IRISH CUP: Six of the best for Larne as they surge into quarter finals

Larne 6 Dundela 1
Tiernan Lynch's side will play Ballymena United in the quarter finals.Tiernan Lynch's side will play Ballymena United in the quarter finals.
Tiernan Lynch's side will play Ballymena United in the quarter finals.

An in-form Larne hammered a determined but unfortunate Dundela 6-1 at Inver Park to book their place in the Tennent’s Irish Cup quarter-finals.

The home side dominated the game from early on and were 5-0 up at half-time however the second half brought out a changed away side, forcing Larne to defend effectively.

A difficult tie against Ballymena United at the Showgrounds now lies ahead in the last eight for the Invermen.

With seven minutes gone, Dundela had a good opportunity to go ahead however Carl McComb’s 23 yard free-kick curled just wide at the left post. The Inver Red and Whites opened the scoring on 10 minutes courtesy of Matthew Henry’s powerful 25 yard shot going straight into the bottom right corner.

After an expansive attack the Invermen doubled their lead 11 minutes later. With Ryan McBride approaching, Thomas Stewart chipped a pass over the goalkeeper to David McDaid, who tapped the ball into an open net at the back post . With just over half an hour gone, David Scullion’s curling effort flew into the top corner treble Larne’s advantage in spectacular fashion.

Just one minute later, the fourth goal was added when Martin Donnelly slotted the ball into the back of the net after a flowing move from the home side.

Three minutes before the break, having intercepted Matthew King’s backpass, the alert Thomas Stewart effortlessly placed the ball past the goalkeeper from a tight angle to make it 5-0 at half-time.

The Duns sought to bounce back twice early in the second half, firstly through Mark McClelland’s low shot which went just wide, whilst David McMaster’s effort from 17 yards out was tipped over by Conor Devlin.

Larne’s sixth goal came just before the hour mark when Donnelly’s free-kick 30 yards from goal nestled into the top corner. The Duns got one back with 19 minutes to go when, after a cross from outside the box, Jay Magee headed home from close range.

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