Report By Glenn Kelly
Crusaders signed off their league campaign with a 2-1 loss against Glentoran at Seaview but will be impressed with the efforts of emerging talent Jay Boyd. Junior opened the scoring for the Glens in first half injury time after a cross from Conor McMenamin. The impressive Terry Devlin added a second following a headed assist by Luke McCullough early in the second half before local man Jay Boyd pulled one back with his first goal in a Crusaders shirt.
As expected Crusader’s boss Stephen Baxter made wholesale changes to his side with one eye on next week’s Samuel Gelston Whiskey Irish Cup final. Rodney McAree on the other hand played his strongest hand with his Glentoran lineup. The changes appeared to disrupt the flow of the match with neither side managing to get a foothold on the game in the early stages. It was 19 minutes before the first meaningful effort and it fell to influential Glens’ winger McMenamin. A through ball from Niall McGinn set the International through on goal but he delayed his shot and Robbie Weir made a well-timed challenge. On 35 minutes Glentoran lost talented 19 year-old midfielder Harry Murphy to a nasty leg injury when he appeared unchallenged. This led to seven minutes additional time and Glentoran just needed six of those to score the opener. McMenamin found the ball down the right and crossed to the edge of the six-yard box where the unmarked Junior slotted home a neat volley.
Into the second half and Crusaders goalkeeper Tom Murphy made an excellent double-save from Devlin in the 56th minute but the young forward only needed one more attempt a minute later to double the Glens lead. A corner from the left was nodded back by defender McCullough and that man Devlin swivelled to hit home a smart volley from 12 yards. He could have truly put the game to bed 10 minutes later but he slid his shot wide of the Crues goal when he should have done better. Crusaders never gave up the fight and on 76 minutes the impressive Boyd got one back for the hosts. After holding up the ball well inside the box, he managed to twist away from the defenders present and get his shot away, hitting the Glentoran net by way of the near post to make it 2-1. Neither side could add to their tally in the remaining minutes and the Glens hung on for the win. However, given Linfield’s win at nearby Cliftonville, the east Belfast side remain third in the table and will enter the play-offs. Crusaders will be hoping for victory at next week’s Irish Cup Final to snatch a European spot and prevent the need to enter the play-offs themselves.