As expected, the first half between the competition's only remaining pointless teams was cagey with few clear-cut chances. The hosts perhaps just edged it, as Daniil Kulikov squandered the game’s opening chance inside 11 minutes, as his diving header ws comfortably held by Rohan Ferguson.
Larne then went on the attack straight after, with Andy Ryan failing to find a free Paul O’Neill in the centre of the box, before turning his defender and firing towards goal. Unfortunately for him, his effort was straight at Fyodor Lapoukhov.
Kulikov then curled just wide for Minsk following a corner routine, before Joe Thomson tried his luck from range for the visitors, only for the ball to fly off target as the score remained goalless at half-time.
Just five minutes into the second half, Larne had a great chance to take the lead, but Ryan’s acrobatic effort at the back post landed straight into Lapoukhov’s arms. Minsk made two HT changes to try and change their fortunes, and one was Trofim Melnichenko, who almost made an immediate impact by firing just wide of Ferguson’s post from the edge of the area.
The substitute then won a penalty for his team midway through the half, as Cian Bolger caught him in the face. Aleksey Gavrilovich stepped up and sent Ferguson the wrong way, giving Minsk a crucial lead.
The other HT substitute Gleb Zherdev doubled Minsk’s advantage a few minutes later, heading home at the back post with Ferguson getting a hand to it, but not enough to palm it away.
Defeat was costly for Larne as there is now no chance of them even reaching the play-off places, while Minsk have given themselves a chance going into the final matchday of the league phase.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aleksey Gavrilovich (Dinamo Minsk)