Irish Cup quarter-final: Larne v Coleraine (tonight, Inver Park, 7.45pm, live on BBC2)
A HUGE weekend for football in Larne begins this evening as the town’s Championship side attempt to dump holders Coleraine out of the Irish Cup in front of the BBC cameras.
They will hope to set an example for Larne Tech Old Boys to follow tomorrow as they travel to Warrenpoint attempting to pull off a shock of their own.
All focus will be on Inver Park tonight though as Tiernan Lynch’s side attempt to carry their sparkling Championship form into their clash with the Bannsiders.
Larne have suffered only two defeats in 26 league games and are 18 points clear of Carrick Rangers. They have managed 69 goals in those games and they have already defeated Premiership opposition en-route to the last eight in the form of Newry City in the fifth round.
They also defeated Ballymena United at this stage last season so Rodney McAree’s side have been well warned.
Coleraine have lost two of their last three games but they did get back to winning ways when they defeated Glentoran last weekend in a dramatic encounter.
Eoin Bradley opened the scoring from the penalty spot but only after teammates Jamie McGonigle and Dean Shields had already missed from the spot. Ben Doherty added a second late on.
Doherty has already been on the scoresheet in the Irish Cup, grabbing one of their goals in the 3-0 win over Dergview in the last round, while James McLaughlin (2), Alex Gawne and Shields have also been on target over the course of their two games.
Inver Park is set to be standing room only tonight with the seated tickets all sold out. This could be a special weekend for the town, and holders Coleraine will really need to be at their best to prevent their grip on the cup being loosened.
