Larne’s Shaun Want: We don’t know much about Ballkani but we’ll take them head-on
Larne centre-back Shaun Want will aim to recover from the disappointment of failing to progress against HJK Helsinki by beating Kosovan club Ballkani
Larne players and coaches applaud the supporters at Solitude following their agonising defeat on aggregate to HJK Helsinki
Larne manager Tiernan Lynch cuts a contemplative figure on the Solitude sideline during Larne's 2-2 draw with HJK Helsinki in Champions League qualifying
Shaun Want admits that Larne will walk into the unknown on Tuesday when they travel to Kosovo to face Ballkani in the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference League.
Tiernan Lynch’s boys are still smarting from their agonising exit from the Champions League, losing out on aggregate by the odd goal in five to Finnish side HJK Helsinki in midweek.
The east Antrim men approached the game oozing with confidence having been narrowly edged out at the Bolt Arena seven days earlier.
Larne were so much looking forward to a history-making first appearance in the competition in front of their fans at Inver Park, but were denied that opportunity due to their pitch failing to meet FIFA standards.
Instead, they had to travel to Belfast as the club nominated Cliftonville’s Solitude ground as their home base.
Things got a lot more difficult when Tuomas Ollila shot the visitors into a first-half lead.
But Larne produced a magical second-half performance, pulling one back through a Lee Bonis penalty kick before substitute Joe Thomson fired them level on aggregate with only three minutes left, forcing extra-time.
Their ambitions of reaching the following round – and thus guaranteeing a Play-Off for the Europa Conference League group stage football at the very least – were, however, dashed when defender Want
Read on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
