Back-to-back titles wonderful achievement - Lynch

Tiernan Lynch's side have already amassed 87 points this season, four points more than last season with one game remaining

It is generally regarded as more difficult to defend a league title than winning it the first time.

That is a sentiment now shared by Tiernan Lynch as his Larne side all but secured back-to-back Gibson Cups after their gutsy 1-1 draw with Linfield on Monday night.

Lynch knows they did it the hard way after what he described as an "awful" performance against their nearest title challengers.

Yet Larne's record in the league this term is befitting of champions.

They have conceded just 21 goals and lost just two games, having already bettered their points tally for the whole of last season with one league game still remaining.

Yes, they were second best against a Linfield side desperate for a victory to keep their faint title hopes alive, but the Larne rearguard, as they have done throughout the season, repelled the various attacks from the Blues as they ground out a point.

Lynch was keen to pay tribute to the defensive effort, which made up for the absence of their usual fluency in attack.

"The positive we will take out of this is we got what we needed," he admitted.

"We just never got going from the first whistle to the last, but we showed great character and great resilience.

"I think Linfield have to take great credit, they came out of the traps and never gave us a minute, they were outstanding. They put ball after ball into our box and had lots of set pieces, but I think we should take great credit for how we defended them."

'Bouncebackability' key to title success

Lynch believes that Larne's ability to respond to defeats [which have been few and far between] this campaign has been key to another successful season.

He also pointed to the 2-1 victory against Linfield at Windsor Park earlier in the campaign as the catalyst for his side to believe that they could retain the title.

"The biggest thing this season has been our 'bouncebackability', every time we came up against a defeat or a poor performance we responded brilliantly," Lynch explained.

"We beat Linfield here in November and had we lost we would have gone 11 points behind and that would have been curtains for us if truth be told.

"I thought we were magnificent on the night and that set us up, we went on a run, we beat Linfield, Cliftonville, Glentoran and Coleraine in November and clawed it back.

"I think that gave us the confidence to go on and try push for this [back-to-back titles]."

'We want a seat at the top table'

Larne have become the first club outside of Belfast since Portadown in 1991 to win back-to-back Gibson Cups

Lynch conceded that it was hard to imagine Larne winning, never mind retaining, the Irish Premiership when he took over in 2017 with the club in the Championship.

He also felt that this campaign has been tougher than last year due to the increased pressure of being champions.

"It has been tough; you have that target on your back. I have watched numerous teams' midweek who we are playing on Saturday, and they play completely different against us as to how they usually play.

"We have to learn to overcome that, Linfield have had to overcome that for years.

"I didn't envisage back-to-back titles, we always thought we would have a crack, our goal was to try and win a league title."

He added: "We talk about it a lot that we want a seat at the top table, and we wanted Larne to be a team that was challenging.

"This will be a hell of achievement and we can enjoy Saturday."

His Larne side can surely now feast on a large banquet now they are perched at the top table once again.