Larne Seize Big Win Over Glentoran to Boost Premiership Lead
A dominant display from Larne saw them extend their lead at the top of the Irish Premiership table, as they secured a convincing 4-1 victory over 10-man Glentoran at the Oval. The Invermen, who are now unbeaten in 15 games, further solidified their position at the summit with this impressive win.
The lively start to the game saw Larne denied by the woodwork in the opening two minutes when Sean Graham's effort crashed off the crossbar, however, they broke the deadlock on seven minutes when awarded a penalty after MJ Kamara handled the ball in the box and Paul O'Neill fired home the resulting spot kick. This was followed by goals from Chris Gallagher and Tomas Cosgrove to give Larne a 3-0 half-time lead.
Glentoran reduced their deficit to just one goal before Tony Clarke gave his side man away for a red card, however Larne's three-goal cushion proved too much for the Glens to overcome. In the second half, O'Neill and Cosgrove added further goals to seal a comfortable win for Larne, as they pushed their lead at the top of the table.
The other match at Taylors Avenue saw Linfield lost ground in the title race after being held to a 0-0 draw with Carrick Rangers. Despite dominating possession, the Blues were denied by the woodwork when Josh Archer pulled down Paul Heatley just shy of the goal-line for their first red card of the season.
At the Showgrounds, Joe Gormley salvaged a point for Cliftonville after coming off the bench to score a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Ballymena United.
A dominant display from Larne saw them extend their lead at the top of the Irish Premiership table, as they secured a convincing 4-1 victory over 10-man Glentoran at the Oval. The Invermen, who are now unbeaten in 15 games, further solidified their position at the summit with this impressive win.
The lively start to the game saw Larne denied by the woodwork in the opening two minutes when Sean Graham's effort crashed off the crossbar, however, they broke the deadlock on seven minutes when awarded a penalty after MJ Kamara handled the ball in the box and Paul O'Neill fired home the resulting spot kick. This was followed by goals from Chris Gallagher and Tomas Cosgrove to give Larne a 3-0 half-time lead.
Glentoran reduced their deficit to just one goal before Tony Clarke gave his side man away for a red card, however Larne's three-goal cushion proved too much for the Glens to overcome. In the second half, O'Neill and Cosgrove added further goals to seal a comfortable win for Larne, as they pushed their lead at the top of the table.
The other match at Taylors Avenue saw Linfield lost ground in the title race after being held to a 0-0 draw with Carrick Rangers. Despite dominating possession, the Blues were denied by the woodwork when Josh Archer pulled down Paul Heatley just shy of the goal-line for their first red card of the season.
At the Showgrounds, Joe Gormley salvaged a point for Cliftonville after coming off the bench to score a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Ballymena United.
. Like, I get it, they're good and all, but can't we just have some exciting games between the top teams for once? That Glentoran win was more like a tutorial on how to dominate a team rather than an actual match 
. And honestly, who needs that many goals when you can just keep score low and steady? 
! 4-1 against Glentoran and they're still on top? That's dominance for ya 
. And it's not just the scoreline, their team overall was just dominant, controlling the game from start to finish 
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, and Chris Gallagher's goals were some of the most clinical I've seen in ages 
️. The fact that Glentoran even managed a goal with a man down is just testament to Larne's superiority 
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seriously what's going on in Irish football? first Larne is just cruising at the top and then Linfield goes and gets held to a 0-0 draw by Carrick Rangers, I mean who needs goals when you've got woodwork? 
and don't even get me started on Glentoran, can't even handle a few set pieces and they're getting red carded left and right, like maybe just maybe they need to work on their tackling skills 
but overall it's all about who can stay focused and not make mistakes, right? 
! They're really crushing it out there and I'm loving every minute of it 
!
but overall, larne's performance was impressive and they should be proud of their win 
. Glentoran got that red card, which is huge for them, but they were still getting some chances. And yeah, MJ Kamara's handball was a bit of a dodgy call, if you ask me 
. It's not like Larne didn't deserve the win though, especially after 3 goals in the first half 
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they really showed Glentoran who's boss, especially after that pen was awarded 
they got lucky with that penalty and glentoran was just having an off day 
. carrick rangers dominated linfield but cant seem to close the deal, what's up wit dat? 
cant say im too impressed or anything 
. on the other hand linfield got exactly what i expected from them - a bunch of half-chances and near misses 
. cant say i'm too worried about carrick rangers makin there way up the table though...
. On a side note, Linfield can't seem to string together a win, but I'm keeping an eye on them, they've got some talent 
and it was nice to see them take control of the game quickly after Glentoran reduced their lead. The fact that they've now gone 15 games unbeaten is a testament to their strength as a team 
And that O'Neill guy's got some serious goalscoring skills, always finding the back of the net. It's crazy how far the Premiership has come, I mean, Linfield's already losing ground in the title race... those Blues just can't catch a break, right? 
!