A third win out of three games has preserved the Glens position at the top of Group B, and now means that a win against Lisburn Distillery next Saturday will see the Glens safely through to the knock-out stages of the competition.

It wasn't all plain sailing however, and after a few half-chances fell to the home side, a sucker-punch landed on 12 minutes. After a Larne shot was blocked in a crowded Glentoran penalty box, referee Alan Black stunned everyone in the ground and pointed to the penalty spot.

Although Michael Dougherty went the right way, he was unable to keep Aaron Black's penalty out, and the visitors took a surprise 1-0 lead.

Interestingly, no Glentoran player was booked in the incident, in which the goal-bound shot was allegedly deliberately stopped by a Glentoran hand.

After a relatively quite opening 10 minutes, Glentoran sprung to life and pegged Larne back into defence, with the Harbour Rats struggling to get to grips with the intricate passing and swift interplay from the Glens midfield and attack.

It was only a matter of time before the equalizer came. Larne's frustration and desperation to clear the ball boiled over with a rash challenge on Daryl Fordyce on 23 minutes. Hamilton and Neill stood over the ball, a sight which must strike fear into any goalkeeper in the league.

Neill fired his shot through the wall, and although Chris Keenan in the Larne goal got a touch on the ball, he was unable to stop it from crossing the line for Neill's 1st goal of the season.

Glentoran kept applying pressure to the stretched Larne defence, and it wasn't long before they were cut open again. David Scullion collected the ball on the half way line, and breezed past Larne defender Andrew Cleary, and scythed through the heart of the visitors defence.

After a well executed one-two with Hamilton, Scullion received the ball again and, as he was bearing down on goal, was cynically hauled to the ground by the hapless Cleary.

This time, the referees decision wasn't disputed by anybody, as he produced a red-card for the defender, and pointed to the penalty spot.

Hamilton then cheekily chipped the ball into the top corner, and given his celebration, he enjoyed that particular penalty kick.

For the remainder of the half, Glentoran continued to attack with creative license, and were unlucky not to add a third before the break. Kyle Neill again went close with a stinging free-kick, blocked by the head of an unfortunate Larne defender.

Philip Carson was then on the receiving end of a hard challenge, which meant that the youngster's afternoon would prematurely end at half time.

Sean Ward entered the fray at half time, returning to the team after representing the Irish University team on International duty.

The second half started in the same vain as the first half ended, with Glentoran pressure. Gary Hamilton forced Keenan into a good save just 5 minutes into the half, and the 'keeper repeated his heroics to beat out a close range Michael Ward header, and a 35 yard Sean Ward left-foot rocket that looked destined for the top corner.

Keenan then managed to claw Kyle Neill's dangerous corner out from under the cross bar, but a couple of minutes later he was unable to defend a similar delivery, which Hamilton easily tucked away at the near post.

Chris Morgan entered the field of play in place of Michael Halliday on 62 minutes, and immediately was involved in a neat move with Michael Ward, to create an opening for Scullion. The winger appeared to be fouled, but still got his shot away, only for Keenan to produce another save.

And he continued to keep the Glens at bay by tipping away Kyle Neill's dangerous curled effort, which the 'keeper must have only seen late as it came through a crowded penalty box.

BJ McMenamin kept up his record of appearing in every game this season when he replaced Michael Ward with 20 minutes left.

The Glens then began to take the foot off the pedal, and on 73 minutes, Larne were gifted an opportunity to make the scoreline look alot more flattering than it should have. A miscued clearance by Dougherty saw the ball land at the feet of Marty Verner, and the striker made no mistake with his accurate finish.

The only real Glentoran chance still left in the game fell to Chris Morgan with 5 minutes left. Morgan worked hard to get clear through on the goalkeeper, but Keenan rounded of a good individual performance by closing in quickly, and snuffing out the danger before Morgan could capitalize.

And in the very last minute, Larne's Anthony Lagan threatened to take a share of the spoils, but saw a speculative effort fly over the Glentoran bar.

Courtesy of Russell Pritchard/PRESSEYE