Shamrock Rovers hammer Larne to earn first Conference League win

Shamrock Rovers recorded their first UEFA Conference league phase victory with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Irish League champions Larne at Windsor Park.

Stephen Bradley's side took an early lead thanks to Josh Honohan’s third-minute strike, and they were in total control by the 33rd minute as they added two more through Johnny Kenny and Graham Burke’s flicked effort, which was helped over the line by Larne’s Tomas Cosgrove.

Chris Gallagher pulled one back for the home side straight after the break, however, it proved no more than a consolation as Burke added a fourth in the 54th minute to secure a vital three points for the Hoops as they eye the knock-out phase of the competition.

It was a perfect start for Rovers who took control of the contest in the opening seconds as they showed real composure knocking the ball around for the first two minutes before Burke took advantage of Joe Thomson’s slip in midfield.

The Rovers attacker burst forward before cutting inside to skip into the penalty area, where his flicked effort was deflected away from the goal.

However, the ball landed perfectly at the feet of Honohan arriving late from the left and the wing-back slotted it home from ten yards out.

Larne looked for an immediate response, however, Rovers sat in for a few minutes and easily dealt with the more direct style of play from the home side.

They finally crafted an opportunity in the 11th minute as they worked the ball across the edge of the box before Benji Magee raced to the byline and drilled a dangerous ball across the face – a moment’s panic in the Hoops back line but the ball was quickly cleared.

A moment later Rovers almost capitalised on a long hopeful ball over the top, but the bounce just took it beyond the