Larne and Prishtina played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League second qualifying round tie.
The return leg will be played in Prishtina on Thursday, 31 July.
The first leg, played at the Ballymena Showgrounds as Larne’s Inver Park ground failed a Fifa Pro Standard pitch test, was one of few chances but the Kosovan visitors saw two opportunities cleared off the line in the second half.
After Larne keeper Rohan Ferguson twice denied Leutrim Kryeziu in quick succession with 23 minutes remaining, Xhelbrim Taipi looked set to tap home the rebound but Ryan Nolan got back to make the block.
The former Hercules defender was again in the right place at the right time soon after as he then nodded Akileu Ndreca’s effort off the line.
In an occasionally bad tempered game, each side saw three players booked, while Prishtina manager Arsim Thaci was also shown a yellow card.
The flurry of cards either side of the break had livened up a game where the best opportunities of the opening half saw Dylan Sloan thwarted by visiting keeper Ardit Nika after only 11 minutes before Blendi Baftiu could only direct his header straight at Rohan Ferguson at the other end.
The stalemate leaves the tie finely poised with the winner to face whoever emerges from the tie involving Portuguese side CD Santa Clara and Croatian outfit NK Varazdin.
Larne reached the league phase of the competition last season under then boss Tiernan Lynch and secured a memorable win over Gent at Windsor Park.
That, though, was via the champions path through qualifying.
After finishing second to Linfield in the Irish Premiership last season, the Inver Reds entered in the first qualifying round this time around and advanced to this stage thanks to a penalty shoot-out victory over FK Auda of Latvia.
