Larne had to 'grind out result' over Glens - Lynch

Larne boss Tiernan Lynch was delighted that his side were able to "grind out a result" as they beat Glentoran 2-1 at Inver Park on Friday.

The win moves the champions top of the table, a point ahead of Linfield, who have two games in hand.

"I'm delighted for the players," Lynch told BBC Sport NI.

"It has been a really difficult month from start to finish and I think they have been excellent.

"I'm probably a bit frustrated we didn't get to play the football we wanted but the positive was we showed great character and a different side to our game. I'm frustrated we didn't keep the ball a little bit better than we did," he admitted.

"We had to roll our sleeves up. The last number of weeks we have been excellent in our football and tonight there wasn't quite that flow in what we were doing, but that is football and the players made sure they got three points.

The home side, who have now gone a year without tasting defeat at Inver Park, raced into an early lead through the returning Ryan, who pounced on a Glentoran mistake before coolly firing home.

The win means that Larne have picked up five victories in their five games in November to move back into contention for the title.

Lynch reserved particular praise for the work-ethic of the 29-year old upon his return to full fitness after a spell out with injury.

"Andy is what Andy is, he is a real competitor, he has been very frustrated the last few weeks, albeit he hasn't been fully fit.

"He has been chomping at the bit to get out there and I think you saw that out there."

'The goals we gave away were poor'

Glentoran manager Warren Feeney lamented the individual mistakes which cost his side once again.

The Glens, who sit fifth in the table are now 13 points adrift of leaders Larne following the defeat.

"The two goals we gave away were poor, we should defend those better, they are mistakes and they are killing us," conceded Feeney.

"You have to love defending, it is an art, and we didn't love defending out there.

"I think it was two sides who cancelled each other out, I thought the last 25-30 minutes we gave it a good go."