Larne boss Tiernan Lynch believes his team had their pockets picked by Linfield in Tuesday’s Premiership showdown at Windsor Park.
The Blues nicked a priceless win courtesy of a late Christy Manzinga goal – his 20th of the season – to send David Healy’s boys back to the top of the table.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats to Coleraine and Larne, which cost the title holders ground at the summit and also resulted in them being dumped out of the Irish Cup, Healy insisted the ‘knives were being sharpened’.
But in true Linfield fashion, they turned in a big performance when the chips were down.
Stevie Fallon capitalised on a Ben Doherty error to shoot the South Belfast team into the lead before substitute Ronan Hale levelled matters.
It was left to Manzinga to bank the crucial winner – but it was a defeat Lynch found hard to stomach.
He moaned: “I was disgusted by the result. It was a game we were well in control of.
“I’m not going to say we were hugely dominant, but we were the team that had more control of the game and more possession – and had the better chances.
“We were done by two stupid mistakes – it’s been the story of our season. As I said to the players, I can take getting beaten by better teams. We lost in Europe to Pakos – they were the better team, they deserved to beat us.
“But I struggle to take defeats like Tuesday.”
Lynch insisted the result was a “kick in the teeth” for his team.
He said: “No one intentionally makes a mistake, no one intentionally goes out to play poorly. I’m not one for hammering players.
“But it’s just another kick in the teeth for us. Had they been peppering us, had they been the better team and we were hanging on, it would have been easier to swallow.
“It wasn’t like that – I counted they had two chances in the game. The second goal was also a calamity. It was really poor on our part and there are no excuses. It just wasn’t good enough.
“If we want to do all the things we strive to do as a club and as a team, we can’t keep making those mistakes. It’s heart-breaking.
“If teams were better than us, I would hold up my hands, but that’s certainly not been the case all season.”
