Larne skipper Tomas Cosgrove wants to succeed where Linfield failed and reach group stages
Tiernan Lynch says an Irish League side making the group stages of European competition would transform the game here
Larne captain Tomas Cosgrove wants his side to seize the moment and open the door to a shot at the Europa Conference League group stages.
If the Invermen can conquer HJK Helsinki in their Champions League qualifier at Solitude on Wednesday night (7.30pm), the Premiership champions will be guaranteed a play-off for the groups.
It’s the privileged position Linfield found themselves in last summer before it all went horribly wrong for David Healy’s side.
Should Larne overcome the Finnish giants, Norwegian champions Molde FK will await in the second qualifying round and they can look forward to a play-off.
If Tiernan Lynch’s side are eliminated from the Champions League by HJK, they will drop into the Europa Conference League second qualifying round where they will face the losers of the first round tie between Ludogorets of Bulgaria and FC Ballkani, from Kosovo. FC Ballkani hold a 2-0 advantage after the first leg.
HJK Helsinki arrive in north Belfast leading 1-0 from the first leg but this is still mission possible for the Gibson Cup holders.
An early penalty from Bojan Radulovic rocked the visitors in Finland but Larne avoided further damage to keep the tie alive.
Skipper Cosgrove still believes his side are on the brink of achieving something very special.
“You saw Linfield last year and I’ll make no bones about, I didn’t want them to go through – I wanted Larne to do it,” said the former Cliftonville ace. “You want to make history and it’s a massive carrot for us.
“Who knows, if you go through this round, why not
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