Larne 1-2 St Gallen: Hosts down but not out as ‘mixed emotions’ take hold

The Larne manager said he side had analysed St Gallen and knew they were “a top side with top players”.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we knew we would be out of possession for long periods of the game.

“There was a real challenge there, both mentally and physically, but I thought we were superb.

“The only down side was conceding that second goal, which was hard to take.”

That is now three defeats on the bounce for Larne, who are the first Irish Premiership side to qualify for the Uefa Conference League.

The trip to Norway to face Molde was always going to be a challenge, but the Shamrock Rovers defeat, or more the manner of it, had a whiff of a humiliation.

However, this loss felt different after. The overriding feeling was disappointment, what could have been but pride at the effort involved.

“We let ourselves down, the fans down, the club down, the league down in the last game [the defeat by Shamrock Rovers] and we needed to put that right,” added Lynch.

“I think tonight kind of helped to do that.

“We would have loved to have got something from the game but we’ll learn from that last incident and we’ll go again.”