Larne made a bright opening to the game, but it was the visitors who went in front on 21 minutes.
Joe Crowe’s initial long throw was eventually worked back to the midfielder in a wide area and his driven cross was well controlled by Gibson, who swivelled before firing a low cross shot into the net via the inside of the far post.
The visitors came close to doubling their advantage when they counter-attacked quickly and Heatley ran past goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson, who had advanced from his goal, but the angle proved too tight for the winger and his low shot rolled wide of the far post.
It was 2-0 to Carrick three minutes before the interval as Joe Crowe exchanged passes with Paul Heatley before running into the penalty area and guiding a low shot past Ferguson into the bottom corner.
Remarkably, Rangers grabbed a third goal in first-half additional time when Matthew Snoddy’s through ball saw Heatley spin past Aaron Donnelly before surging into the penalty area and despatching a crisp, low shot past Ferguson.
Larne made four changes at the interval and three of them combined within four minutes of the restart with Dylan Sloan’s pass releasing Matty Lusty, who unselfishly squared for a tap-in for O’Connor.
The Inver Reds battled hard to find a way back into the game with Conor McKendry’s long-range shot beaten out by Nathan Gartside.
The home side eventually scored a second seven minutes into injury time when Bent forced the ball home from close range following a goalmouth, but the league leaders were unable to salvage anything from the game as they lost at Inver Park for the first time since the corresponding weekend last year.
