Champions League qualifier: Larne fall to early penalty in Helsinki on competition debut

Larne lost 1-0 away to HJK Helsinki after conceding a penalty just over a minute into their Champions League debut.

Larne recovered from going behind so early on and came close to equalising twice through Leroy Millar in what was an impressive second-half display.

The second leg will be played in Belfast next week.

It will be played at Solitude, home of Cliftonville, after Larne’s artificial pitch at their Inver Park base failed to meet the required Champions League standards.

Having qualified for Europe’s premier competition by winning the Irish Premiership for the first time in their 134-year history last season, Tiernan Lynch’s men produced a well-drilled and creative performance after the break.

They had an excellent chance to equalise on the hour-mark when Lee Bonis won a free-kick just wide of the area. Dylan Sloan delivered a curling free-kick and Millar had a free header at the back post but guided his effort wide.

Millar, last season’s Player of the Year in Northern Ireland, had another chance to level on 77 minutes, with Sloan again the architect as he cut the ball back cleverly to the edge of the box, but Millar could not keep his shot down under pressure from a defender.

Terrible start for visitors

Larne’s hopes of keeping things tight in the early stages suffered a disastrous setback inside the opening minute when defender Cian Bolger made an awkward challenge on Topi Keskinen on the left hand side of the penalty area and Georgian referee Goga Kikacheishvili pointed to the spot.

Radulovic sent goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson the wrong way from the penalty spot, only for the referee to order a retake, but the Spanish-born striker kept his nerve to once again wrong-foot Ferguson and find the bottom corner.

The same two players from the penalty incident were again involved as Keskinen ran off Bolger, but as the Finnish player bore down on goal, Shaun Want was on hand to take the sting out of the shot with the ball running through harmlessly to Ferguson.

Kekinen then burst down the left and and cut the ball back across goal for the on-rushing Matti Peltola to shoot from the edge of the penalty area but his effort was deflected behind.

Having weathered the early storm, Larne began to gain a foothold in the game and carved out a decent opening five minutes before the interval when Ryan squared for striker partner Bonis, but the Northern Ireland international’s rushed effort was blocked.

The hosts threatened soon after the break when Radulovic released Santeri Hostikka on the right hand side of the penalty area but keeper Ferguson was able to comfortably block the effort at his near post.

Ryan and Bonis had further attempts for the visitors in between Millar’s two opportunities, with the former curling just over from the edge of the box after a fine sweeping move and the latter drilling into the side netting from a tight angle.

The 1-0 defeat leaves competition debutants Larne very much still in the tie ahead of the second leg in Belfast next Wednesday.