Larne head coach Gary Haveron says his side deserved their groundbreaking 1-0 win over Gent in the Uefa Conference League and stressed the hard-fought victory over their Belgian opponents at Windsor Park was “no smash and grab”.
Tomas Cosgrove’s second-half goal saw the Irish Premiership champions clinch their first win and first points in their inaugural venture into the league stages of the competition.
The east Antrim club had lost their previous five matches on the European stage but this success represented another significant landmark for an Irish League side.
“What a performance and what an effort from our boys tonight. We were determined to bow out of this competition with our heads held high and I think we have done that and then some. I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Haveron told BBC Sport NI.
“This is no smash and grab, we created chances throughout the game and missed big chances in the game and I thought not taking them might come back to cost us, but no better man than Tomas Cosgrove to arrive at the back post.
“That after he signed a contract extension, I’m so delighted for him and it’s a great way to bow out of this competition and we need to use it as a springboard for the rest of the season.”
‘We have grown into the competition’
Haveron was appointed head coach of Larne just last weekend after Nathan Rooney moved to become head of football because he did not possess the required Uefa Pro Licence for European competition.
“What a start, where do I go from here? It’s incredible, it means so much and I’m so proud for the people. It’s a special night and I hope we can have many more like this,” added Haveron, who is in charge of his hometown club.
“Steadily but surely, we have grown into this competition, the Shamrock [Rovers] game [a 4-1 home defeat] was something that hurt us, we didn’t represent the league as best we could.
“We wanted to come back fighting and we wanted to generate momentum. There is no better way to get momentum than beating a European powerhouse.”
Larne will now turn their focus to domestic matters as they aim to bounce back from some inconsistent early league form to try and make it three Premiership titles in a row.
They trail leaders Linfield by 22 points with six games in hand over their rivals ahead of this weekend’s action and are also in the BetMcLean Cup semi-finals and County Antrim Shield final.
Haveron said: “It’s up to me and the management team to get this level of performance week in, week out. There is no point doing this now in a big game like this with all the razzmatazz that comes with the Conference League, so we need to use it as a springboard.
“We want to be back at this level and we want to compete at this level and take the learnings we had this year on to next year.”