Four Larne games postponed because of European run

Larne's next four scheduled Irish Premiership games - including Sunday's match against Crusaders - have been postponed because of their Uefa Conference League tie against Lincoln Red Imps.

The Inver Park outfit will travel to Faro in Portugal for next Thursday's Conference League play-off first leg against the Gibraltar club with the home leg taking place a week later.

Larne's dramatic penalty shootout victory over Ballkani of Kosovo at Inver Park on Thursday night has already guaranteed the club around £850,000, which could be tripled by accounting for Lincoln Red Imps.

In addition to Sunday's game at Seaview, Larne's home Northern Ireland Football League contest with Portadown on 24 August and the away matches against Carrick Rangers and Coleraine on 27 and 30 August have also been postponed.

No Irish League side has previously reached the groups stages of a European club competition and NIFL has decided to lighten what would otherwise have been a busy period of fixtures for Tiernan Lynch's side in and around the play-off tie.