Larne manager Tiernan Lynch says watching the Uefa Conference League draw on Friday made all the club's hard work worthwhile.

A 4-3 aggregate win over Lincoln Red Imps saw Larne become the first Irish League club to make the group or league stages of a major European club competition.

Larne were drawn to play Dubliners Shamrock Rovers, Molde, Olimpija, Dinamo Minsk, Gent and St Gallen.

"It was a bit strange and surreal, watching Larne come into a European group stage draw - just being here makes it all worthwhile," said Lynch.

"I'm delighted and excited. Even being mentioned in the draw with teams like Chelsea - it's an experience we have to enjoy and hopefully it's not a one-off."

Read more from Lynch on the draw here.

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These two sides last met on the final day of last season as Larne won 5-0 at Inver Park as they picked up the Gibson Cup for a second successive season.

There were two 0-0 draws between the sides last campaign, with Larne also winning 2-0 in November against the Bannsiders.

Image source, Inpho

Irish League trailblazers Larne did not have much time to bask in the immediate afterglow of their ground-breaking achievement of becoming the first club from Northern Ireland to qualify for the group or league phase of a major European competition.

Less than 24 hours later, they were thrust into the anticipation of Friday's Uefa Conference League draw in Monaco.

BBC Sport NI casts an eye over the opponents they will face in October, November and December, which you can read here.

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Larne will host Shamrock Rovers at Windsor Park on 24 October after Uefa revealed the back-to-back Irish Premiership champions' Conference League fixtures.

The Inver Reds booked their place in the competition's league phase with a dramatic win over Lincoln Red Imps on Thursday night.

Read more here

Image source, BBC Sport

Anyone who wondered how Larne would cope with juggling their new European commitments and defending the Gibson Cup gets their answer this afternoon.

Inver Park boss Tiernan Lynch makes no less than NINE changes to the team which started Thursday night's historic Uefa Conference League victory over Lincoln Red Imps.

Out go Levi Ives, Joe Thompson, Sean Graham, Matthew Lusty, Dylan Sloan, Shaun Want, Christopher Gallagher, injured captain Cian Bolger and hat-trick hero Andy Ryan.

In their place come debutants Sam Todd, Joshua Seary and George Marsh, all on loan with the club until January, along with Aaron Donnelly, Benji Magee, Conor McKendry, Mark Randall, Paul O'Neill and Jordan McEneff.

Bannsiders' boss Dean Shiels makes a more modest three changes to the side which started in the 2-0 defeat to Glenavon a week ago.

Rhyss Campbell, Jamie McGonigle and Kyle Spence all drop to the bench to be replaced by Ciaron Harkin, leading scorer Matthew Shevlin and midfielder Connor Murray, who comes straight into the side after joining on loan on transfer deadline day.

Coleraine: Brown, Kane (c), Jarvis, Boyle, Stewart, Scott, Shevlin, Murray, Carse, McClelland, Harkin.

Subs: Little, Campbell, Spence, McGonigle, Gaston, Burns, McLaughlin.

Larne: Ferguson, Donnelly, McKendry, Randall, O'Neill, Magee, Marsh, McEneff, Seary, Todd, Cosgrove (c).

Subs: Graham, Want, Ives, Thompson, Sloan, Gallagher, Ryan.

Image source, BBC Sport

Coleraine boss Dean Shiels admits that hosting champions Larne at the Showgrounds represents a "tough ask" for his side.

The Bannsiders come into the game off the back of a disappointing 2-0 loss against Glenavon and are missing key players such as Jamie Glackin.

"Larne will be a tough ask, there is no denying that and we will see where we are with regards to injuries, he told BBC Sport NI.

The game will be Larne's first Irish Premiership fixture of the season after various postponements due to their run to the Uefa Conference League group phase.

Shiels is wary of the threat Tiernan Lynch's side will pose even if they choose to rotate.

"I don't think their European run will be an issue for them, if you look at Larne's squad they could fill two teams with quality, Shiels admitted.

"I don't think it will be an issue for them playing Tuesday then Sunday, so we just need to concentrate on ourselves and be ready."

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Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin felt Ben Kennedy's hat-trick in their 3-1 win over Glenavon showed why the club brought him to the Showgrounds this summer.

The arrival of the former Crusaders attacker was viewed as a real coup for the club in July but his signing could not prevent the Braidmen opening their Irish Premiership campaign with four straight defeats, a run that came to an end with the Kennedy-inspired victory against the Lurgan Blues.

"We knew he had that quality when we signed him," said Ervin.

"We weren’t daft enough to think he was just going to click straight away.

"In this game he showed us why he is the player that he is and why we brought him to this club because he is a matchwinner. I thought he was outstanding."

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Summer signing Ben Kennedy bagged a hat-trick as Ballymena United defeat Glenavon 3-1 at the Showgrounds to secure their first points of the Premiership season.

Dean Smith says his sides' 2-0 defeat against Dungannon Swifts at Loughview Park was "frustrating and very humbling".

Goals from Gael Bigirimana and John McGovern meant that Loughgall have gone three games without a win.

"To be fair the best team won today, but it’s the manner in which we got beaten," said Smith to BBC Sport NI.

"Dungannon were much hungrier, wanted it a lot more, were good in and out of possession, all the things we probably weren’t."

"From going from the two performances we have had at home which have been fantastic, loads of energy, full of tempo, heart and desire mixed in with good football and lots of chances to today when we created absolutely nothing."

Dungannon Swifts record their first away win of the season, beating local rivals Loughgall 2-0 at Lakeview Park.

Gael Bigirimana opened the scoring with a header before substitute John McGovern added a second.

Read the report here.

Larne manager Tiernan Lynch made some interesting comments when speaking on BBC Radio Ulster yesterday:

"It's Linfield's league now to lose and we have to play catch-up and all that goes with it.

"It'll be nice to get back to the domestic league again, this is what we all love and it's the part that we enjoy, this is your bread and butter."

Have your say, thumbs up this post if you think Linfield will win the league and thumbs down if you think Larne will once again retain the Gibson Cup.

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Ryan Mayse is the hero for Portadown as he scores a late equaliser against Linfield to rescue a 2-2 draw at Shamrock Park.

Matthew Fitzpatrick twice gave Linfield the lead in either half, with Ahu Obhakan levelling in the first half and Mayse equalising with a stunning late strike.

Read the report here.

Declan Caddell says new signing Kieran Offord has 'so much quality' after his goal helped Crusaders come from behind to defeat Carrick Rangers 2-1 at Seaview.

Paul Heatley put the visitors ahead after just seven minutes before second half goals from Daniel Larmour and Offord made sure Crusaders unbeaten start to the season continued.

“Carrick are always a difficult team to play against and I thought the first 45 minutes they put us under severe pressure,” Caddell admitted to BBC Sport NI.

“We had to rejig things at half-time, a change of formation and let the boys push on, which they did.

“I wasn’t overly happy with the first half performance, but we got that reaction at half-time and managed to push through with two good goals and it could have been more.”

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Crusaders maintain their unbeaten start to the Irish Premiership season by coming from a goal behind to beat Carrick Rangers 2-1 at Seaview.

Curtis Allen opened the scoring but goals from Daniel Larmour and Kieran Offord ensured the Crues captured all three points.

Jim Magilton says Cliftonville's 1-0 defeat against Glentoran at the Oval was 'very disappointing' and he admitted 'it could have been a lot worse'.

The result was the Reds' first defeat of the season with a superb strike from Jordan Jenkins in the opening two minutes securing the three points for the home side.

“It was some start and some goal," said Magilton to BBC Sport NI.

"A fantastic finish and obviously that gives Glentoran the platform to go and play but there was plenty of time for us to come into the game.

“I just thought we were below par, first half especially. We didn’t pass the ball particularly well, when we got into the final third our quality was lacking and overall, it was a very disappointing first half display."

He continued: “Second half we made changes, it helped, we were on the front foot, but I don’t think we bothered their goalkeeper a great deal so obviously, I’m very disappointed."

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Glentoran pick up their first home win of the season as a superb strike from Jordan Jenkins gives them a hard-fought 1-0 win against Cliftonville.

Let's take a look at some reaction and highlights from across the rest of the games in the Irish Premiership this weekend.

Watch highlights as Larne defeat Lincoln Red Imps 4-3 on aggregate to become the first Irish League side ever to progress to the group phase of a European club competition.

Andy Ryan was the goalscoring hero for the Irish Premiership champions as he netted a hat-trick in the Uefa Conference League play-off second leg at Inver Park.

Read the report on the game here.

Paddy McLaughlin
Former Cliftonville manager speaking to BBC Sport NI

It’s the season opener for the defending champions, but they’ll have had European action to get them into shape. They will remain the team to beat this season having strengthened with quality in recent days.

As for Coleraine, I thought they were disappointing against Glenavon last week, but I’m sure Dean Shiels will be looking for a reaction. Big ask for the Bannsiders.

Prediction – 0-2

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of today's Irish Premiership game between Coleraine and Linfield at the Showgrounds.

It is Larne's first Irish Premiership game of the season after various postponements due to their European exploits.

They are 13 points behind pacesetters Linfield and will want to start clawing back that deficit with a win in their first league fixture.

They face a Coleraine side who were beaten by Glenavon in their last game and have had an inconsistent start to the season.

We will have live text commentary, in-play clips, a report and reaction to the game.

Thanks for joining us - enjoy!

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