Larmour finds the target to ease some pressure on Hamilton

DANIEL Larmour grabbed the only goal of the game as Glenavon secured a welcome three points with a win over Carrick Rangers.

It was just 10 days ago that Carrick were scoring for fun against the Lurgan Blues with a resounding 6-2 win, but Niall Currie’s men left their shooting boots at home on this occasion.

Former Gers youngster Larmour struck on the half-hour mark when he reacted quickest to James Singleton’s blocked effort from Sammy Clingan’s corner. Goalkeeper Aaron Hogg had initially punched clear as Clingan’s corner almost crept in and, in the scramble afterwards, it was the Glenavon centre-back who shot home.

In their last two games, Glenavon had conceded nine goals against east Antrim sides, with the drubbing by Carrick followed by Saturday’s 3-1 defeat by Larne, so Gary Hamilton will be delighted by this hard earned clean sheet.

For Carrick, they will look back on a multitude of missed chances, with Guillaume Keke the main culprit.

His first chance fell on nine minutes when some Lee Chapman trickery found the striker, but he headed up rather than towards goal and the opportunity was lost.

The visitors continued to impress and Keke’s ambitious overhead kick wasn’t too far away, quickly followed by a wasted opportunity by Lloyd Anderson, who blazed over after the Glenavon defence played themselves into problems.

Keke could — and should — have had a hat-trick as a series of lucky breaks saw him swap a quick one-two with Chapman, which put the French forward in, and he screwed his shot past Jonny Tuffey and the upright.

Carrick’s front man just wasn’t have a good night of it. Caolan Marron’s mistake gifted him another opportunity but he took too long to get his shot off and the home defence managed to scramble the ball away.

The second half, played in swirling wind, started a lot more even. The first real chance ar

Danske Bank Premiership

rived after 63 minutes when

Clingan curled a 20 yard freekick around the wall and past the post.

Stephen Murray wasted a good chance to double the host’s advantage from a Kyle Beggs cross, taking a touch when a first time shot looked the better option, giving Hogg time to save.

Carrick pushed hard for the equaliser but they couldn’t find a late response.

GLENAVON: Tuffey, Larmour, Burns, Marron, Daniels, Marshall, Harmon (Hall, 79 mins), Clingan, Beggs (McCloskey, 79 mins), Murray (Jenkins, 88 mins), Singleton.

CARRICK: Hogg, Surgenor, Rodgers, Chapman, Kelly, Nixon (Cherry, 85 mins), Ferrin, Neale, Keke (McGreevy, 71 mins), Hassin, Anderson (Smith, 68 mins).

Referee: Tony Clarke (Newtownabbey)

Man of the match: Caolan Marron

Match rating: 6/10

Decisive say: Daniel Larmour netted the only goal