GOALS either side of half-time earned Larne a 2-0 victory over Glentoran at Inver Park.
An Andy Ryan penalty in first-half stoppage time and a Matty Lusty goal five minutes into the second half sealed victory and helped the Invermen to get back to winning ways after Tuesday’s stalemate away to Glenavon.
Ahead of this one, Larne had only scored one goal from open play in their four league outings to date and were yet to match their European heroics, which has taken them to the league phase of the Uefa Conference League.
Glentoran have had a somewhat indifferent start to their own campaign but came into the game with the extra motivation of knowing a win would take them to the top of the table ahead of Saturday’s games.
The first half was almost completely devoid of goalmouth action, with neither side able to muster an effort until stoppage time.
It came via Daniel Amos’ corner on the left flank which made it all the way back to the back post, where Frankie Hvid headed well over in the end.
After being starved of action, the game then sparked to life at the other end within a minute, with Hvid again involved.
This time the former Millwall defender misjudged a tackle in the box and slid through the back of Andy Ryan.
The Scottish striker picked himself to coolly slot the resulting penalty home, sending Danie Gyollai the wrong way to break the deadlock.
It was Ryan’s second of the domestic campaign, with the other coming from the spot on the opening day away to Coleraine.
The lead was then doubled five minutes into the second half when Lusty showed a clean pair of heels to fire in his first league goal of the campaign.
Chris Gallagher was first to the ball on the left touchline as he helped it invitingly forward.
Lusty firstly turned Paddy McClean before wrestling clear of the defender to give himself a clear sight of goal and fire past the on-rushing Gyollai.
The game could have then been out of sight on 55 minutes when, again, a long ball forward caused Glentoran problems.
Lusty raced clear inside the box before laying it off to strike partner Ryan, but this time Gyollai produced a brilliant point-blank save.
Glentoran had a great chance to pull one back with 10 minutes left on the clock when Jay Donnelly was left all alone in the box from a corner, but the former Cliftonville striker headed well over Rohan Ferguson’s crossbar.
Larne thought they had a third in stoppage time, but referee Tim Marshall ruled Joe Thomson’s close-range effort hadn’t crossed the line, much to the substitute’s frustration.
