Larne were unable to find a Boxing Day breakthrough against Carrick Rangers at Inver Park, but the point was enough to move Larne further clear at the top of the Premiership.
The Invermen are now three points clear of Linfield going into 2023.
It was Carrick who drew the first save from Rohan Ferguson in the opening quarter of the game when Ben Tilney’s effort from a tight angle outside the box forced the Scottish goalkeeper into action.
Larne’s first attempt came on 34 minutes, when Lee Bonis turned well just outside the box and fired a low effort just wide of Ross Glendinning’s right-hand post.
Seven minutes before the break Carrick almost broke the deadlock when Kyle Cherry’s corner from the right wasn’t dealt with and Reece Glendinning scooped an effort on to the top of the crossbar.
Larne were brighter at the start of the second period and Aaron Donnelly came within a whisker of grabbing his first goal for the club.
His surging run ended up with a shot just inside the box, which it looked like Ross Glendinning turned on to the post, but referee Tony Clarke signalled for a goal kick.
The Invermen were still struggling to really threaten Carrick’s goal however, and their next attempt was Lee Bonis’ header from a Shea Gordon, which was off target.
Bonis was similarly just wide with a rasping free-kick with 15 minutes remaining as Larne tried to engineer a breakthrough.
Despite pushing for the breakthrough, Larne’s clearest chance came in the fourth minute of stoppage time when captain Tomas Cosgrove headed just over the bar unmarked from eight yards out, from a Fuad Sule cross.
Larne: Ferguson, Want, Sule, O’Neill, Bonis, Doherty, Donnelly, Gordon (’60 Sloan), Bolger, Millar, Cosgrove
Unused subs: McIntyre, Kelly, Watson, Kearns, Scott, Lusty
Carrick Rangers: Ross Glendinning, Forsythe, Stewart, Gordon, Cushley, Gawne (’90 McKiernan), Kelly (’85 Surgenor), Cherry (’77 Kalla), Reece Gledinning, Tilney, Anderson
Unused Subs: Hogg, Buchannan-Rolleston, Gillen, Andrews
Referee: Tony Clarke
Photo: Pacemaker
