Tomas Cosgrove’s second-half goal saw Larne finish their Uefa Conference League campaign on a high by securing a historic 1-0 win over Gent at Windsor Park.
Having lost their previous five matches in the league stage of the competition, the Irish Premiership champions defied their underdog tag to deservedly claim the scalp of their Belgian opponents and pick up their first points.
Cosgrove beat his marker and drilled home a low shot past goalkeeper Davy Roef in the 74th minute after Andy Ryan had flicked the ball into the path of Sean Graham, who provided the pinpoint delivery.
Having made history by becoming the first Irish League club to make the league or group stage of a major European competition, the victory marked another significant milestone for the east Antrim club and the Irish Premiership.
As well as the three points, Larne also collected the 400,000 euros (£330,252) on offer for clinching a win at the league stage and move off the bottom of the league, from 36th place to 34th.
The success came against a backdrop of significant change for the Invermen. First, long-serving manager Tiernan Lynch left his role midway through the campaign to take over as boss of Derry City, then his successor Nathan Rooney was last week replaced as head coach by his assistant Gary Haveron after the former Bruno’s Magpies chief was found not to possess the necessary Uefa Pro Licence to manage in European competition.
Gent dropped to 17th in the league standings and now face an away fixture in the play-off stages in March.
Chances at both ends
Larne began the game brightly and could have gone ahead in the opening minutes but Sam Todd was unable to get his head on Mark Randall’s inviting delivery.
For the visitors, Archie Brown fired wide and then home goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson palmed away Omri Gandelman’s header.
There was further danger in the penalty area for the hosts when Andri Gudjohnsen’s header from a Sven Kums corner was deflected by Gandelman, before the ball took a further deflection off a Larne player en route to safety.
The best chance of the opening period fell to Stefan Mitrovic when his header cannoned off the bar from another Kums corner.
Matty Lusty was particularly lively for a well-organised Larne side but they were unable to fashion enough clearcut chances.
They carved out their best opportunity after the resumption however as Lusty played the ball back for Andy Ryan, whose low strike was well saved by Gent stopper Roef.
Gent began to impose themselves more on the game and substitute Momodou Sonko just failed to get a touch on fellow substitute Max Dean’s delivery to the back post.
It was Larne who eventually broke the deadlock however as Cosgrove’s well-executed strike saw them take a deserved and historic triumph.
Haveron’s charges will hope to use the result as a platform to improve their indifferent league form and inspire them towards retaining their Premiership crown, as well as contend for glory in cup competitions on the domestic front.
