STEPHEN BAXTER'S IRISH LEAGUE GOODBYE AT CRUSADERS YIELDS EUROPEAN TICKET AFTER 'WE ROLLED THE DICE'

With Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter taking charge for the final time after 19 years at the helm, even he couldn’t have written the script.

There was a financial bonanza up for grabs – and both teams went for it from the off.

Jamie McGonigle shot Coleraine into an early lead before defensive pair Jarlath O’Rourke and Daniel Larmour hit back for the Crues before the interval. When Josh Carson hit a wonder strike from full 35 years after the restart, it looked like extra-time would be required.

That was until substitute Jordan Owens turned in a Jordan Forsythe shot in added time.

Baxter punched the air at the finish, knowing he had helped the club secure yet another injection of European money in his final Irish League game. Although Declan Caddell will be installed as the new manager later in the week, he doesn’t have the credentials to lead the club into Europe next season. It means Baxter will still be around for those fixtures.

“I thought there was going to be something dramatic, although I didn’t expect there to be so many goals,” said Baxter. “I felt both teams were very evenly-matched. The way Coleraine started the game; they were like Crusaders of old...they were knocking the ball down our neck and applying pressure. They had the momentum.

“We were trying to pass out through the thirds, and we didn’t settle quickly. Once we changed a few things, we scored two quick-fire goals. It meant they had to come out and attack us. We were holding out well until we were hit with a wonder strike (from Carson). It was a worldie of a goal.

“But with the clock ticking down, we thought it would be Jordan Owens’ time...with extra-time looming. Thankfully, we worked the ball in the right areas; we applied a bit of pressure and got the crucial goal. It’s fine margins and those are the little things that gets you over the line...we rolled the dice and it worked; we got the goal that takes us into Europe.”

The Bannsiders got off to a dream start with McGonigle requiring merely five minutes to open the scoring. Dean Jarvis’ throw in was cleverly nodded on by Matthew Shevlin for McGonigle to drill a low shot under the body of Jonny Tuffey.

But the home team turned the game on its head in a dramatic 60-second spell, with O’Rourke levelling nine minutes before the interval. Philip Lowry and Paul Heatley combined before the former Dungannon Swifts player curled in a beauty with his right foot.

Forsythe then whipped in a free-kick from the halfway line that caused mayhem in the Coleraine defence and, when the ball broke to Larmour, his scuffed shot appeared to ricochet off Stephen O’Donnell into the net.

The visitors were level with that Carson wonder strike 20 minutes from time.

But it was the Crues who nailed it two minutes into added time. Ross Clarke’s corner-kick ping-ponged inside the six-yard box and when the ball fell to Forsythe, his low shot came off Owens and ballooned into the net.

“I knew this was the last day; the last match,” said Baxter. “There was so much riding on the result, the full focus was on the game, not on me and I made that very clear to the players in the build-up.

“I didn’t want any of that, it had to be about the game and it was easy enough to navigate that.

"However, I must come in because of my license for the European games, but Declan Caddell will be the new man.

“As a team we have been outstanding over the past 10 or 11 games of the season.

“We clawed six points back off Glentoran to get fourth place to ensure we had the two home games in the play-off."

2024-05-07T06:01:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd