Glentoran had to settle for a point this evening in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Larne in the Sports Direct Premiership at The BetMcLean Oval.
Joe Thomson scored twice against his former club either side of half-time, however Larne hit back with goals from Paul O’Neill and a penalty from Andy Ryan to level the game.
Under dry but cold conditions in east Belfast it was the Glens that settled faster under the lights and fans only had to wait 11 minutes until their team made a breakthrough.
Full-back Ciaran Coll hurled a long throw into the Larne box that was only half-cleared by defender Shaun Want. The ball was then met beautifully by the former Inver man Thomson who guided the ball into the net beyond goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson, much to the joy of the home support.
The hosts continued to dominate proceedings but were reminded that Larne are the reigning champions for nothing as they went close after 25 minutes. Olatunde Bayode linked up neatly with Sean Graham down the left before the latter zipped in a dangerous cross into the area, but it flashed past Ryan and O’Neill and away to safety.
Then on 35 minutes it looked like Thomson had grabbed his second of the evening, but the midfielder failed to get a proper connection on the ball that had been put into him by winger Dylan Connolly
With Larne growing into the game during the dying embers of the opening period, Paul O’Neill did have the ball in the net after converting a Tomas Cosgrove cross, but it was ruled out for offside as the Glens took a slender advantage into the sheds at half-time.
Half-Time: Glentoran 1 – 0 Larne

Declan Devine’s men went further ahead just after the restart with Thomson not to be denied a second. Dylan Connolly’s deflected cross looped towards the edge of the area, where hit his effort into the ground, but the ball had enough weight behind it to creep into the bottom corner of Ferguson’s goal.
The visitors hit back just before the hour mark. Graham’s fierce drive was punched out by Daniel Gyollai and when Ryan’s follow-up broke kindly for O’Neill, the striker poked home to set up a grandstand finish.
The comeback was complete on 67 minutes when Aaron Wightman knocked over Graham inside the box, leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the spot. Up stepped Ryan, who sent Gyollai the wrong way to roll the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the net as the spoils were shared.
Full-Time: Glentoran 2 – 2 Larne