Report By Glenn Kelly
Josh Robinson and Adam Lecky sparkled as Crusaders produced a dominating display at a windy Seaview to seal a 2-0 win against a poor Coleraine side. Crusaders made just one change from the mid-week draw with Glenavon with Adam Lecky coming into the starting lineup.
The home side started the brighter, largely dominating the first period with the wind at their back. Paul Heatley broke the deadlock on 36 minutes following an error in the Coleraine defence to pick up his 201st goal for the Crues. Despite dominating large swathes of the game the home side had to wait until the 86th minute for their second, Adam Lecky slotting home from the edge of the area from a Philip Lowry pass. Coleraine came into the game unbeaten in their last five and would have been confident of picking up points on their travels. However, Stephen Baxter’s men don’t have the best home record in the league for nothing and started in commanding fashion pinning the visitors into their final third.
Josh Robinson had a chance in the 6th minute for the home side, but he couldn’t quite get enough on the ball from a Ross Clarke cross and the ball ran across goal and out. Crusaders refused to let Coleraine settle and the Bannsiders failed to register an effort in the 1st half, persisting with long balls against a strong wind. Heatley’s opener was well deserved. A Coleraine thrown in deep inside the Crusaders half was lost to Ross Clarke, who hit a long ball forward. Stephen O’Donnell, in the Coleraine defence hesitated and allowed the ball to bounce over him allowing Heatley to chase in on goal and strike a shot into the bottom corner beyond beyond the reach of Gareth Deane in the Coleraine goal. Heatley found himself through on goal seven minutes later after another error in the Coleraijne defence, this time though Deane made a good save with his legs, the half finished 1-0 to the hosts.
Coleraine again struggled to settle in the second half and use the advantage of having the wind at their backs. Crusaders duo Rory McKeown and Clarke went close for the hosts with powerful efforts but the hosts had to wait until the 86th minute for Lecky to put the game beyond doubt. The industrious Lowry poaching the ball from Jack O’Mahony in the Coleraine defence, the Crusaders top scorer turning assistant rolling the ball across the 18 yard box to an unmarked Lecky who cooly tucked the ball away into the centre of the visitors’ goal. Coleraine failed to register a single shot on target and lost their 14 game unbeaten league run in disappointingly tame fashion. Crusaders’ however will look forward to a trip to Ballymena next week to continue their march up the table.