Larne maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the Irish Premiership with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Bangor at Inver Park.
Striker Andy Ryan scored twice on his first start of the season following a long-term knee injury as the Inver Reds stretched their unbeaten sequence to 16 league games.
Ryan's first half double looked to have Larne in total control but Bangor rallied with substitute Ben Cushnie on target seven minutes into the second period.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark when skipper Lewis Harrison was sent off for a second yellow card.
Larne started brightly with Tiarnan O'Connor and Chris Gallagher having early sights of goal while Andy Ryan – starting for the first time this season after a handful of substitute appearances – fired a thunderbolt straight into Bangor keeper Gareth Deane's midriff.
It was no surprise when the home side went in front on 19 minutes when Aaron Donnelly's ball in from the left was controlled on his chest by Andy Ryan who then blasted past Deane.
The Bangor keeper prevented Larne from making it a quickfire double minutes afterwards when he sprang across his goal to brilliantly turn away Leroy Millar's header from Sean Graham's cross at full stretch.
The home side almost doubled their advantage in unusual fashion when Tomas Cosgrove's driven cross from the right was diverted towards his own goal by the back-pedalling Stephen Fallon but the ball cannoned off Deane's chest to safety.
The second goal duly arrived on 37 minutes when Tomas Cosgrove produced a fabulous cross from the right flank which was met with a firm downward header by Ryan.
The width of the upright prevented Ryan from completing a first half hat-trick as Larne broke quickly with Leroy Millar squaring the ball across the edge of the penalty where Ryan struck a first-time shot which came off the inside of Deane's post before ricocheting behind.
Bangor shocked the home side as they halved the deficit seven minutes into the second half when Ben Cushnie – one of three changes at the interval – played a neat one-two with Tiarnan Mulvenna before guiding the ball past Rohan Ferguson.
But the Seasiders' hopes of getting back on level terms suffered a blow just before the hour mark when skipper Lewis Harrison was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Sean Graham.
Larne had several chances to add to their tally but were wasteful in front of goal and in the end had to settle for a 2-1 victory.
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