Ben Doherty says a period of inquest and self-reflection helped get Larne back on track with a 2-1 win over title-chasing Glentoran at Inver Park.
Last week’s victory, thanks to a late rifled winner from Lee Lynch, saw Tiernan Lynch’s men bounce back from consecutive defeats to Linfield and Crusaders.
It was the perfect tonic, live on the BBC iPlayer, for Larne who have slipped off the title pace after a frustrating run of just three wins in their last seven league outings.
With 10 games left to play of the campaign the Inver Reds lie 12 points off joint leaders Linfield and Glentoran and 11 behind third-placed Cliftonville.
“With the players and changing room we have here, we should be higher up the table and no one knows that more than us,” said Doherty.
“You see it on all the media outlets that Larne are underperforming but we’re the first ones to be critical of ourselves.
“We are self critical in the changing room and it’s not all rainbows in there. We know ourselves that consistency is a big problem for us.
“There are people here who have been about the game a long time - the likes of Jeff (Hughes), Cian Bolger, big Albert (Watson) and Lee (Lynch).
“There are a lot of people here with a lot of experience and that helps massively. It’s about a bit of self reflection and showing a bit of character.”
While Larne are deeply frustrated that their title challenge has hit the buffers in recent weeks, Doherty insists they still have a lot to play for.
Lynch’s men have an Irish Cup quarter-final trip to Ballymena United to look forward to next week, while European qualification is still a key target.
“We still have a good chance of getting into Europe and we’re still in the Irish Cup, so hopefully we can dig deep in the final weeks of the season,” said Doherty.
“We want to finish as high up the table as we can and also give the Irish Cup a good go. Our aim now is to put a good run together between now and the end of the campaign.”
After beating the Glens live on the BBC iPlayer, Doherty is determined Larne back up a high profile win with another three points at Dungannon Swifts on Saturday afternoon.
“It has been a tough couple of weeks for us, but we know the quality that’s there and it was just a matter of time before we showed it,” he said.
“I think the boys showed real character against Glentoran, especially after they brought it back to 1-1 because it would have been easy to crumble after recent results.
“To go on and win the game was a big result but it’s important we build on that now.”
