Larne boss Tiernan Lynch: Flak makes me even more determined to bring success to Inver Park

Larne boss Tiernan Lynch says some of the recent flak and heightened scrutiny he and his players have come under made him more determined to end the season on a high.

Questions were asked of Lynch, who has been at the helm since 2017, and the Inver Reds when a title challenge failed to materialise in the second half of the campaign.

Being dumped out of the Irish Cup in a penalty shootout by eventual finalists Ballymena United at the quarter-final stage in March also cranked up the pressure.

But Larne, who lifted the County Antrim Shield in January, signed off on a high when they secured European football with a 4-2 play-off win over Glentoran on Friday night.

“Some of the criticism makes you more determined,” said Lynch. “People can give their views and their two cents worth and that will never bother me.

“If you're not delivering you deserve to take criticism from people who pay their money at the gate. You take it on the chin.

“I'm not going to stand here and try to paper over some of the cracks we have had this season. We shouldn't be finishing 21 points behind Linfield and Cliftonville (in the league).

“I'm not going to shy away from that. We shouldn't have put ourselves in that position and I'm as much a part of that as anybody else, I'm not pushing that on anybody.

“There are things we have to do as a team, as a club and we know what we have to do, the areas we have to work on and areas we have to improve.

“I won't shy away from that. We'll meet the challenge head on and hopefully we won't find ourselves in this position again.”

Lynch believes there is a growing weight of expectation on the “Larne shirt” and it's as much to do with perception as the pounds sterling wealthy owner Kenny Bruce has invested in the club