Larne display 'like night and day'

Yahoo

24-07-2025

Larne manager Nathan Rooney reflected on a "night and day performance in terms of the first and second half" by his side after they drew 0-0 with Kosovan team Pristina in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League second qualifying round tie.
Last season's Irish Premiership runners-up twice cleared efforts off the line in the second half while goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson denied Leutrim Kryeziu on two occasions with fine saves.
"We didn't come out for the second half at all," bemoaned the Larne boss after the game at Ballymena Showgrounds.
"We just seemed to force the play and come away from what we are really good at.
"We didn't take our chances at the vital times so hopefully we can get back to the form we showed in the first half going into next week [the second leg in Prishtina on 31 July].
"They got a little bit of possession in that first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half and that rattled us a little bit but we changed formation to get us through the game in good fashion and that's what we did."
Rooney says that his charges will regroup for a testing second leg.
"They're athletic, they grew into the game so it's going to be a tough task over there but we'll put a plan in place and give it everything.
"We'll freshen up. I've seen tonight that the squad is quite tired, especially after the hour mark, so we'll put in some planning and preparation over the next 24 hours to see how that looks."