Lusty's goal helps Larne win the first leg

In the first leg of the Champions League qualifying round, Larne kicked off their European campaign with a 1-0 win over Tre Fiori at the San Marino stadium. The decisive goal was scored by Matty Lusty just a minute before the end of the first half, giving coach Gary Haveron's team a slim advantage.

The 22-year-old Lusty had a chance to score a second goal in the second half, but the goal was ruled out after VAR stepped in and found an error in the build-up to the goal. The match was played with Larne in control from the start, and they had a chance to open the scoring in the 23rd minute when Dan Bent had a shot from the edge of the penalty area but was saved by goalkeeper Michele Nardi.

New striker Montel Gibson also missed a good opportunity to score in the 39th minute when he received the ball from Lusty's pass but his first shot was denied by Nardi. Aaron Donnelly and Chris Gallagher also had shots from outside the box that failed, until Larne finally found the back of the net late in the first half.

From a well-taken free kick, Tomas Cosgrove's deep cross was headed back into the middle of the goal by Sam McClelland, creating an opportunity for Lusty to easily score from close range.

Entering the second half, the game slowed down somewhat with few clear opportunities, until the 77th minute when Larne seemed to have scored a second goal. Substitute Josh Ukek stole the ball in the opposition half and passed it to Lusty, who calmly fired the ball past Nardi. However, this goal was rejected by VAR because referee Artem Gasparyan determined that Ukek fouled Tre Fiori defender Alex Sirri in this situation.

The second leg will be held on July 14 at home ground Inver Park, where Larne will look to preserve this advantage going into the next round.

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