Uefa Conference League play-off round second leg
Larne 0-0 Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Larne lead 2-0 on aggregate following the first leg
Lincoln Red Imps coach Juan Manuel Pavon sprints down to touchline to retrieve an errant clearance from Rohan Ferguson to get the ball back into play quickly from a throw-in.
The visitors know time is not on their side tonight.
Larne 0-0 Lincoln Red Imps (agg: 2-0)
Matty Lusty cuts inside and fires a shot into the midriff of goalkeeper Nauzel Santana inside the opening 25 seconds.
A statement of intent from Larne, perhaps?
Larne 0-0 Lincoln Red Imps (agg: 2-0)
Bulgarian referee Radoslav Gidzhenov starts the action at a raucous Inver Park.
There’s a real sense of expectancy at the east Antrim venue this evening – can Gary Haveron’s men complete the job they started so impressively seven days ago?
Larne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Jana McCabe
BBC Sport NI at Inver Park
The Larne supporters have brought out a banner as the teams enter the pitch which says, 'who dares wins'.
Gary Haveron's side displayed a lot of bravery in the first leg and the excited home fans will be hoping to see the same tonight.
Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 Larne (FT)
Watch highlights as Irish Premiership champions Larne beat 10-man Lincoln Red Imps 2-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off in Gibraltar.
Highlights: Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 Larne
Larne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
BBC Sport NI reporter Thomas Kane breaks down what a win for Larne and progression in Europe would mean, not only for the club, but for the Irish Premiership as a whole.
Will Larne create more history?
Larne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Larne captain Tomas Cosgrove has urged his team to "go out and grab the opportunity" afforded to them in the second leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off against Lincoln Red Imps at Inver Park.
The Irish Premiership champions hold a 2-0 lead from last week's first leg in Gibraltar thanks to goals from Paul O'Neill and Kevin O'Hara.
Both players came off the bench to score late on after the hosts had Yussef Flalhi Idrissi sent-off.
Larne are aiming to qualify for the league stage of the competition for the second time in three years.
"I've said to the boys to go out and grab the opportunity with both hands. You don't know when they're going to come along again, they are few and far between," Cosgrove told BBC Sport NI's Thomas Kane.
"It's absolutely massive for the town, for everyone involved with Larne Football Club.
"We need to go out and put on a show and get the crowd behind us from the get-go and make this an intimidating place to come to."
Read more here.
Image source, InphoLarne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Larne make two changes from their win in Gibraltar seven days ago.
One of those is forced upon manager Gary Haveron with Sean Graham suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards in the earlier rounds of the tournament. He is replaced by James Simpson, scorer of Larne's goal in their away defeat in Tbilisi earlier in their European campaign.
Paul O'Neill's goal from the bench last week earns him a starting spot in attack at the expense of Montel Gibson.
Lincoln Red Imps boss Juan Manuel Pavon rings the changes with four alterations from last week's first leg.
Nauzet Santana starts in goal, while Kike Gomez, Aly Coulibaly and Graeme Torrilla also start. Jaylan Hawkins, Joe and Facundo Alvarez all drop to the bench while Yussef Flalh Idrissii is suspended following his dismissal seven days ago.
Larne: Ferguson, Cosgrove, Bent, Ridley, Donnelly, Simpson, Gallagher, Doherty, Sloan, Lusty, O'Neill.
Subs: Carney, Wallace, McKendry, Randall, Magee, Ukek, O'Hara, McEneff, Gibson.
Lincoln Red Imps: Santana, Rutjana, Lopes, Mandi, Gomez, Mula, Coulibaly, Nano, Torrilla, Toledano, Eerstelling.
Subs: Hankins, Hamm, Pinto, Cardozo, Casciaro, Romero, Britto, Joe, Alvarez.
Larne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Larne manager Gary Haveron says he is keen to experience another "pinch yourself" moment by leading the club back to the league phase of the Uefa Conference League.
Having managed three of Larne's games during their Conference League debut in 2024-25, Haveron is hoping to guide the Inver Park club back to a major European stage after reclaiming the Irish Premiership title earlier this year.
Larne hold a 2-0 aggregate lead over Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps heading into tonight's play-off second leg at Inver Park.
"It's what you live for. The nights down here, I look back to when we played the Imps here two years ago when we got to the group stages and it was something that will live long in the memory for me, up there with my best night in football."
Read more here.
Image source, InphoLarne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Jana McCabe
BBC Sport NI at Inver Park
It is a huge night for everyone involved at Larne but what a night ahead for manager Gary Haveron.
Tiernan Lynch may have been the boss the last time the side qualified, but Larne native Haveron managed three of their games during their Conference League debut in 2024-25.
You can tell how much this club means to Haveron and it is clear the respect and adoration that Larne's support has for him as well.
Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 Larne (FT)
Larne are well placed to reach the league stage of the Uefa Conference League for the second time in three years after they beat 10-man Lincoln Red Imps 2-0 in the first leg of their play-off tie in Gibraltar.
Paul O'Neill came off the bench to head home the opening goal on 84 minutes, with Kevin O'Hara adding the second two minutes into stoppage time
Read the match report from last Thursday's first leg here
Image source, PacemakerLarne's Paul O'Neill celebrates scoring against Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar
Larne v Lincoln Red Imps (20:00 BST)
Hello and welcome to our live text commentary for another big European night for Irish Premiership champions Larne at Inver Park.
Gary Haveron's side host Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps in the second leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off tie, holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
The Inver Reds are aiming to reach the league phase of the competition for the second time in three years and they beat the Imps last time they did so that has to be a good omen this time around!
They are well placed to do so and net a considerable financial windfall given their advantage from the first leg, but they will want to secure victory tonight to ensure it's a smooth passage into Friday's draw for the league phase.
Stay with us for all the action and enjoy!
Image source, Pacemaker
Haveron is close to leading Larne to the Uefa Conference League for the second time in three seasons
Larne manager Gary Haveron says he is keen to experience another "pinch yourself" moment by leading the club back to the league phase of the Uefa Conference League.
Having managed three of Larne's games during their Conference League debut in 2024-25, Haveron is hoping to guide the Inver Park club back to a major European stage after reclaiming the Irish Premiership title earlier this year.
Larne hold a 2-0 aggregate lead over Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps heading into Thursday night's play-off second leg at Inver Park.
"It's what you live for. The nights down here, I look back to when we played the Imps here two years ago when we got to the group stages and it was something that will live long in the memory for me, up there with my best night in football."
The 45-year-old former defender added: "To be on the cusp of potentially doing it again, it's a pinch yourself moment and it's a credit to the players that we're back in this position."
Late Paul O'Neill and Kevin O'Hara goals in last week's first leg have put Larne in command of the tie as they chase qualification and the £2.7m reward that comes with it.
However, Haveron insists Celtic's Champions League play-off capitulation this week serves as an important reminder of the need for his players to guard against complacency.
"We have to approach it like we approach every game at Inver Park," added Haveron.
"We can't be any other way. It's not in our mindset to sit in and nullify, we're at our best when we're on the ball and getting after teams. That'll be the gameplan.
"Imps have our utmost respect, they're a really good team so we know difficult it'll be but we have to try and impose our gameplan on them and try and take advantage of being in front of our home crowd who will get behind us every minute of the game."
Highlights: Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 Larne
Having beaten the Imps in a play-off in 2024 to reach the main group or league stage of a major European competition for the first time, Larne lost five of their six Conference League games to finish 34th out of 36 teams.
Their European commitments also created a domestic fixture backlog and they ultimately finished 22 points behind Linfield before bouncing back to clinch their third league title last season.
And Haveron insists Larne are "for sure" better prepared for another crack at the Conference League than they were two years ago.
"We are in a better position because we've learned a lot from what we've done previously," he said.
"But there's still learning to be done and we want to continue to learn in Europe from being there."
Haveron added: "This is our 38th [European] game in the past six years. That's a wealth of experience we've picked up and we've learned lessons along the way.
"We've been beaten in games, we've had tight games and we've won quite a few as well so to have that many games in that space of time shows how well Larne have competed in Europe."
Manager:Gary Haveron
Formation:4 - 3 - 3
Manager:Juan Manuel Pavón
Formation:5 - 3 - 2
Manager:Gary Haveron
Formation:4 - 3 - 3
Manager:Juan Manuel Pavón
Formation:5 - 3 - 2
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