Larne handed Latvian trip in Champions League as Crusaders and Linfield discover Conference League opponents

The Sports Direct Premiership champions will head to Riga for the first leg on July 9/10, with the return fixture at Inver Park a week later.

Meanwhile, Crusaders have been drawn against Caernarfon Town, who finished fifth in the Welsh Premier, while the Blues are on the road to Icelandic side Stjarnan, who finished third in the Besta deild karla – those games will be played on July 11 and July 18.

In the grand scheme of things it is a favourable draw for Tiernan Lynch’s side given they could have been handed a rematch with HJK Helsinki, who knocked them out a year ago, or Shamrock Rovers but they will be well aware of the danger posed by the Latvian champions.

Only two years ago, RFS delivered a hammer blow to Linfield in a Europa Conference League Play-Off, scoring in the sixth minute of injury time and then deep into extra-time to force penalties, which they won to deny the Blues an historic place in the tournament proper.

The Inver Reds will be determined not to suffer the same fate and become the first Northern Irish team to reach the group stage of a continental competition having reached the second qualifying round of the Conference League a year ago.

RFS edged out city rivals Riga FC to the Latvian title by a single point last season for only their second ever title, and boast several Latvian internationals among their squad such as goalkeeper Pāvels Šteinbors, defenders Mārcis Ošs and Roberts Savaļnieks, midfielder Dmitrijs Zelenkovs and forward Jānis Ikaunieks.

Larne were also handed an additional boost as they were drawn out in a secondary draw to determine which teams that lose their ties go into the third qualifying round for the Conference League as opposed to the second.

Due to the restructuring of the tournament, the uneven number of teams meant two teams were required to bypass the second round in order to make it an even draw, and Larne’s tie was the second of the two drawn out.

That means that even if Lynch’s men lose to RFS, they will instantly be one win away from qualifying for the Conference League, which would see them face one of the six winners from the Champions Path in the third tier competition.

Elsewhere, Crusaders will have their work cut out against a strong Caernarfon side who are playing in Europe for the first time after winning a Play-Off last season, while Linfield will enjoy a trip to Iceland to take on Stjarnan.

The Garðabær-based side are making their first appearance in Europe in three years, when they lost to Bohemians in the Conference League, although this will be their first meeting with a Northern Irish outfit.