Postpublished at 20:11 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2024

20:11 GMT 19 December 2024

Larne 0-0 Gent

Sam Todd is down after a clash of heads with Tibe De Vliger when battling for the ball in the Larne box.

To the relief of the home fans he looks set to continue.

Mark Randall tries to find Andy Ryan at the back post with a high ball over the top of the Gent defence, but the delivery is slightly too heavy.

Mark Randall's corner is easily cleared but Larne are able to recycle the danger with Sam Todd unable to head home Randall's second delivery, which was a lot more impressive than his first.

What a chance for the Inver Reds that was.

Larne have the first corner of the game after good work on the left wing by Levi Ives and Sean Graham.

Promising signs for the home side.

Rohan Ferguson gathers Sven Kums' delivery into the box before Omri Gandelman can connect with the .

The away side have dominated the early proceedings of the game.

Andri Gudjohnsen gets the action underway at Windsor Park.

It's nearly time for Larne's final Europa Conference League game this campaign with both teams out on the pitch.

It's safe to say it's been a hectic few weeks for Larne but it's Gary Haveron who will manage the side this evening.

Can the Inver Reds cause an upset and get a result this evening in Haveron's first European home game in charge?

Give this post a thumbs up if you think so or a thumbs down if you think Gent will be the comfortable winners.

Image source, Getty Images

Larne manager Gary Haveron speaking on TNT Sports 4:

"We have done our homework on every team and there are no easy games in this competition but they don't come much harder than Gent.

"They're a super side with lots of history in this European competition. We know we have it all to do but hopefully the fans can get behind us and the boys can put in a really spirited performance."

Larne head coach Gary Haveron says the club will take "massive learning" from their inaugural Uefa Conference League group campaign ahead of their final match of the league stage against Gent.

Having lost their five games so far, the Irish Premiership champions are the only team remaining in the competition who have yet to pick up a point ahead of the Belgian side's visit to Windsor Park.

The east Antrim club have been defeated by Molde, Shamrock Rovers, St Gallen, Olimpija and Dinamo Minsk to sit bottom of the 36-team table.

"We're all definitely going to be better coaches, better players, better club, for the experience that we've had this campaign," said Haveron.

"Bar the Shamrock Rovers game, I think we can hold our head high from all the games that we have played.

"You're playing against teams that have a massive history of playing in Europe year after year and getting to group stages year after year so for us it's just learning for us as a club and taking from that learning how we improve moving forward."

Image source, Press Eye

Larne midfielder Mark Randall agreed with boss Gary Haveron that the squad "have learned a lot collectively" from their European experience.

"It is a different level, a level above. There are teams you probably thought you could go toe-to-toe with and there are times we got it wrong sometimes," he explained.

"Maybe the likes of Shamrock, maybe we thought 'we can go out and have a bit more of a go', but if you make mistakes you get punished badly, so the level is very, very good.

"It's a totally different style of play. As a group we've learned to be comfortable out of possession. The levels of professionalism, athleticism, it's just different level. We want to finish on a positive."

Image source, Press Eye

There are three changes to the Larne starting XI who were defeated by Dinamo Minsk in their last Europa Conference League clash.

Sean Graham, Matthew Lusty and Sam Todd start with Joe Thomson and Paul O'Neill dropping to the bench and captain Cian Bolger suspended.

Larne: Ferguson, Cosgrove, Todd, Want, Ives, Graham, Randall, Donnelly, Lusty, Gallagher, Ryan.

Subs: Collett, Joe, Magee, McEneff, McKendry, O'Neill, Sloan, Thomson.

Gent: Roef, Araujo, Brown, De Vlieger, Gandelman, Gudjohnsen, Ito, Kums, Mitrovic, Surdez, Watanabe.

Subs: De Schrevel, Dean, Delorge-Knieper, De Meyer, Gambor, Gerkens, Sonko, Torunarigha, Varela.

Gent currently sit 13th in the Conference League table with three wins and two losses from their five games so far.

They have already secured a play-off place for the knockout round but depending on results tonight they could even by that and book their place in the round of 16 with a win in Belfast.

The Belgian outfit are fifth in their domestic league and Larne head coach Gary Haveron is wary of the threat they pose.

"They [Gent] are a 4-3-3 team, they're very attack minded. They commit massive numbers going forward, they like to ring boxes off from set pieces," he observed.

"They're a very dangerous side, they're playing in a very competitive league. They've got European history and they've qualified year-on-year – a team that is expected to finish in the upper stages of the competition so we know we've got a lot to do.

"We've got to stay in the game for long periods."

Image source, Getty Images

Larne are the only side in the competition yet to pick up a point as they sit bottom of the table having lost their first five games.

They started their campaign with a 3-0 away defeat against Molde in Norway where substitute Conor McKendry was sent off.

The Inver outfit then suffered a 4-1 thrashing by League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers in their first home game at Windsor Park.

An own goal gave them an early lead against St Gallen on matchday three in Belfast, but they ultimately succumbed to a 2-1 loss.

They put in another decent display against Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia but were edged 1-0 as Sean Graham was dismissed.

In their most recent outing in Azerbaijan, a quick-fire double saw them go down 2-0 against Dinamo Minsk as Cian Bolger received his marching orders.

Image source, Getty Images

New Larne first team coach Gary Haveron says the restructure at the club has been "hectic but exciting" but has not been "overly disruptive".

A statement released by the Irish Premiership champions on Saturday evening explained that recently appointed manager Nathan Rooney would move to occupy the role of head of football.

The move came after it was confirmed that Rooney was unable to officially lead Larne in their Uefa Conference League games as he does not yet have the required Pro Licence.

Rooney had been brought in from Gibraltar side Bruno's Magpies to replace Tiernan Lynch as head coach after he departed for Derry City just three weeks ago.

Haveron explained to BBC Sport NI that Rooney's position now would be an overarching one including "the scholarship programme, the academy, the women's side of the club" but added that he would also have an input into first team preparation.

"He [Rooney] has so much to offer in of experience and knowledge of the game and it would be silly not to tap into that information and experience," explained Haveron.

"He'll be hands on to a certain degree but obviously when it comes to looking after first team matters that's very much my domain."

Read more from Haveron on becoming Larne's head coach here.

Good evening and welcome to our live text commentary of Larne's final Uefa Conference League game against Belgian side Gent at Windsor Park.

Larne, now under the stewardship of Gary Haveron, are rooted to the foot of the table without a point from their first five games.

They will hope to pull of a famous result tonight against a Gent side who have already qualified for the next stage of the competition.

We will keep you up to date with all the action and we will also have a report and reaction to follow.

Thanks for ing us - enjoy.

Image source, Getty Images