It was a night to remember for several of Linfield Swifts’ League-winning stars as a very youthful Linfield team was unfortunate to be edged out 2-1 by Larne at Inver Park. Indeed, Linfield’s 18-man matchday squad featured no less than 10 players who are products of the flourishing Linfield Academy.
With Linfield having given Larne a guard of honour at Inver Park two years ago, the Inver men sportingly returned the favour prior to kick-off.
Whilst the Blues had little to play for, it was a big match for Larne in the race for second place and automatic qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifiers. Having played in the league phase of that very competition this season, Larne are determined to qualify again but this match was billed as a ‘must win’ as they entered the match a point behind 2nd place Glentoran in the penultimate matchday of the season. Larne play Glentoran next week, so any slip-up against Linfield could have been fatal.
David Healy made six changes to the team which defeated Dungannon Swifts last week as he continues to rotate his squad and give opportunities in the closing stages of the season. The starting eleven featured sixteen-year-old Kalum Thompson who put in a Man of the Match display on his first League start.
Despite Linfield’s changed line-up and Larne’s greater need, it was the Blues who started the brighter of the teams, dominating the ball in the opening five minutes with veterans Jamie Mulgrew and Chris Shields asserting their authority in the middle of the pitch. The Blues won a corner in the first two minutes but it was defended, so despite the strong start, Linfield didn’t craft out a meaningful opportunity.
Larne did then gradually grow into the game and had a good spell from around the tenth minute to the 20th, going close to an opener in the 14th minute as Sean Graham’s deep corner to the back post was met by Ryan Nolan who headed the ball back across for Shaun Want whose header struck the post.
The Blues then took the lead in the 31st minute as 16 year-old Kalum Thompson scored his first senior goal on his eighth appearance. The Northern Ireland U17 International started and finished a polished move, giving the ball to Mulgrew who played it out to Ethan McGee venturing forward. McGee then threaded a neat ball through to Rhys Annett on the edge of the box before the striker turned and hit a shot which was parried by Larne goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson before teenager attacking midfielder Thompson followed up to coolly convert the rebound.
Linfield’s lead was almost wiped out on the brink of half-time when a ball came into the box and David Walsh clawed it out under pressure, but he landed on the ground which gave Larne striker Tiarnan O’Connor the opportunity to head the ball over the keeper, however the alert Sam Roscoe quickly placed himself perfectly to head the ball off the line. A follow-up header then came back in from Dylan Sloan, but Walsh pounced up to punch the effort away from goal and ensure the Blues had a half-time lead.
HT: Larne 0-1 Linfield
The Blues had a steady start to the second half before David Healy turned to his bench for a triple substitution on 51 minutes. Debuts were handed to left-back Jon Graham (18) and right winger Kenzie Beattie (18), with central midfielder Liam Burns (18) also coming on; it was his second senior appearance, having scored on his debut in a Co. Antrim Shield defeat to Crusaders earlier in the season. Experienced trio, Sam Roscoe, Chris Shields and Jamie Mulgrew made way.
Five minutes later, David Healy made another two substitutions, further reducing the average age of the Linfield team as Rhys Annett and Ethan McGee – who’d been wearing the captains armband for five minutes – made way for debutant defender Callum Leacock (16) and Alex Watson (16). This led to impressive young defender Matthew Orr captaining the team for the last half-hour; a testament not only to his performances this season, but also his characteristics, and an excellent achievement for someone who only turned 18 a few days prior.
The more youthful Linfield team were holding their own and were unfortunate at 1-0 when two of the more experienced players combined as Charlie Allen slipped Kieran Offord through on goal, only to be denied by the flag, and replays suggest Offord had a right to contest the decision.
Offord also threatened again when he played a neat one-two with Kalum Thompson before advancing into a shooting position inside the box, but this time he was denied by a crucial block by Larne defender Cian Bolger.
The Scottish striker went closer again a short time later when he turned swiftly on the edge of Larne’s box before whipping a curling left-footed shot agonisingly wide of the top corner with the ‘keeper beaten.
As time went on and Larne needing to turn things around, Gary Haveron introduced the four attacking players on his bench and suddenly it was a very attack-minded Larne team against a very youthful Linfield team.
For a large part of the game Larne didn’t look like scoring, but they got a crucial goal to give them hope in the 79th minute as Chris Gallagher hammered a low cross by the face of goal and it was turned in at close range by substitute Andy Ryan.
The home team then scored what proved to be the winner in the 87th minute as the Blues couldn’t get a corner fully cleared before another substitute, Conor McKendry rifled the ball in from 10 yards.
Undeterred, the young Blues rallied again and applied late pressure and were disappointed not to be awarded a penalty in the third of four additional minutes as Kieran Offord felt he was pulled to the ground by Tomas Cosgrove inside the box after taking in Alex Watson’s clipped through ball. It was panic stations at the back for Larne in the final minutes and they were glad to hear the final whistle. They now face Glentoran next Saturday on the final day of the season in a straight shoot-out for second place, with Glentoran needing to win. Linfield will go to Coleraine with nothing at stake in terms of the League table but it will provide a further opportunity for young Linfield players to showcase their talents.
An excellent effort from the youthful Linfield team who were unfortunate to lose with nine products of the Linfield Academy on the pitch for the last half-hour. They were epitomised by 16-year-old Alex Watson whose determination to impress was so great that he played the last ten minutes with a fractured wrist. Kalum Thompson, Alex Watson and Liam Burns were well primed to go and perform having been on the bench when Linfield won 1-0 at Inver Park in November at a time where injuries had depleted the Blues’ squad; they knew what to expect, but even the other young lads who weren’t involved that night took it all in their stride and acquitted themselves very well. Well done to all involved.
FT: Larne 2-1 Linfield
LINFIELD: David Walsh (GK), Matthew Orr, Sam Roscoe (Jon Graham 51’), Dane McCullough, Ethan McGee (Callum Leacock 57’), Jamie Mulgrew © (Kenzie Beattie 51), Chris Shields (Liam Burns 51), Charlie Allen, Kalum Thompson, Rhys Annett (Alex Watson 57’), Kieran Offord
UNUSED: Chris Johns (GK), Scot Whiteside
LARNE: Rohan Ferguson (GK), Tomas Cosgrove, Shaun Want, Cian Bolger ©, Ryan Nolan (Mark Randall 59’), Aaron Donnelly (Conor McKendry 66’), Sean Graham, Chris Gallagher, Dylan Sloan (Olatunde Bayode 75’), Paul O’Neill (Andy Ryan 59’), Tiarnan O’Connor
UNUSED: Dylan Graham (GK), Logan Wallace, Oisin Devlin