Red hot Crusaders defeat Ballymena 4-0 to win second straight Irish Cup title

Kieran Lynch at Windsor Park

Crusaders won the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey IFA Irish Cup for the second straight season on Sunday afternoon, as they claimed a storming 4-0 win over Ballymena United in front of almost 10,000 spectators at Windsor Park.

It was the same final pairing as last season; however, that was a much closer affair, which finished 2-1 to Crusaders after extra-time.

This time around, Stephen Baxter’s men were in red hot form and goals for Ross Clarke, Adam Lecky, Philip Lowry and Paul Heatley saw them run out as clear and decisive winners.

The first chance of the game came only four minutes in, when Clarke’s corner found its way to the back post where Jude Winchester was waiting, but he nodded wide with a diving header.

However, it wouldn’t take Crusaders too much longer before they opened the scoring.

On 12 minutes, a game of head tennis in midfield led to Heatley heading the ball towards Lecky, whose flick sent Winchester in behind the defence, but his shot was saved in a one on one by Jordan Williamson.

However, Crusaders kept the chance alive, and went 1-0 ahead after Clarke’s left-footed shot from the edge of the box deflected off Steven McCullough, deceived the goalkeeper and found its way into the back of the net.

On 13 minutes, referee Tim Marshall called a halt to the action to allow for both sets of players and supporters to pay their respects to 13-year-old Crusaders youth footballer Kaylee Black, who passed away recently, with a minutes’ applause. The Crusaders supporters went a step further, with a triumphant rendition of ‘Kaylee Black, she’s one of our own’.

When the action resumed, Ballymena created their first chance, but Josh Kelly headed Ross Redman’s cross wide. At the other end, Heatley was almost clean through, but he was denied by Scot Whiteside’s last-ditch tackle.

Crusaders continued to push for a second goal before half-time, and had a major chance when Williamson misread Heatley’s cross, and Lecky headed down for Philip Lowry. However, the ‘keeper atoned for his error with a save at point-blank range.

Then Jordan Forsythe had two chances to score, but his first attempt was saved, before a second bite at the cherry on the volley flashed wide. Thus, Crusaders went in only the one goal up at the break.

At the beginning of the second half, Crusaders let Ballymena off the hook, when a threatening counter-attack led to Heatley having a shot blocked, but they punished the Sky Blues on 53 minutes.

Lecky squared the ball across the face of goal for Jarlath O’Rourke, but his effort crashed off the post. However, Ballymena couldn’t clear their lines and were punished, with Lecky striking a looping effort which seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before dropping over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net to make it 2-0.

Ballymena needed to push players forward in order to formulate a response, but clear-cut chances remained elusive, and Crusaders put the result beyond all doubt on 65 minutes.

Clarke’s dangerous corner was met by a glancing header from captain Lowry, which beat Williamson and made it 3-0 to the north Belfast side. Lowry’s goal was well deserved, as he was awarded Man of the Match for his performance.

Crusaders were enjoying themselves and Heatley made it 4-0 soon after with an outstanding goal. The winger chanced his arm from 25 yards out with a curling effort, and he got his rewards, finding the top corner with the goal of the day.

The game fizzled out from there, with Crusaders not giving Ballymena any chances to cut into the lead, as the fans backed their champions from the stands with a party atmosphere that lasted well beyond the referee’s full-time whistle.

MATCH STATS

Ballymena United: Williamson, Redman (Gibson 57), Wilson (Kane 78), Whiteside, McDaid, Kelly, Waide, McCullough, McVarnock (Place 57), Graham (McGrory 86), Farquhar.

Unused subs: O’Neill, Tweed, Tipton.

Crusaders: Tuffey, Weir (Kennedy 87), Lowry, Lecky (Owens 83), Forsythe, O’Rourke, Winchester (Caddell 72), Larmour (Hegarty 87), Heatley, McKeown, Clarke (Thompson 87).

Unused subs: Murphy, Ebbe.

Referee: Tim Marshall.

Attendance: 9,688