Larne suffered a first league defeat of the season in dramatic fashion, losing 3-2 to Coleraine after leading 2-0 at Inver Park. Joel Cooper's second-half brace sparked a stunning comeback for Ruaidhrí Higgins's side, who now sit 12 points clear at the top of the Premiership.
James Simpson had put the reigning champions in control with a goal in each half. His first came after 16 minutes, finishing a move involving Tomas Cosgrove and Paul O'Neill. Simpson doubled the lead five minutes into the second half, converting after a one-two with Leroy Millar.
Coleraine began to dictate the midfield and pulled a goal back on the hour mark. A cross from Ben Doherty was blocked, but the ball fell for Joel Cooper to score. The equaliser arrived nine minutes later. "Once more Ben Doherty had the time to cross and this time Shevlin made no mistake with a powerful head from inside the six yard box," said Matthew Shevlin.
Larne pushed to restore their lead, with substitute Kevin O'Hara seeing a dipping 25-yard effort crash off the crossbar. Instead, Coleraine completed the turnaround with nine minutes remaining. A deflected cross from Conor Doherty found Cooper on the edge of the box, and he struck a first-time winner.
League position
The defeat leaves Larne third in the Premiership table with 19 points from eight games. Their recent form had been strong, with four consecutive wins before this setback. The gap to leaders Coleraine is now a significant 12 points, though Larne have games in hand. The match saw a total of 17 goal minutes, with all five goals scored between the 16th and 81st minutes of play.
Manager Tiernan Lynch made several changes in search of an equaliser, introducing Sean Gibson and Cian Ukek late on, but Coleraine held firm. Goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson was unable to prevent the three second-half goals.
Attention now turns to a key home fixture against second-placed Linfield on Tuesday, 20 October. That match at Inver Park represents a major opportunity to close the gap at the top and respond immediately to this setback. Following that, Larne's next fixture is a trip to face Dungannon Swifts on Saturday, 24 October. The full fixtures list shows a packed schedule ahead.
The original report is at belfastlive.co.uk
