Larne Olympic warm up for Steel Cup opener

Oct 9, 2020 | Archive

LARNE Olympic warned up for Saturday’s season opener with two games inside three days at Inver Park.

The young Invermen face a trip to Comber Rec in the first round of the Steel & Sons Cup on Saturday.

With a number of new players bedding into the side over pre-season Darrin Crawford’s side go into the first competitive game after one win and one defeat in the last week.

In the first of those outings, they ran out 5-1 winners at home to Wellington Rec last Friday evening.

Although it was Wellington who started the brighter of the sides and deservedly took the lead from the penalty spot.

Larne took a while to get their game together but managed to equalise from a corner, with Nick Dimitri heading in at the back post.

The home side then began to take control and had the lead in the match when Harry Foster smashed home from close range.

The second half was one way traffic with Matty Lusty making it 3-0 when he finished superbly after a lovely move.

Matty Hill then scored from close range, before Lusty got his brace for the final goal of the game.

Manager Crawford (pictured) said: “There were lots of positives to take from the game after a sluggish start against a low block.

“We took time to adjust to the direct ball, but it was good for the lads to get more game time and score some nice goals. We wish the best of luck to Wellington Rec for the coming season.”

The final warm-up game of pre-season came against Oliver Plunkett and despite a good performance from the home side they went down to a 2-1 defeat.

Larne started the game well, dominating possession, but got caught cold with a long ball over the top, with the visiting striker scoring low in the corner.

On the half hour Larne were level after some great combination play resulted in Matty Lusty scoring with a superb finish into the top corner.

Early in the second half, Plunkett went ahead after a mistake at the back was punished.

Reflecting on this game, Crawford said: “I think some tiredness crept in, with us playing two games in three days.

“However we played some really nice football and we look forward to the season opener now on Saturday.”

Kick-off against Mark Picking’s Comber Rec side is 2pm at Park Way.

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