SCORELESS AT INVER PARK
Larne slipped a little further off the pace in the battle at the top following a scoreless draw with Cliftonville at Inver Park.
Although scoreless at the break, both sides came very close to scoring inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour.
For Larne Graham Kelly just failed to get a strong enough touch to beat Aaron McCarey from a Tomas Cosgrove cross from the right while, at the other end moments later, Ryan Curran hooked a half volley against the crossbar.
Ronan Hale might have found an opening midway through the first half but his acrobatic volley dropped the wrong side of the far post. Ryan O'Reilly then had a chance for Cliftonville with a bullet header from a Rory Hale corner but, again, this went just wide.
Visiting keeper McCarey did well to twice thwart Larne, pushing a rasping Martin Donnelly drive over and then denying John Herron from outside the box.
Ronan Doherty threatened for Cliftonville early in the second half with a powerful 20-yard drive but this went just over.
Neither side could really find the cutting edge as the game progressed but Larne looked the more likely to find a way through, particularly in the closing moments when Jeff Hughes fizzed a low effort wide from 25 yards before Josh Robinson just failed to connect to an Andy Mitchell free-kick to the back post.
Substitution 
Substitution 
