Ten-man Larne beaten by Olimpija in Conference League

Raul Florucz sees his shot saved by outstretched Larne keeper Rohan Ferguson

Larne are still seeking their first points in the Uefa Conference League as they finished with 10 men in a 1-0 defeat by Olimpija in Slovenia.

The Ljubljana hosts dominated and Larne keeper Rohan Ferguson made two excellent saves before Olimpija broke the deadlock on 67 minutes.

Ivan Durdov was brought on just seconds before meeting Raul Florucz's inswinging corner and heading into the top corner.

Larne wasted two good openings in the second half as Dylan Sloan dragged wide before Matthew Lusty found himself in space but could only shoot straight at Matevz Vidovsek.

Larne played the final eight minutes with 10 men after Sean Graham was sent off for two yellow cards.

The Irish Premiership champions remain bottom of the 36-team group with their fourth defeat from four games.

Dylan Sloan prepares to shoot on the Olimpija goal on Thursday night

Olimpija started the game 22 places above the visitors as they chased a third straight Conference League victory.

They bossed possession from the start but struggled to find a way past a resolute Larne defence.

Ahmet Muhamedbegovic headed on to the roof of the net from Jorge Silva's cross before the visitors created their only decent first-half opening.

Paul O'Neill, who was an isolated figure in attack, also sent a header off target.

It developed into a dour struggled with the first effort on target coming after 39 minutes courtesy of Marcel Ratnik's weak header.

Olimpija upped the tempo just before the break as Florucz broke through only to be denied as Ferguson raced out to save his close-range shot.

There was still time for David Sualeha to burst clear on the left and cut the ball back for Florucz, but the forward blazed well over.

Celebration time for Olimpija after Ivan Durdov's second-half goal

Muhamedbegovic fizzed wide from long range on the restart before Ferguson came to his team's rescue again.

Diogo Pinto's pin-point cross found Marko Brest at the back post with his header kept out by an alert Ferguson.

Larne began to provide a threat on the counter and Mark Randall slid Sloan through but he drilled his shot wide from the edge of the box.

Olimpija finally made the breakthrough midway through the second half as substitute Durdov rose highest to power his header high into the net.

Sualehe blasted just wide as the hosts chased a second goal and their hopes of victory increased when Graham was dismissed.

But even with 10 men, the next chance fell to Larne as an unmarked Lusty found himself with just Vidovsek to beat but could only find the arms of the grateful keeper.

It was another disappointing outcome for the Irish side, who had assistant manager Gary Haveron in charge before new boss Nathan Rooney starts his reign as Tiernan Lynch's replacement against Cliftonville on Sunday.