The final game of the season has arrived and Glentoran come to Seaview on Saturday (5.30pm) to finish it all off in a game that also ends the Danske Bank involvement in the Premiership. Crusaders will always be thankful for their sponsorship and we can proudly call ourselves Danske Bank Premiership Champions 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2017-18.
Crusaders could still leapfrog Cliftonville depending on results at Seaview and Solitude where Cliftonville play Linfield and this is also the case for Glentoran who could clinch an automatic european spot over Linfield should the results go their way. A lot to play for then on the final day.
Crusaders will want to finish the season on a high and also with a good performance ahead of next weeks Irish Cup Final. Stephen will make use of the full squad for this one as he will possibly rest anyone with a niggle to give them time to recuperate. It will still be a strong side that will take the field and with the possibility of finishing fourth ahead of Cliftonville will be incentive to put on a display and take the last three points of a long season. A thrilling 3-3 draw last week against their North Belfast rivals shows the character of the side and this will carry on for Saturday.
Glentoran know that they could claim that automatic spot and will field a strong side and will look to come out of the blocks like they did last week against Coleraine leaving them 3-0 up at half time. Rodney McAree will lay it on the line to his side how important this game is for their season and Crusaders will be ready what lies ahead. Niall McGinn should play against Crusaders for the first time while regulars Bobby Burns, Conor McMenamin and Junior will also be closely watched.
Crusaders and Glentoran have met four times this season with Crusaders winning two and Glentoran winning two.
19/08/22 Glentoran 3 Crusaders 1
03/12/22 Crusaders 3 Glentoran 2
30/01/23 Glentoran 2 Crusaders 0
04/03/23 Crusaders 1 Glentoran 0 (Irish Cup)
Referee Ian McNabb
Asst Referees Paul Robinson & Gavin Hegarty
4th Official Ben McMaster
So the last game of the season and we want you there one final time at Seaview to get behind the lads for this game and also to give them a big send off ahead of the Cup Final. Your support both visually and vocally has been off the scale all season and we thank you for it all. Get your tickets for this game at www.crusadersfootballclub.com or Harry D's bar and also from the Ticket Office from 4pm. Keep the Faith. C'mon the Crues.