TWO goals were enough to give Crusaders a 2-0 win at a sun-kissed Coleraine Showgrounds…
By: Charlie Cooke
On a day which marked the 50th anniversary of the last time the Bannsiders won the Gibson Cup, Oran Kearney made two changes which saw Stephen Lowry replace the suspended Josh Carson, while Jack Scott was named as an option off the bench in favour of Senan Devine.
With two minutes on the clock, Janie McGonigle played Conor McKendry inside the Crues’ penalty area, but unfortunately for the Bannsiders, his shot rose over the crossbar.
With 20 minutes played, the Crues broke the deadlock through Daniel Larmour. A cross came into the box, the ball bounced and wasn’t dealt with properly, allowing Larmour to lift the ball over Rory Brown who was off his line.
As we approached the half hour mark, the ball was worked into the box to Senan Devine inside the area who had a near-post shot saved by Johnny Tuffey. Moments later, Lyndon Kane had a header gathered by Tuffey after the ball was lifted into the box by Alfie Gaston.
The last action of the half saw the Crues double their lead from the penalty spot courtesy of Jordan Forsythe who sent Brown the wrong way after a well worked piece of play by Ross Clarke ended with Adam Lecky being fouled.
With three minutes played of the second-half, McKendry aimed an accurate free-kick just outside the box goalward which Tuffey made a last minute adjustment to push the ball by the post.
The Bannsiders would have plenty of possession and territory after the break but the lack of killer instinct in front of goal meant Crusaders were largely untroubled.
In the last moments of the game, Jamie Glackin’s cross forced Tuffey into a save and on the counter-attack from the corner, Brown produced a brilliant save at the other to deny the Crues from scoring a third by saving Stewart Nixon’s header from Clarke’s cross.
The last game of the regular season is next Saturday as we travel to Inver Park to take on Larne.
COLERAINE: Brown, Kane, D. Jarvis, McKendry, Lowry (A. Jarvis ‘60 mins) [A. Scott ‘81 mins], Farren, O’Donnell, Glackin, McGonigle, Devine (J. Scott ‘60 mins), Gaston (Lynch ‘60 mins).
Subs Not Used: Gallagher (GK), Shevlin, Tejada.
CRUSADERS: Tuffey, Weir, Lowry, Kennedy (Maguire ‘90 mins), Lecky (Barr ‘71 mins), Forsythe, O’Rourke, Larmour, Clarke, Nixon, Boyd (Owens ‘71 mins).
Subs Not Used: Kerr (GK), Joshua, Donnelly, James.
Referee: Lee Tavinder