Conference League Report: Larne 1 - 4 Shamrock Rovers

Andrew Dempsey reports from Windsor Park

Graham Burke was the star of the show as Shamrock Rovers thumped Larne 4-1 to keep their unbeaten start to the League Phase of the Conference League intact at Windsor Park.

And while there was hope of this being a tightly-fought all-island contest, it was anything but.

Rovers travelled on the A1 after turning off the M1 before heading for Belfast - and their performance was A1 in nature. 

Josh Honohan started the rout with a third minute goal before further strikes from Johnny Kenny and Burke by the 33rd all but ended the game as a tie.

Chris Gallagher netted for Larne in the early stages of the second period only for Burke to kill off hopes of a comeback with another strike of his own. Rovers are now in a great position to reach the playoff round of the Conference League.

Coming into the game with their Premier Division title hopes more than alive after defeating Drogheda United 1-0 last weekend, Shamrock Rovers made four changes from that triumph with Dylan Watts, Jack Byrne and Gary O’Neill notable absentees from the starting XI. 

Larne, who have endured a patchy start to their own Irish League campaign, also made a number of changes - though former Derry City attacker Jordan McEneff was left on the bench. Current Derry loanee Sam Todd started however. 

And the Inver Men - who were unable to use their Inver Park home for this game due to Uefa regulations - fell behind as early as the third minute when Honohan opened the scoring for the visiting Hoops.

Burke went on a marauding run down the right flank before seeing his effort on goal blocked by Todd. The ball, however, fell very kindly to the unmarked Honohan at the back post who swept the ball home past Larne keeper Rohan Ferguson. 

In truth, the goal was coming even at that early stage. 

Rovers had a chance to double their advantage moments later through Kenny who also found space down the right, only for his effort to hit the side-netting.

Burke then had an effort from distance that was well saved by Ferguson after combining well with fellow attacker Daniel Mandroiu on the wing. 

Larne finally showed signs of their attacking threat in the 19th minute when striker Andy Ryan shot an overhead kick that just went wide of Leon Pohls’ goal.

Though that was as good as got it for them in the opening half as Rovers doubled their lead four minutes later through Kenny. 

The Celtic loanee got on the end of a Burke ball across the six-yard box after Poom’s corner-kick was initially met by Roberto Lopes.

And the Hoops made it 3-0 just past the half hour mark when Burke got his head onto another wicked delivery from Poom. 

The goal was initially ruled out by referee Vasileois Fotias only for VAR to intervene after a foul that was adjudged to have been committed by Honohan on Tomas Cosgrove was cleared with the ball clipping off Cosgrove before hitting the net.

Rovers were in dreamland at this point with the interval coming at a welcome time for the hosts.

And there was a reaction of sorts from Larne upon the resumption whe Gallagher reduced the deficit with an effort from the edge of the box after Rovers failed to clear a corner-kick.

Though hopes of a comeback were short-lived when Rovers netted their fourth through Burke.

The Ireland international latched onto a horribly misplaced back-pass from former Derry City midfielder Joe Thomson before bearing down on goal to score with an effort from the edge of the box, with the aid of the post. 

Stephen Bradley’s charges were denied a fifth before the hour when Kenny netted, only for the Greek referee to rule it out for an apparent high foot after Lopes’ header came crashing off the crossbar. 

As the closing stages of the game approached, Byrne and Watts were called upon off the bench - though it was another pair of subs in Darragh Nugent and Trevor Clarke who both went closest to netting another for the visitors.

Larne also threatened late on with sub Matthew Lusty forcing a fine save from Leon Pohls at his near-post as their supporters headed for the exits on a sobering night for the Irish League champions at Windsor Park.

Larne:Rohan Ferguson; Tomas Cosgrove (Shaun Want 90), Sam Todd, Cian Bolger, Levi Ives; Chris Gallagher, Joe Thomson (Jordan McEneff 60), Benjamin Magee (Matthew Lusty 74), Dylan Sloan (Mark Randall 74), Sean Graham; Andy Ryan.

Subs not used:Joshua Seary, Joe Besant, Paul O'Neill.

Booked:Sean Graham (27), Tomas Cosgrove (37).

Shamrock Rovers:Léon-Maurice Pöhls; Joshua Honohan, Daniel Cleary, Pico, Lee Grace, Darragh Burns (Trevor Clarke 73); Markus Poom (Dylan Watts 73), Daniel Mandroiu (Darragh Nugent 60), Aaron McEneff (Jack Byrne 73); Graham Burke (Conan Noonan, 74), Johnny Kenny.

Subs not used:Lee Steacy, Cory O'Sullivan, Gary O'Neill, Aaron Greene.

Booked:Pico (90).

Referee:Vasileios Fotias (Greece).

Attendance:5,439.

extratime.com Player of the Match: Graham Burke (Shamrock Rovers).

Shamrock Rovers dominate in Belfast and pick up their first league phase win pic.twitter.com/2nJagmhwnG

— Premier Sports Ireland (@PremSportsIRL) October 24, 2024