A 85th minute goal by Loughgalls Benji Magee saw 10 man Loughgall leave Seaview with a point on match day 6 of the Sports Direct Premiership. Magees goal cancelled out Paul Heatleys goal ten minutes before and a dismissal for Loughgalls Aaron Duke for dissent immediately after it.
Loughgall came out fighting from the first whistle and had two chances in the first five minutes. Crusaders settled down and Paul Heatley missed a great chance after he turned his man but shot wide from a great ball by Jude Winchester. Louhgall though kept going and Crusaders had a let off when Caolan Loughrans 30 yard free kick rattled off the underside of Johnny Tuffeys cross bar and thankfully bounced back into play and not over the line. Berraat Turker made a good stop from Paul Heatleys effort two minutes later and Paul Heatley then put the rebound wide. Both sides played some entertaining football without finishing but Crusaders had Johnny Tuffey to thank for going in all square at half time after a great save on 41 minutes.
The second half started with Paul Heatley failing to control in the box so he could shoot and Jamie Rea shooting high and wide for the visitors. Rory McKeown did well to recover from a poor back pass by chasing back and intercepting the cross on 58 minutes while Philip Lowry shot over on 61 minutes from a decent Adam Lecky knock down. Paul Heatley missed another glorious chance on 63 minutes as Crusaders started to tighten a grip on the game and a brilliant tackle by Andrew Hoey stopped Adam Lecky scoring for the home side. Stephen Baxter freshened the side up with two double substitutions in nine minutes and it worked. On 75 minutes Paul Heatley finally scored when he received a good pass from Ben Kennedy and he finished with composure to send Crusaders supporters wild behind the net. Aaron Duke was then given a straight red card directly after the goal for something said to the Assistant referee and the sub who had only come on minutes before was back in the dressing room. Loughgall did not give up and sub Benji Magee was a thorn in Crusaders defence from the moment he came on. He and Loughgall got their reward when Magee scored on 85 minutes after he controlled ran in on goal and put his shot over Johnny Tuffey to make it 1-1. As the game entered added time Loughgall had a chance to win but Ben Murdock headed over and with no further action the game ended 1-1 and Loughgall headed back home with a point with Crusaders frustrated at how they did not see the game out.
Next up for Crusaders are Glentoran in the Co. Antrim Shield on Tuesday night at Seaview (7.45pm)