Sunday, December 22, 2024

Larne out to make amends in St Gallen tie – Lynch

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Tiernan Lynch has won back-to-back Premiership titles with the Inver Park club [Getty Images]

Larne manager Tiernan Lynch hopes his team can bounce back from their 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers when they face St Gallen in the Uefa Conference League match at Windsor Park on Thursday night.

It was a humbling 90 minutes for the Premiership champions in the north v south showdown with the League of Ireland side in Belfast a fortnight ago.

“We now have to go out and put the Rovers [defeat] right – we were hugely disappointed in that game,” said Lynch.

“We feel we let ourselves down and the league down. That’s not something we’re going to take lightly.”

Larne are the first Irish League club to reach the group or league stage of a major Uefa competition.

They started their campaign with a 3-0 defeat by Molde before again losing to Rovers by a three-goal margin.

Larne now go up against St Gallen in a bottom-two contest with the Swiss side having also lost their opening two European matches.

However, Lynch rated the visitors highly as Larne aim to get off the mark in the 36-team league.

“St Gallen are a top, top side – we’ve watched them over three to four games and they have top players.

“We know it’s going to be a great atmosphere with the fans that they bring with them.”

The Inver Reds complete their six fixtures with trips to Olimpija and Dinamo Minsk along with a home encounter against Gent.

It’s been a tough baptism for Larne but Lynch believed the remaining matches are ones to be enjoyed.

“I think we will enjoy it a bit more,” he added. “It’s obviously a a great experience for us as a club.

“There shouldn’t be any pressure apart from the pressure we put on ourselves to give the best account of ourselves that we possibly can.”

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