Sports Direct Premiership
Larne 2 Carrick 0
GOALS in either half gave Larne a deserved 2-0 derby victory over Carrick Rangers at Inver Park last night.
Tomas Cosgrove sent Larne on their way after 16 minutes, while Paul O'Neill clinched the points in the closing stages of the game, as Larne made it two wins inside a month against their East Antrim rivals.
The result was enough to move Larne back into third place, although they remain eight points behind leaders Linfield after their victory at Solitude.
After a quiet opening period to the game, Larne took the lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Having got the back from a throw-in on the left flank, Levi Ives did well to wriggle clear with the ball before squaring it to Tomas Cosgrove, who has been playing in a central midfield role in recent weeks.
He showed all the composure of a veteran centre forward as he took a touch to get the ball out of his feet and plant a finish just inside the right-hand post from just over 20 yards out.
The home side didn’t quite kick on after the early goal however and Carrick had the ball in the net with half an hour gone, but Danny Purkis saw his strike ruled out for offside.
Cosgrove tried to repeat the feat of the opening goal five minutes before the break, but this time his rising effort was gathered at the same attempt by Glendinning, who had spilled the initial effort.
Larne started the second with a plenty of possession in the hope of finding a second goal which would have strengthened their grip on the derby encounter.
They should have found it 12 minutes into the new half when a fantastic ball in from the left was met by the head of Lee Bonis, but the former Portadown man didn’t connect cleanly and steered his effort well over.
The game somewhat lost its way after this, turning into a scrappy affair with both sides struggling to create chances.
Visiting manager Stuart King brought on two attackers in the closing stages in an attempt to grab a leveller but that went up in smoke six minutes from time.
A quickly-taken corner on the left flank released Aaron Donnelly in space inside the box and he pulled the ball back for Paul O’Neill to peel off the front post and steer home Larne’s second of the night to wrap up the points.
Larne: Ferguson, Want, Donnelly, Millar ('90 Thomson), O’Neill, Bonis, Ives ('90 Glynn), Lloyd (’69 Orozco), Bolger, Cosgrove, Sloan
Subs: Dowling, Farquhar, Randall, Paul
Carrick Rangers: Ross Glendinning, Forsythe, Surgenor, Cushley, Maciulaitis (’74 Allen), Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe (’74 McGuckin), Cherry (’61 Andrews), Ross Glendinning, Purkis, Tilney ('88 Withers)
Subs: McCauley, Gordon, Mills
Referee: Tony Clarke
