Old stomping ground

COLERAINE midfielder Lee Lynch insists he is putting emotion to one side as he returns to Larne this evening…

The Limerick native swapped Inver Park for The Showgrounds in the summer and has impressed since joining Oran Kearney’s side.

With the Bannsiders travelling to east Antrim this tea-time, Lynch remarked that his sole focus is getting a positive result for his new employers.

“I’m going back to Larne as a Coleraine player,” he stated.

“I loved my three-and-a-half years at Larne but I’m a Coleraine player and I want to get all three points for Coleraine.

“It will be good going back there but at the end of the day, we need to be professional, work hard and get three points because we have a lot of big games coming up in the next few weeks.

“For us, I think it’s about momentum and trying to gain as many wins as we can which will breed confidence into the changing room.

“I feel we have a good team which could maybe be dark horses if we get it right.

“I think the two losses that we’ve had; we’ve discussed it as a changing room and as a team, and we know how they’ve happened.

“It will be a tough game, there are no easy contests in this league but we are going for all three points.”

The Stripes bounced back from the recent defeat to Glentoran by overcoming Newry City at The Showgrounds last weekend.

Lynch, who was named as colerainefc.com Player of the Month for September, praised his team-mates for their patience in breaking down the visitors’ rearguard.

“We were disappointed after the Glentoran game,” he confessed.

“It was a cagey enough game but we felt we didn’t implement our own game plan enough.

“Oran worked all week on us getting it down again, being creative and doing what we do best.

“We wanted to bounce back after a defeat and we’ve done that twice now which shows good character from the changing room.

“We didn’t panic at half-time by going in level, we just knew we needed to make the breakthrough and thankfully that happened.”

That breakthrough would arrive via the boot of Lynch who grabbed his first goal in Coleraine colours, alongside another former Larne man Dean Jarvis who added a second four minutes later.

“Oran said to us that a third man run might get us in as they kept a very high line,” Lynch continued.

“I knew Josh would have the quality to pick the ball out and thankfully it went in.

“I’m also delighted for Dean and we are pleased to bounce back as we want to be up and around there.”