Crusaders grab top spot in the Irish Premiership after a riotous 2-2 draw with rivals Glentoran at the Oval. Daniel Larmour opened the scoring for the Crues, before Jay Donnelly equalised and Shay McCartan scored from the spot for the hosts. Jordan Owens scored three minutes from time to snatch a draw for Baxter’s team. Two red cards were also shown in a game that had everything.
Both sides began the game brightly, with Crusaders happy to play a patient game early on. The game burst into life on 16 minutes. A right-sided corner by form-man Ben Kennedy was met by the on-rushing Larmour at the near post. The defender managing to shake off Donnelly and glance his header into the far corner of the Glentoran goal to make it two goals in two appearances. Just five minutes later Glentoran were back on level terms. Dangerous midfielder Bobby Burns chased onto a throw-in down the right channel, and his hook back into the box was met smartly by Donnelly who headed high into the net for his third goal of the season. Warren Feeney’s men grew into the game after the equaliser and could have scored again. Donnelly had a fantastic chance from eight yards out, but the cross from Daire O’Connor was superbly intercepted by a Larmour slide tackle, as the half finished all-square
Glentoran started the second period brighter with Jonny Tuffey being forced into several saves. However, on the hour mark it was Stephen Baxter’s men who went closest. Kennedy forced a fine save from Aaron McCarey at full stretch with a curling effort from the edge of the box, before Philip Lowry almost bundled his way into the net but lost control at the vital moment. However, on 67 minutes Glentoran flipped the scoreboard on its head. Jordan Forsythe attempting an acrobatic overhead clearance from inside his own area. Unfortunately, he contacted with the head of Junior and the referee did not hesitate in awarding the penalty. McCartan, stepped up to send Tuffey the wrong way and make it 2-1. The period of joy was short lived however for the hosts. Just four minutes later in a dramatic shift, Burns saw his second yellow and a red for time-wasting with a hesitancy to take a corner and was followed by his manager a few seconds later for protesting. With the man advantage Crusaders poured forward and got rewarded when substitute Owens brought them level on 88 minutes. The all-time leading scorer at the club bundling home from close range after a goal-line block by Patrick McClean from a Ross Clarke shot. The drama was not done there, with Forsythe sent off in the final minute for a second bookable offence to finish a memorable encounter.
GLENTORAN: McCarey, McCullough, Wilson, Burns, McCartan (Kelly 81’), Donnelly, O’Connor (Russell 74’), Singleton (Palmer 59’), Sule, McClean, Junior
Subs: Webber, Palmer, Kelly, Boyd, Russell, Walsh, McGinn
CRUSADERS: Tuffey, Burns (Winchester 76’), Weir (Clarke 45’), Lowry (Owens 76’), B Kennedy, Lecky, Forsythe, O'Rourke, Larmour, Heatley, McKeown
Subs: Kerr, Teelan, Owens, Winchester, Smith, Clarke, Anderson.