Highlights: Larne cruise past ten-man Crusaders at Inver Park

Finley Thorndike was sent off in the first half as Larne breezed past 10-man Crusaders 4-0 at Inver Park.

Dan Bent opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Thorndike, on as a first-half substitute, was shown a straight red card seven minutes before the break for an incident off the ball with Mark Randall.

Sean Graham and Matty Lusty scored quickfire goals after the restart and Tiarnan O'Connor added a late fourth.

Larne move up to second in the table and are one point behind leaders Glentoran, while Crusaders are three points above the relegation zone in eighth.

It was alleged by Larne manager Gary Haveron that Thorndike's red card was for a spit in the direction of midfielder Randall.

"Unfortunately when Mark and him had a clash it looks like the lad [Thorndike] has turned around and spat in the player's [Randall's] direction," Larne manager Gary Haveron told BBC Sport NI.

"It's something you can't do. There shouldn't really be a place for it.

"It was a mistake from the lad. The referee was on hand and seen it, and it's up to him what he puts in his report."

The Northern Ireland Football League and Crusaders have been contacted about the incident and manager Declan Caddell said that while he did not want to comment, "a matter like that will be dealt with in house".

"The referee has brandished the card and I'm not going to comment on it before I get any more information," Caddell said.

The Irish FA told BBC Sport on Wednesday that the referee's report had been received and "any issues arising will be dealt with in due course by the Irish FA's Disciplinary Committee".

Larne had the first chance of the game after five minutes when Graham rattled the post from a well-worked corner routine.

That was merely a warning shot as, on eleven minutes, Evan Easton had his pocket picked in the box by Bent. The Gibraltar international took his time to compose himself before slamming past Jonathan Tuffey from close range.

Crusaders lost Robbie Weir to injury after 20 minutes and his replacement lasted even less time than that as Thorndike was shown a straight red card by Declan Hassan.

After a coming-together with Randall, Thorndike was shown a straight red card for his reaction.

Although the hosts could not capitalise on the man advantage before the break, they took the game out of the visitors' reach within ten minutes of the restart.

First, Randall's incisive ball was met by the run of Graham from the left and he finished calmly from a narrow angle. This was followed a couple of minutes later by a more direct ball from Bent who used Lusty's pace to speed away from the defence and beat Tuffey one-on-one.

With the game meandering to a close, there was time for another as substitute O'Connor brought down a difficult ball, and fired home low from the edge of the box.

Larne move up to second in the table and are one point behind leaders Glentoran, while Crusaders are three points above the relegation zone in eighth.

Dan bent and Sean Graham celebratePressEye

Dan Bent and Sean Graham netted for Larne at Inver Park

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