Linfield moved to within two points of Irish Premiership pacesetters Coleraine after coming from behind to beat Larne 2-1 at Inver Park.

Leroy Millar gave Larne the lead in the first half while Dylan Sloan also struck the post for the champions.

But Linfield stormed back with a strong second half performance to claim the points thanks to goals from Rhys Brennan and a late winner from Ethan McGee.

While Linfield close the gap on the leaders, it's now back-to-back home defeats for Larne, who remain fourth in the table.

The first opening fell to Larne as Dylan Sloan Sloan seized upon a loose ball 30 yards from goal and took a great touch to surge into the penalty area but his low shot was straight at Chris Johns.

At the other end, some intricate Linfield build-up play culminated in a shot from the in-rushing Ethan McGee but Larne defender Aaron Donnelly was on hand to make a crucial block with his body.

Larne came within a whisker of taking the lead when Ronan Doherty's cross was met with a firm downward header by Leroy Millar but Linfield keeper Chris Johns got down sharply to make a superb reflex save to flick the ball behind at the base of the post.

Millar wasn't to be denied, however, and he fired Larne in front just a couple of minutes later. Sloan burst into the Linfield penalty area only to lose possession but Linfield made an untidy attempt at clearing the danger and Paul O'Neill passed to Millar to rifle a shot past Johns from 12 yards.

With the home side in the ascendancy, they came within a whisker of doubling their lead five minutes later when Sloan ran onto a Tomas Cosgrove pass only to see his low shot cannon off the base of the post.

Linfield opened the second half brightly with Ethan McGee meeting a Kyle McClean corner at the back post but the full-back's effort was blocked among a crowd of players.

The Blues levelled six minutes into the second period when Rhys Brennan forced Dan Bent to give away a free kick near the touchline and from Kyle McClean's subsequent delivery, Bohemians loanee arrived with a perfectly-timed header past Ferguson.

Linfield introduced Matthew Fitzpatrick from the bench just after the hour mark and the big striker almost made an immediate impact, heading Kyle McClean's corner behind at the back post.

But the Blues went in front with eight minutes left when Frizzell delivered an inswinging corner which was drilled home with a low finish at the back post by McGee for his third goal of the season.

Linfield manager David Healy: "I thought we were deserved winners tonight, especially based on our second-half performance.

"We got caught with a poor goal and then for five or six minutes, Dylan Sloan hits the post and we were in a period where we needed to settle down.

"The players still believed at half-time, we believed in our shape. I thought we limited Larne to longer balls tonight and we had large spells of sustained pressure in the second half."

Larne boss Gary Haveron: "I don't know what happened us, we just didn't come out in the second half at all. Linfield came out with more purpose and intensity and they wanted it more which isn't what we expect from a team at Larne Football Club.

"We were very good in the first half and should have been two or three up but it's a bit of a worrying trend having done exactly the same thing on Friday night.

"We've put ourselves in the box seat again but we haven't got over the line and that is something I'm going to have to look at and address but we're nine games in and we're not panicking."