Anyone fancy Linfield winning 18-0 on Saturday?
Well, it’s expected that Cliftonville, who will do battle with the Blues in the Irish Cup Final on May 4, will field a weakened team on the Sports Direct Premiership’s last matchday, but you’d say the odds are impossibly long of such a feat occurring regardless.
18 is the goal swing David Healy’s men require to wrestle top spot off Larne, who would still need to lose against Coleraine at Inver Park, and reclaim the Gibson Cup – and let’s face it, that’s not going to happen.
After Monday night’s 1-1 draw between Linfield and the Invermen on Monday night, Tiernan Lynch and his players have, let’s call it, one hand and four fingers on their second successive top-flight crown. They will be champions – not mathematically certain yet, but they will be.
They knew avoiding defeat was the remit going into the Windsor Park showdown to prevent their hosts from taking the title fight to the final day, and thanks to Andy Ryan’s penalty that cancelled out a Leroy Millar own goal – all within the first half – they fulfilled the assignment to stay three points clear, their goal difference of +59 uncatchable compared to Linfield’s +42.
It was tension-laced in front of a crowd regrettably reduced from capacity, with Blues striker Chris McKee’s second-half effort kissing the base of the post and trickling wide, but it’s part of the process to weather storms and, on a dry spring’s night, Larne kept them at bay after Scottish hitman Ryan’s composed spot-kick.
Awarded after the marauding Tomas Cosgrove, the Ardoyne man as much a symbol of Larne’s rise from Championship to Champions League as you’ll get, was felled in the box under the back-tracking Joel Cooper’s contact, Chris Johns was rooted to the centre as Ryan bulleted into the bottom right to haul the visitors on even terms.
Backed by a support totalling 1,400 in the North Stand’s upper deck, the picture of jubilation on 35 minutes could be contrasted with the disappointment 13 minutes earlier, when last season’s Premiership Player of the Year Millar miscued a corner-kick clearance into his own net rather than away from it.
In fairness, the taker of said corner, Leroy’s Linfield namesake Kirk Millar, was a real nuisance from set-pieces all night – and his delivery on that occasion, a fierce inswinger, was a difficult one for any defender to deal with.
The long-standing Windsor assist machine was unlucky not to bag more to that one he’ll be crediting to himself, and Larne were shaky in periods before Ryan’s 23rd league finish of the season restored both parity and their nerve.
The former Hamilton Academical star, who will celebrate his 30th birthday in September as a two-time Irish League champion, has arguably been the most game-changing arrival in recent Northern Ireland football history and, in the less than 18 months he’s wore Larne’s colours, proved hugely impactful in more ways than one.
Linfield, in truth, probably shaded it performance-wise, but a grittier second half showcased that Larne have learned a thing or two about how to keep the lid on the pressure cooker.
It’s no surprise Ryan was at the heart of why it panned out that way and no shock that both Larne’s Gibson Cups have come with him in the team. He doesn’t seem finished yet, either.
Featured image from Bill Guiller/Larne FC Media.
- Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great
There’s been a change in priorities for Ballymena United during recent years – albeit not necessarily the type supporters would’ve perhaps wanted. In 2019, the Braidmen were the second best team in the Irish League. Runners-up behind Linfield that year, and just seven points adrift of top spot, the peak years of David Jeffrey’s tenure… Read more: Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great - Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Finally, it’s Cliftonville’s year in the Irish Cup. An agonising waiting game ends at last and a drought that lasted 45 painful years is over in one burst of champagne rain. Since 1979, the Reds have contrived to fail in various ways in their pursuit of that elusive ninth Irish Cup – until a man… Read more: Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory - The Championship can bring you up and pull you down… but you’ll always be back for more
It’s been one hell of a season in the Playr-Fit Championship. A league that literally has it all… where no holds are barred, where nothing is off the table, where to expect the unexpected would be to somehow insinuate there were even expectations in the first place. And it is dramatic until the dying embers.… Read more: The Championship can bring you up and pull you down… but you’ll always be back for more - 2024 may not be Linfield’s year, but precocious Braiden Graham is a huge success story
Linfield’s record haul of Irish League titles will remain at 56. Larne’s burgeoning total of Gibson Cups bloats from one to two. The Blues simply had to win on Monday night to take the title fight down to the dying embers, but a powerful Andy Ryan penalty on 35 minutes in response to Kirk Millar’s… Read more: 2024 may not be Linfield’s year, but precocious Braiden Graham is a huge success story - Game-changing Andy Ryan’s exploits have taken champions-elect Larne to a new level
Anyone fancy Linfield winning 18-0 on Saturday? Well, it’s expected that Cliftonville, who will do battle with the Blues in the Irish Cup Final on May 4, will field a weakened team on the Sports Direct Premiership’s last matchday, but you’d say the odds are impossibly long of such a feat occurring regardless. 18 is… Read more: Game-changing Andy Ryan’s exploits have taken champions-elect Larne to a new level
Football Chatters 
Leave a comment