Lee Lynch bagged a first half brace as Larne recorded a 3-0 win over Carrick Rangers at Inver Park.
Andy Mitchell also scored from the penalty spot, with all the goals coming before half-time on a sunny Spring day at the home of Tiernan Lynch’smen.
Larne began brightly and opened the scoring with 14 minutes on the clock.
Full-back Graham Kelly was the architect as he did well to drift inside the pitch before slipping the ball to Tomas Cosgrove who found Lee Lynch in space inside the box.
The former Sligo Rovers midfielder took a touch before unleashing a clinical finish past Aaron Hogg from 15 yards.
Albert Watson came within a whisker of doubling the lead on 30 minutes, but he flashed his header just wide from a Marty Donnelly corner on the right.
Four minutes later and Larne did find their second. Davy McDaid, looking to make his way to goal from the right, had his run ended abruptly by Reece Neal, with Raymond Crangle pointing to the spot.
Andy Mitchell saw his initial spot kick saved by Aaron Hogg, but Crangle ordered a retake because of encroachment.
He made no mistake the second time, drilling the ball home down the middle to make it three successful penalties against Carrick this season.
Carrick barely had time to recover, before Larne made it three on 37 minutes.
The two goalscorers combined, with Andy Mitchel’s lofted through ball finding Lynch in space. He took a touch before rolling it under the advancing Hogg.
Larne should have added to their tally on 58 minutes when Luke Wade Slater laid one on a plate for McDaid, with a square ball 10 yards out but Hogg somehow made a point-blank save to deny the striker.
Carrick likewise should have got themselves on the scoresheet with 18 minutes left to play when on-loan Glenavon striker Jordan Jenkins robbed Albert Watson of the ball on the left flank to leave him one-on-one with Conor Devlin, but the goalkeeper stood up to make the save.
Larne had further opportunities to add to their tally, notably through Mark Randall’s effort from 20 yards, which Hogg did well to push away and Josh Robinson heading over from a corner when free eight yards out.
Lee Lynch had a chance to complete his hat-trick eight minutes from time from the penalty spot after sub Conor McKendry had been fouled. However, Lynch slipped as he took it and despite the ball ending up in the net it was ruled out as he touched the ball twice.
Larne: Devlin, Kelly (’56 Jarvis), Watson, Robinson, Herron (’79 McKendry), McDaid, Donnelly, Lynch, A Mitchell, Wade Slater (’64 Randall), Cosgrove
Unused subs: C Mitchell, Hale, Mottley-Henry, Lusty
Carrick Rangers: Hogg, Neale, Rodgers, Loughran(’46 McMullan), Chapman, Kelly (’20 Glendinning), Gordon, Cherry, Anderson (’64 Forsythe), Jenkins, Cathair Friel
Unused subs: Connor Friel, Smith, Gibson, Storey
Referee: Raymond Crangle
