Ruaidhri Higgins accuses Larne of 'trying to put pressure' on officials ahead of Premiership showdown
Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins has accused title rivals Larne of “trying to put pressure” on match officials ahead of Friday’s Premiership showdown – and insists “they haven't been too hardly done by”.
Larne boss Gary Haveron was left furious by a decision to award Dundela a late penalty in Tuesday’s Co Antrim Senior Shield defeat – the ball appeared to hit an Inver Reds player in the stomach rather than the arm.
Haveron also pointed towards a call not to award Glentoran’s Jordan Stewart a red card for a poor challenge on Tomas Cosgrove last month and a similar situation in their win over Bangor when Matty Lusty was brought down.
The Bannsiders enter Friday’s clash sitting nine points ahead of third-placed Larne, who have four games in hand due to European involvement and international call-ups.
Higgins insists he’s “not buying” Larne’s position and believes they’re “trying to influence people” before a mammoth encounter.
“I agree it wasn't a penalty but Gary's bringing up a decision that was made three weeks ago that they didn't get,” said Higgins. “If we start all that we're never going to get anywhere with it.
“The other things is they need to be very careful because last season they had 12 penalties – if you do the maths that's a penalty every 3.1 or 3.2 games...compare that to us, we got a penalty every 19 games.
"I know what they're at because they're coming into a week leading into a big game.
"It's not mind games from me, I'm just pointing out facts that they haven't been too hardly done by
“When you do the maths, I've just explained the maths, every 3.5 games when their opponents get one in every 19 games.
"We're in the opposition box as much as anybody so I'm not buying that for one minute
“I know what they're at, they are trying to put pressure on people leading into this week
“They're going back to a decision made in the Glentoran game weeks ago, talking about a penalty decision the other night, which I agree wasn't a penalty, and then Cricky Gallagher's red card
"It's very clear...they haven't been badly treated at all when you look at the numbers – facts, not plucking things out of thin air.”