Larne suffer heavy aggregate defeat against RFS

RFS were leading 3-0 from the first leg in Riga

Larne exited Champions League qualifying at the first round stage after they were beaten 7-0 on aggregate by Latvian champions RFS.

After losing the first leg 3-0 in Riga, the Irish Premiership champions fell to a 4-0 defeat at Inver Park on Wednesday.

Three first half goals from Emerson, Darko Lemajic and Janis Ikaunieks set RFS on their way with Ismael Diomande adding a fourth in the second half.

Tiernan Lynch's side will now enter the third round of qualifying for the Conference League in August.

Ruthless RFS run riot in first half

Larne were punished for some poor defending at the end of the first half

Perhaps playing with the pressure off and with a sizeable home crowd behind them, Larne started the game the better of the sides and almost took an early lead.

With barely five minutes on the clock a route one ball from Rohan Ferguson was misjudged by the RFS defence but Andy Ryan’s lob dropped over the crossbar.

Conor McKendry was busy and stung the palms of Fabrice Ondoa shortly after.

This was about as good as it would get as the first period turned slightly bitty after that, with yellow cards being brandished for either side before RFS started a late barrage on the home goal.

Against the run of play, Emerson cut in off the left and curled a lovely right-footed shot past Ferguson.

If that one sucked the air out of the home crowd, what happened next was like a needle to a beach ball.

Mark Randall’s attempted pass to Aaron Donnelly was well short and Lemajic took advantage to double the lead on the night.

Not content to stop there, there was time for one more with the last kick of the half as Ikaunieks was afforded too much room on the edge of the box and smashed his effort into the roof of the net in front of a stunned Inver Park.

Conference League beckons for Larne

RFS will face Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in the second round of Champions League qualifying

RFS continued their onslaught into the second half and were given a helping hand by the Larne defence again as a mix-up between Cian Bolger and Ferguson allowed Diomande to roll into an unguarded net making him the seventh different scorer of the Latvians’ seven goals.

This was a bitterly disappointing night for Lynch's side, who would have hoped to have put up much more of a fight, but they came up against a quality outfit in the form of the Latvian champions.

They will now face Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in the next round.

Larne will have time to reflect and prepare for a third round Conference League qualifying tie after receiving a bye past the second round.

They will find out their potential opponents in Monday’s draw.