The opening half was evenly contested, with both sides cancelling each other out. Firstly, Adam Lecky came close for Carrick when he met a cross inside the box, but Larne goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson reacted well to deny the forward. Ben Buchanan-Rolleston then got on the end of a free kick at the far post to cross across the face of goal but Danny Gibson was unable to get on the end of the pass.
The best chance of the half then fell to Carrick when Aidan Steele collected a loose ball in the box, but was unable to get his shot away cleanly, Ryan McKay was there to follow up but Larne managed to scramble the ball off the line and clear before McKay could poke home. At the opposite end, Nathan Gartside produced a solid display to keep the Invermen at bay, notably thwarting efforts from Leroy Millar to ensure the teams went in level at the interval.
Rangers took the lead in the 56th minute through a moment of quality from Paul Heatley. Billy Joe Burns won possession in midfield and threaded a well-timed pass through to Heatley, who finished clinically to give the Amber Army a deserved advantage.
However, Larne swung the momentum late on following a double substitution. Tiernan O’Connor levelled the match in the 80th minute before Paul O’Neill struck three minutes later to complete the turnaround and secure victory for the league leaders.
Despite the result, Carrick delivered a committed performance against a Larne side who entered the match unbeaten in their previous ten Premiership fixtures and now sit six points clear at the top of the table. Rangers remain in 11th place, six points ahead of Glenavon.
After the match, manager Stephen Baxter praised several individual performances, highlighting the return of Seanan Clucas and the work rate of Matthew Snoddy. Baxter also confirmed Kyle Cherry is likely to be out for a number of weeks having been substituted early in the first half.
The match also marked the successful debut of Carrick Rangers’ new digital home-match broadcast, produced in partnership with HomeTeam Network, with commentary provided by Adam Simpson alongside former long-serving midfielder Glenn Taggart.
Carrick Rangers are back in action on 30th December, travelling to Belfast to face Crusaders, with kick-off scheduled for 19:45 GMT.
