First league win eludes Larne

The home side will rightly feel they should have taken all three points, having created the majority of the clear-cut chances over the course of the game.

They were made to pay for their failure in front of goal and eight minutes after the break they found themselves a goal down. Sencer Yilmaz picked up a long throw-in from the left and flicked his effort over advancing keeper Marc Robinson into the net.

The Larne celebrations didn’t last long, however, as Loughgall levelled three minutes later. A quick break involving Greg Hall and Davy Hawthorne saw then swap passes to set up Adam Pedlow, who fired into the top corner from inside the penalty area, giving Brendan Quinn no chance.

Any chance Larne had of snatching a winner were over 11 minutes from time. Yilmaz was rightly red-carded after he raised his hands following a strong challenge from Hawthorne.

Loughgall’s best chance to grab all three points came in injury time, but they were denied as Robbie White was positioned superbly to clear Chris Hull’s header off the goal line after he got on the end of a Pedlow corner.

Loughgall -Robinson, Hall, Brady, Hull, Stewart, Emerson (King 42m), Teggart (Keenan 58m), Hawthorne, Pedlow, Verner, Guy (Rodgers 45m). Unused subs: McNeill, Kearns.

Larne - Quinn, Marsh, Lemon, White, Brown, McClean, McAllister, Maguire, Yilmaz, Dick (Workman 67m), Young (Todd 80m). Unused subs: Moore, Gibbons.

Referee. C Floyd

Times man of the match: Paul Maguire - Continues to work tirelessly from start to finish, not content to wait for the ball will always chase back to help out.