Appeals for a penalty for Larne are waved away after Andy Ryan tumbled under pressure from Cathal McGinty. A corner is given but Joe Thomson can't beat the first man to groans of frustration.

A bit of life from Larne just before the break as Jordan McEneff breaks down the right and his ball to Andy Ryan is flicked away for a corner.

From that corner, Joe Thomson blazes over to jeers from the Dungannon fans behind the goal.

Five minutes until the break and Larne are struggling to put anything significant together.

Tired legs from Thursday evening perhaps?

Goal scorer James Knowles hits the deck under pressure from Sam Todd but Declan Hassan sees nothing wrong with it. A few sharp intakes of breath around me in the Main Stand there.

The Swifts are playing very well and deserve their lead with just over 10 minutes until the break.

Leo Alves jinks out of a couple of challenges and unleashes a low drive from the edge of the box. Rohan Ferguson is alert and tips it around the post.

A chance out of nothing for Larne as Joe Thomson charges down Adam Glenny's attempted clearance. His ball into the middle is challenged for by Sean Graham and Steven Scott with the latter needing treatment following a clash of heads.

Larne get a drop ball midway inside the Swifts half as a result.

Here is how James Knowles opened the scoring for Dungannon with a cool finish.

Sean Graham has been calling for the ball for about five minutes on the left and Matty Lusty finally picks him out. However, the former Ballymena United man flashes his effort across the face of goal.

The hosts are cranking up the pressure and Andy Ryan forces a wonderful save from Patrick Grogan to keep things scoreless. The Dungannon keeper plunged to his right to keep out the Scottish striker's header.

Ryan Nolan then heads wide from the resulting corner. Thirteen minutes gone.

Ryan Nolan crunches into former Larne man Thomas Maguire and the ball almost sails onto the dual carriageway.

No horns or screeching of brakes so I think we're ok.

Five minutes gone and the first shot comes from Dungannon's Adam Glenny which Rohan Ferguson saves easily.

Prior to that, Andy Ryan's cutback just evaded Joe Thomson.

We are underway on a drizzly afternoon on the east Antrim coast. The visitors get us going kicking towards the Church End.

Ballymena United attacking midfielder Ben Kennedy's goalscoring exploits have been rewarded by being named as the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Player of the Month for September.

Read more here

Image source, BBC Sport

"It's very frustrating. We're proud of the first 55 minutes. We battled really, really well and showed that we're able to compete at this level."

Tomas Cosgrove was in a defiant mood after Larne's 3-0 defeat by Molde, on what was a historic night for the Irish Premiership champions.

On paper, there can be few positives to take from a three-goal defeat. In reality, the underdogs represented the Irish Premiership with pride and distinction.

Going into the match with nothing to lose and everything to gain, Larne's Conference League debut in Norway was very much a game of two halves.

Before the match, manager Tiernan Lynch wanted his side to show that they were not just in Europe to make up the numbers.

He had spoken of his pride at reaching this milestone, and that feeling will only have grown after the opening 45 minutes.

Larne were superb, showing tremendous discipline to not only keep Molde out, but frustrate them.

Read more from Cosgrove here.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Tiernan Lynch makes four changes to his Larne side after Thursday's defeat in Norway. The most significant of those sees captain Cian Bolger return to action for the first time since limping off at half-time against Lincoln Red Imps at the end of August, making this his first domestic appearance of the season.

Also returning are Ryan Nolan, Chris Gallagher and Matty Lusty with Shaun Want and Dylan Sloan dropping to the bench and Levi Ives and George Marsh missing out completely.

Rodney McAree names the same XI that defeated Carrick Rangers 4-0 eight days ago with only Steven Scott, Kealan Dillon, Danny Wallace and Gael Bigirimana keeping their place from Tuesday's 5-0 win over Portstewart in the League Cup.

Larne: Ferguson, Thomson, Graham, McEneff, Bolger (C), Nolan, Todd, Cosgrove, Gallagher, Ryan, Lusty

Subs: Besant, Want, Donnelly, McKendry, O'Neill, Magee, Sloan

Dungannon Swifts: Grogan, S. Scott, Knowles, McGovern, Dillon, Alves, Glenny, McGinty (C), Maguire, Wallace, Bigirimana

Subs: Henderson, J. Scott, King, Owens, Boyd, Hutchinson, Mitchell

Image source, BBC Sport

Larne manager Tiernan Lynch believes his side will be better for the experience of their Uefa Conference League opener.

The back-to-back Irish Premiership champions, who were the first team from the league to ever play in this phase of a major European competition, were beaten 3-0 by Molde in Norway.

The County Antrim side were level until the 51st minute but conceded twice late on, either side of a red card for substitute Conor McKendry.

"We lacked a little belief in possession. We probably should have been a little braver," said Lynch.

"That'll stand by them. They now have the monkey off the back as the saying goes and I think they'll be a wee bit more confident going into the next game."

Read more here.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree has signed a three-year extension to his deal at Stangmore Park.

McAree is in his second stint as Dungannon manager and he helped the Swifts to the League Cup in 2018.

The 50-year-old left for Coleraine later that year and had a stint at Glentoran before returning to Dungannon in June 2023.

The Swifts have made a superb start to the Irish Premiership season and sit in third place in the table, just three points behind pace setters Linfield.

Former Bristol City and Fulham midfielder McAree also spent seven years at Stangmore Park as a player.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Good afternoon and welcome to our live text commentary of today's Irish Premiership game between Larne and Dungannon Swifts.

The champions come into this game after their Uefa Conference League debut on Thursday, which ended in a 3-0 defeat by Molde in Norway.

They face a Dungannon Swifts side who have enjoyed a really positive start to the season and a win for them today would move them level on points with second place Linfield.

Thanks for joining us - enjoy!

Image source, Pacemaker Press