O'Hara came off the bench to score the only goal as Larne secured a narrow 1-0 Premiership victory over Portadown at Inver Park on Friday night. The substitute struck eight minutes from time to settle a scrappy contest and earn three vital points.
The result keeps Larne firmly in third place in the Premiership with 23 points from 11 games, a record of seven wins, two draws and two losses. They remain 11 points behind leaders Coleraine FC but have now won two of their last three league matches, with their recent form reading two wins, one draw and two losses. This follows a sequence of results that includes a 1-1 draw with Limavady United, a 2-1 win at Bangor, and defeats to Linfield and Coleraine FC.
A game of few chances
The first half was a cagey affair with more yellow cards than clear-cut opportunities. Larne's Thompson and Portadown's McKendry were both booked inside the opening twenty minutes. The home side suffered an early setback when Thompson was forced off injured in the 28th minute, replaced by Flanagan.
The game remained deadlocked until a triple substitution on the 70-minute mark, one of which saw O'Hara enter the fray. His impact was decisive twelve minutes later, firing home to break Portadown's resistance.
Looking ahead to Solitude
The win sets Larne up for a significant away fixture next Friday, 6 November, against Cliftonville at Solitude. Cliftonville currently sit seventh in the table. The team's overall record of 21 goals scored and only 10 conceded gives them a goal difference of plus 11, the second-best defensive record in the league. They will need that solidity at the back as they aim to close the gap at the top, starting with a positive result in north Belfast next week. The squad will hope to have a full complement of players available for the trip, with no new suspensions reported following the Portadown match.
