Haveron laments inability to postpone Coleraine game

Larne manager Gary Haveron has bemoaned the fact that the Northern Ireland Football League [NIFL] is unable to step in and postpone fixtures which he believes would boost the chances of Irish League clubs performing well in Europe. The Irish Premiership champions played out a 0-0 draw with last year's league runners-up Coleraine at Ballycastle Road on Saturday. That match was sandwiched between the Invermen's extra-time defeat by Georgian side Iberia 1999 in the Europa League third qualifying round second leg on Tuesday and their upcoming trip to Gibraltar to face Lincoln Red Imps in the Conference League play-off first leg on Thursday. Haveron does not lay the blame on likely title rivals Coleraine for the failure to call off the game but would like to see guidelines brought in line with other nations in a bid to give Northern Ireland clubs improved opportunity to progress on the continental stage. Larne are aiming to make the the league stage of the Conference League for the second time in three years. "I have no gripe with Coleraine whatsoever that they wanted to play this game because they did what they felt was right for them. They made a decision based on three points," Haveron told BBC Sport NI. "I'm saying my bigger thing is if the Georgian FA can step in and cancel games, if the Gibraltar FA can step in and move games to the side, why can NIFL not have the authority to do that? "Why do they not have the power to move a game to the side? Ultimately, for the good of the league, because the knock-on effect is if we make group stages, every club gets an extra £50,000, you have consolidation money. "For the good of the league, we've got to see the bigger picture. Tell me one club in the Irish League who could do without £50,000." Haveron says having measures in place to allow clubs the best opportunity to advance in continental competition is in the best interests of the league as a whole, especially with the possibility of losing a spot in Europe looming large. A drop in the Irish League's coefficient could see their representation reduced from four clubs to three. "The ramifications are we actually lose money and we'll lose a spot in Europe and we won't get it back for two-plus years - that's the reality," Haveron continued. "The league should have the power to let us have the best opportunity to secure that money for the league, to give us the best chance of being successful in Europe, we could have had this game [against Coleraine] moved aside. That would have given us seven days preparation for a game. "We would have had the same opportunity as the Gibraltar team, and I think that was only what we were asking for. "We weren't asking for an unfair favour or to load the dice in our favour. We were just asking for the same opportunity as what our opponents were getting." Coleraine and Larne play out stalemate at Ballycastle Road 'It could have been made a lot easier for us' Despite what he perceives to be the difficulties presented by a shorter than ideal preparation period, Haveron says his squad are "resilient" and will give their tie against Lincoln Red Imps their best shot. The east Antrim club defeated the same opposition when they advanced to the league stage in 2024. "We'll prepare as best we possibly can and we'll do our best in that there to represent the league, to represent Northern Ireland, to represent each other and the football club to get a result," said Haveron. "We've got Tuesday, and then we've got to fly Wednesday, and we've got to play at six o'clock in the middle of the heat they have out in Gibraltar. It's a difficult ask. "It could have been made a lot easier for us but it is what it is. But again, we'll be as resilient as ever. We'll have a game plan." Defender Dan Bent came off injured in the first half of the stalemate with the Bannsiders, providing the Larne boss with an additional injury headache before the big European tie. "We've lost another key player to our squad there today, so resilience in the group is going to be tested to the max. "To lose a key player in Dan Bent so early in the game to a needless challenge from [Matthew] Shevlin as a charge in the back - it's absolutely needless. "Now he's away to hospital there to be scanned on his shoulder because he fell awkwardly."