Report By Glenn Kelly
Paul Heatley marked his 450th appearance in a Crusaders shirt with the pick of the goals as Crusaders retained the cup and blew away Ballymena United 4-0 in the final of the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup Final at the National Stadium. Ross Clarke opened the scoring on 12 minutes. Adam Lecky and man-of-the-match Philip Lowry added two more before Heatley’s curling stunner settled proceedings and broke Sky Blue hearts for a second year in a row
The game was preceded by an impeccably observed minute’s silence from both sets of fans for 13-year-old Kaylee Black, the Crusaders Titans goalkeeper who tragically lost her life last week. A thunderous round of applause followed in the 13th minute as show of respect in front of her family.
With temperatures on the up on Sunday afternoon in Belfast it didn’t take long for the football on the pitch to sizzle. Within four minutes Jude Winchester had a glorious chance to open the scoring for the Crues. Clarke with the trademark corner and Lecky with the flick-on to the incoming midfielder at the back post, but he failed to find the target, heading wide from six yards. Crusaders appeared to settle the quicker of the two sides with Ballymena finding it difficult to get a foothold in the game. This pressure told in the 12th minute with the opening goal coming to the Shore Road side. Winchester should have done better when through on goal, failing to beat the excellent Jordan Williamson in goal. From the save the ball found its way not Jordan Forsythe who in turn passed inside to Clarke and he fired a left-footed effort that struck Sky Blues defender Steven McCullough, leaving Williamson no chance to stop the ball from bouncing into his net, 1-0 Crusaders. As Ballymena grew into the half they enjoyed greater possession but were struggling to have a genuine threat of the Crusaders goal. Their best effort falling to captain Josh Kelly with a header six yards out that just went wide of Jonny Tuffey’s upright. Philip Lowry had two glorious chances and Forsythe had a quickfire couple of efforts just before the break but on all four occasions Williamson justified his selection in goal for the Braidmen with outstanding goalkeeping. The half ended 1-0.
After a slightly cagey opening to the second period, it was the Shore Road side who doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute. Lecky squared the ball across the edge of the box where full-back Jarlath O’Rourke slid the ball past Williamson but could only find the post. United could only scramble to that man Lecky whose somewhat scuffed effort looped over the Sky Blues’ keeper and into the net much to the excitement of the hatchetmen support behind the goal; 2-0 to the Crues. 12 minutes later as Ballymena began to wilt in the afternoon sunshine, Crusaders were happy to play on the counter attack. Clarke again the dangerman down the right winning a corner. From the resulting corner taken by the winger, captain Lowry rose highest to head home into the far corner to make it three. As a sea of blue headed for the turnstiles, veteran wide-man Heatley struck a pearler from 20 yards. A misplaced shot from Lowry was only half cleared by the Ballymena defence and Heatley settled himself before curling his effort into the top corner for a fourth. Ballymena continued their effort but David Jeffrey will be disappointed with the lack of final product. For Stephen Baxter the cup is retained, Europe is assured for an unbelievable 13th time in 17 years and the club can be proud of their efforts on a day when everyone had the thoughts of young Kaylee Black on their minds. GBNF.