of their Sports Direct Premiership title against Coleraine at Ballycastle Road on Sunday.
It was hardly surprising Lynch stuck with the team that performed so heroically in the Portuguese heat last week.
The manager may have been busy in the transfer market this week, but all three of his new boys – Sam Todd, Josh Seary and George Marsh – were ineligible for this game.
With so much at stake, both teams were hesitant and cagey early on, the game with littered with late tackles and niggly fouls.
But it was the visitors who asked the first question after 19 minutes. Gallagher’s wayward pass was seized on by Kike Gomez and, after leaving the guilty Gallagher in his wake, he cut inside to test Rohan Ferguson with a curling shot from the edge of the box, but the big Scot got down brilliantly to beat clear.
Larne didn’t heed the warning. Seconds later Nano’s monster throw-in from the left was recycled to the wing-back and, when he produced the most delicious of deliveries, the totally unmarked Lopes drilled home from six yards.
Now with their tails up, Toni tried his luck with a dipping effort from distance that had Ferguson at full stretch once again.
After soaking up that period of pressure, Lynch’s men were back on terms just on the half hour and the tidy little ground erupted.
Referee Lukas Fahndrich pointed to the penalty spot after Joe appeared to handle a cross from Dylan Sloan just inside the box. After consulting his television monitor at the side of the pitch, the big Swiss official confirmed his original decision.
Ryan stepped up to send Nauzet Santana the wrong way from the spot.
Amazingly, the home side were in front two minutes before the interval. Gallagher made a surging run into the left channel and was hauled down inside the box by a combination of Graeme Torrilla and Ibrahim Ayew.
Once again Ryan took on the responsibility, finding the right corner this time with Santana diving in the wrong direction.
The big contingent of Larne fans dared to dream at half-time…
Lynch was forced into a reshuffle at half-time, with new signing from Derry City Jordan McEneff replacing the injured Cian Bolger.
But the home team went in search of the goal that would earn them the pot of goal. They threatened just after the restart with Sean Graham drilling a cross that was met by Joe Thomson, whose shot was blocked and when the rebound fell to Matty Lusty his effort met a similar fate.
The tie turned on its head just before the hour when Gallagher picked up his second yellow card of the night following a reckless lunge on Ethan Britto and this time referee Fahndrich angered the home supporters by producing red.
It was now uphill for the men in red.
It hardly mattered, Larne were in dreamland with seven minutes remaining when Ryan completed his remarkable treble.
The striker picked up a pass from Thomson before sending new signing Benji Magee racing down the right. He sent over a delightful cross for Ryan, whose first touch was class, his second was a bullet past Santana and the place went berserk.
When the referee finally blew the whistle after four extra minutes, the Larne players fell to their knees, totally exhausted after an exhilarating performance. How they enjoyed their lap of honour at the finish.
LARNE: Ferguson, Want, Ives, Thomson, S Graham, Bolger (McEneff 46), Cosgrove, Sloan, Gallagher, Ryan (Devlin 93), Lusty (Magee 78).
Unused subs: D Graham, McKendry, Randall, O’Neill, Glynn.
LINCOLN RED IMPS: Santana, Ayew (Casciaro 87), Lopes, Gomez, De Barr, Munoz, Toni (Villacanas 81), Britto, Nano, Torrilla (Yahaya 56), Joe.
Unused subs: Lopez, Smith, Pozo, Valaino, Martin, Clinton, Bent, Sciortino, Burnet.
Referee: Lukas Fahndrich (Switzerland)
Man of the match: Andy Ryan
Match rating: 8/10
Relive all the action on our LIVE blog below!
Larne
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HISTORY MAKERS!Larne are headed to the group stages of the UEFA Conference League!
Great delivery into the box by Graeme Torrilla that finds the head of the Red Imps captain, he glances it towards the near post with Rohan Ferguson rooted to the spot… but it goes inches the wrong side of the post!
Hang on, Larne aren’t out of the woods yet as Thomson is booked for a studs up challenge outside the box and the Red Imps have a dangerous free kick…
Added timeHow many minutes do Larne need to hang on for? It’s four!
That was a glorious chance for Larne to put this game to bed as Magee races away down the right hand side and arrows a shot for the far corner… but it’s across the face of goal and wide!
It’s replacement Benji Magee who sets up the chance on the two-on-two breakaway shortly after Lincoln Red Imps have a great chance through Tjay de Barr, the former Loughgall man lifting the ball over the top for Ryan to control with his right foot to take it round the defender, and he smashes the low ball past Nazuet Santana for a huge strike!
Agg: 4-3
Big chance for Kike Gomez as the ball is chipped into the box by Joe and meets the head of the striker, but his effort is straight at Rohan Ferguson!
Nightmare for Larne, who started the second half so strongly, as they are reduced to ten men for an aggressive second challenge and he receives his marching orders.
A half-chance for McEneff as a cross from Sean Graham is punched away by Nazuet Santana but only to the edge of the box but he’s able to save the follow-up chance!
Not sure what it’s for, presumably for something he said to the referee, but manager Lynch goes into the book.
The new man on the pitch goes in hard on Ibrahim Ayew and does appear to get a foot on the ball, but the referee thinks it was an overly aggressive challenge and brandishes the card anyway.
Nearly a lucky break for Larne as the ball breaks to Joe Thomson on the edge of the box and the midfielder scuffs his shot, but it goes straight to the feet of Lusty who takes a touch, turns and shoots… but it’s blocked by Bernardo Lopes’ legs! Strong start to the second half for Larne.
Added timeThere will be two minutes of additional time.
