O'Connor proud of Glenavon despite Larne defeat

Glenavon boss Michael O'Connor will look to the positives despite seeing his side go down 2-1 at Larne on Friday.

Luke Cartwright headed the Lurgan side into a half-time lead, but Paul O'Neill netted an equaliser shortly after the break with Conor McKendry popping up with the winner with 77 minutes on the clock.

While disappointed with coughing up the equaliser so early in the second period, O'Connor expressed pride in his players' efforts and feels they can take heart from how they battled to the end.

"It was a hard way to lose but I thought we were really good tonight, especially in the first half," he told BBC Sport NI.

"It's schoolboy stuff, conceding straight after half-time the way we did. But I'm really proud of the players tonight. They were great in the effort and commitment they gave. It's a tough place to come, but I thought we did ourselves proud tonight.

"Towards the end, we looked like we might get a chance. We were rolling the ball into the box in the last four or five minutes, but it just didn't fall to us."

Glenavon's goal came from a set-piece and this was an area of attack that may have brought further rewards. O'Connor feels that may well be the case going forward and something they can build on.

"I think it's going to be a big part of the second half of the season for us," he continued.

"Set pieces can pick up points and make a big difference. I thought the game plan worked really well tonight, especially in the first half, where we sat in, we knew we'd hit on the counter-attack, and we did it well. But listen, they're a top team."