Tiernan LynchInpho

Larne will take a 3-0 deficit into next week's second-leg at Inver Park

Mark Strange
BBC Sport NI contributor

Larne fell 3-0 away to Latvian champions RFS in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League first qualifying round tie.

RFS had a goal disallowed on ten minutes before Martins Kigurs gave them the lead just before the half-hour mark.

An early second-half header from Martins Balodis and a stunning Stefan Panic free-kick condemned the Inver Reds to a heavy defeat in Latvia.

The Irish Premiership champions will now face an uphill battle in the second leg at Inver Park next Wednesday.

On a hot and sunny evening in Riga, Larne had the first chance of the game after just two minutes when Conor McKendry let loose with a shot from the edge of the box that was comfortably saved by Fabrice Oanda in the RFS goal.

However, they soon found themselves on the back foot and the hosts had the ball in the net on ten minutes when Janis Ikaunieks snaffled up a rebound after Rohan Ferguson had saved well from Ziga Lipuscek’s header. VAR, though, ruled that Lipuscek had strayed offside by the thinnest of margins and the goal was chalked off.

Larne were relieved as they had not defended the free-kick well and had Ferguson to thank for smothering Marins Kigurs’ close-range effort shortly after.

The Latvian international could not be stopped just before the half-hour mark, however.

Shortly after Lee Bonis had headed over from a corner, Kigurs was picked out from the left by Ikaunieks and swept home unmarked on the penalty spot. There was nothing that could rule this one out and RFS had a deserved lead.

After a scrappy end to the first half, the hosts came out after the break in the ascendancy again and dealt Larne a hammer blow just three minutes after the restart. It was a set piece again that was the Inver Reds’ undoing as Petr Mares’ corner was flicked on by Stefan Panic and Daniels Balodis crept round the back to nod home unmarked.

After McKendry fizzed a shot wide in response, Cian Bolger conceded a clumsy free-kick right on the edge of his own box and he was made to pay. Panic stepped up and dispatched the ball into the top corner with a textbook strike.

Larne battled to gain any sort of foothold in the game and were struggling in the heat against an in-form RFS side who currently sit seven points clear at the top of the Virsliga table with this result meaning they have won eleven and drawn one of their past twelve games.

Despite Tiernan Lynch making attacking changes, there was very little in the way of threat from the back-to-back Irish Premiership champions and they will need a huge result back at Inver Park next week if they want their UEFA Champions League journey to continue beyond the first hurdle.

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