Irish League title race is tight but Larne aren’t nervous, says Tiernan Lynch

Ballymena United 0 Larne 1

Larne manager Tiernan Lynch applauds the travelling support

Lee Bonis celebrates after finding the net

Ballymena's Kym Nelson clashes with Chris Gallagher

Ballymena goalkeeper Sean O'Neill makes a save to deny Lee Bonis

Isaac Westendorf takes a tumble under a challenge from Ballymena's Jamie Robinson

Victory at all costs was Tiernan Lynch’s warcry going into Larne’s clash with Ballymena United at The Showgrounds on Saturday.

And his team duly delivered thanks to a well worked Lee Bonis goal after eight minutes, the only strike of the game.

Ballymena rallied after the break to carry the fight to the Champions, but to no avail.

A robust Larne defence, marshalled superbly by captain Cian Bolger, proved equal to anything the Sky Blues could throw at them.

Larne now have a three point lead at the top of the table, with Cliftonville now in second place, a point ahead of Linfield.

The Reds had to come from a goal behind to beat Glenavon on Saturday and, with just nine games to play, this title race is reaching boiling point.

But Lynch poured cold water on any suggestion of nerves creeping into the fight, preferring to focus on the victory.

“I think the key word there is victory,” he said.

“Going into the game, we didn’t talk about how we would get a victory, we talked about making sure we got a victory.

“Others might see it as nervy, I just looked at it as three points.

“We went down there earlier this season and we were hugely disappointed with a point but, again, great credit to Ballymena for the performance they put in.

“We tiptoed and we shadow boxed, I think the term we used in the changing room was toothless.

“We knew we had to get the ball into danger areas, it was a difficult pitch to play