Larne boss Tiernan Lynch was left “disappointed and frustrated” after watching his team slip to a 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers in their Uefa Conference League game at Windsor Park.
Josh Honohan put the League of Ireland champions in front after just three minutes and Johnny Kenny doubled the lead before a Tomas Cosgrove own goal made it 3-0.
Chris Gallagher netted early in the second half to give Larne hope, before the impressive Graham Burke sealed a comfortable win for the Dubliners.
“I’m disappointed and frustrated – we conceded really stupid goals at really bad times,” said Lynch.
“We got hit by a sucker-punch very early. The one thing you can’t do is let Rovers get into a rhythm and we got punished for that.”
It was a harsh lesson for Larne, who are the first team from Northern Ireland to qualify for the league stage of a European competition.
“We knew how good a team Rovers are and how many good individuals they have,” Lynch said.
“We just didn’t do the things that we worked so hard to make sure we carried out and got punished badly.”
