Larne hit by late St Gallen 'sucker punch' - Bolger

Larne have lost their opening three Conference League games and sit bottom of the table

Larne defender Cian Bolger said his side had "mixed emotions" after their 2-1 Europa Conference League defeat by St Gallen.

Larne took an early lead at Windsor Park courtesy of Abdoulaye Diaby's own goal, but the Swiss side hit back through captain Lukas Gortler before half-time.

Tiernan Lynch's side frustrated St Gallen and looked on course to pick up their first point in the competition before Hugo Vandermersch scored a 79th-minute winner.

"We have mixed emotions. We are proud of our performance but disappointed to concede so late on, but it is a positive and we can build on it," Bolger told BBC Sport NI.

'We can compete at this level'

That defeat was Larne's third in a row, and they sit bottom of the Conference League table.

But captain Bolger was pleased they produced a more spirited display than their last European game, a 4-1 home loss against Shamrock Rovers.

"There was a lot made of the Shamrock Rovers game. We came away disappointed, and it was a bad night at the office," he continued.

"We let ourselves down in the game and we wanted a reaction and to put it right and we got that so we're proud of the performance tonight."

Larne now face trips to Slovenia and Belarus to take on Olimpija Ljubljana and Dinamo Minsk before they close their league phase campaign with a home game against Gent.

And Bolger hopes their experience in their three games can help them in their quest to make more history and pick up their first points in Europe.

"It's our first time at this level every day is a learning day, but we want to compete and pick up points along the way," he added.

"Every game you play in Europe you gain more experience, and you get that belief you belong at that level and tonight we can be positive that we can compete at this level.

"It was just the sucker punch at the end, but we can take something from it going forward."