In a sometimes feisty encounter United made changes from their victory over Dunmurry with Darren Lockhart coming in to make his Sky Blue debut among with Philip Carson and Orman Okunaiya making their first starts.

It was Larne who came out of the blocks sharper and forced two early saves from Sean O'Neill, both from free kicks. Ballymena retaliated and Andy Smith almost opened his account when his shot beat Larne keeper Brown but lacked pace and the defence was able to clear.

It was a competitive game that at times would have befitted a derby and Philip Carson showed in a number of thundering challenges a glimpse of the commitment United fans hope to see this season from their team.

In the 17th minute United came close twice within a couple of seconds of breaking the deadlock. First Brown kept out Muir's low 25 yard free kick and was up quickly to smartly block striker Smith's follow up.

Shortly after the break Brown came to the Invermen's rescue again when he blocked Okunayia's effort with his legs.

On 69 minutes though the keeper was powerless to prevent the opener. Second half subs Craig McClean and Nathan McConnell combinded and McConnell held off a challenge from a defender before firing a low shot across the goal and in off the far post.

United began to dominate the tie but Paul Muir and trialist from Dundela Kyle Alexander had to continue to look sharp to foil Larne's breakaways.

As the game seemed destined to finish with United winners by the odd goal they finally added the finish which gave a truer reflection of their dominance.

On 89 minutes trialist and ex Larne player Okunayia once again showed his potent long range shooting as he collected a short corner 22 yards out and fired home a vicious shot that gave the keeper no chance.

Roy Walker will have been pleased that Larne gave United a good physical test in this game and will look to continue the Sky Blues preparations with a friendly against Ballyclare on Saturday 25th July.

Teams:

LARNE	BALLYMENA UNITED
1: BROWN, Ryan	1: O'NEILL, Sean
2: MOORE, Reece	2: SMITH, Michael
3: HOGAN, Liam	3: COLLIGAN, Lee
4: MARSH, Jamie	4: HAVERON, Gary (c)
5: WHITE, Robbie	5: SURGENOR, Mark
6: McMENAMIN, BJ	6: MUIR, Paul
7: BROWN, Marc	7: PICKING, Mark
8: REID, Alan	8: CARSON, Philip
9: LARMOUR, David	9: SMITH, Andy
10: McLAUGHLIN, Damien	10: OKUNAIYA, Ormon
11: DICK, Adam	11: LOCKHART, Darren
Substitutes	-
12: McCONAGHIE, Niall	12: ALEXANDER, Kyle
Replaced Robbie White	Replaced Mark Surgenor (46 mins)
13: NEESON, Brian	13: WATSON, Aidan
Replaced Ryan Brown	Replaced Philip Carson (69 mins)
14: CORRIGAN, Noel	14: TAGGART, Gavin
Replaced Alan Reid	Replaced Darren Lockhart (56 mins)
15: RAFFERTY, Gary	15: McCONNELL, Nathan
Replaced David Larmour	Replaced Gary Haveron (46 mins)
16: MOORE, David	16: McNEILL, Paul
Replaced Damien McLaughlin	Replaced Andy Smith (69 mins)
17: FULTON, Bertie	17: McCLEAN, Craig
Replaced Adam Dick	Replaced Mark Picking (46 mins)
Yellow Cards:	-
None	None
Red Cards:	-
None	None