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Sat 8th November (League)

Newry City Reserves 0 - 2 Crusaders

Team: McKay, Gibson, McQuillan, Watterson (c), Murray, Smyth, Lorrimer, Boylan, Rooney, Roy, Bowers.                   Subs: Turner, Hogg, Quinn
 
Crusaders secured a comfortable win away to Newry with Gary Smyth playing his first full match of the season. Crusaders nearly conceded in the first 5 mins when a miss-hit free kick fell in the box to a Newry forwards feet but McQuillan made great tackle to clear the danger . Roy shot wide after good play from McQuillan and Rooney. Crusaders took the lead midway through the first half when McKay in goal released McQuillan on the left who fed Lorrimer, Watterson stepped forward from the defence and evaded two tackles  and passed to Roy, Roy split the defence with a perfect pass for Boylan to burst forward from midfield and shoot under the keeper. Crusaders made it two when a wicked Bowers free kick was headed home into the top corner of the goal. Newry thought they had reduced the score only for the referee give offside.
 
 Newry had a lot of the ball in the second half but Watterson, Murray Smyth, Gibson and McQuillan defended superbly. Crusaders were dangerous on the break and Bowers shot narrowly wide from a Roy pass. Roy was next to shoot wide after being played in by Smyth.


Wed 22nd October (George Wilson Cup)

Cliftonville Olympic 5 - 1 Crusaders

Team: McKay, Spence, Watterson (c), Gibson, Murray, Turner, Lorrimer, McQuillan, Boylan, Rooney, Armstrong.          Subs: Earley, Collingwood, Hogg, Quinn
 
Crusaders suffered another defeat in the GWC at the hands of rivals Cliftonville at Inver Park. The first half started off quite slowly with little action in the first twenty minutes. McKay made a superb double save to deny c'ville diving at a opponent's feet and reacting quickly to tip around the post from the rebound. From the resulting corner McKay failed to hang to a cross and the rebound was touched home from two yards. Crusaders equalised immediately when a great 30 yard pass from Spence caught the c'ville defence napping and turner chipped the advancing the keeper from just inside the eighteen yard box. A Lorrimer pass put Rooney in the clear but from 10 yards and only the keeper to beat Rooney shot well wide.
 
C Ville took the lead when a long ball was misjudged by McKay and he felled an opposing forward inside box. C'ville scored from the resulting penalty. McQuillan lost possession  just inside the centre circle and c'ville raced away to score. Heads seem to drop and C'ville made it four when a corner was not cleared and a shot from the edge of the box was deflected into the crusaders goal. C'ville rapped the game up from a well struck shot from 25 yards.


Sat 11th October (League)

Crusaders 4 - 1 Glentoran II

Team: McKay, Murray, Watterson (c), Gibson, Turner, Rooney, Caddell, Lorrimer, McAllister, Owens, Roy.                    Subs: Armstrong, Spence, Quinn, Arthurs
 
Amazingly for the second week in a row Crusaders went behind within the first minute, when a cross from the left resulted in free header from a Glentoran forward squeezing inside the post. It took crusaders fifteen minutes to get going and finally get into the game with both Owens and Roy testing the opposing keeper. Crusaders equalised when the hard working Caddell won possession and fed McAllister who shot home from just outside the box. Owens was clean through on goal and upended in the box but amazingly the referee waved play on.
Disaster struck crusaders when Roy limped off with a bad groin injury after forcing the keeper into a good save. From the resulting corner Owens challenged the keeper and fell awkwardly with a serious wrist injury which was later confirmed as broken. Arthurs and Armstrong replaced the two unlucky players.
 
Arthurs scored a wonder goal after a long ball from McKay was initial won in the air from Arthurs and he picked up the loose ball and shot home into the roof of the net from 30 yards. Crusaders should have went further ahead when Murray shot over from 6 yards. Arthurs scored again when a cross from Murray was punched out by the Glentoran keeper and Arthurs volleyed home from 12 yards. Armstrong shot wide from close range after good play from McAllister. Arthurs completed his hat-trick when Murray and Armstrong combined well down the right for Armstrong to cross to Arthurs who swivelled and shot low into the corner of the net to give crusaders a convincing win. 


Sat 4th October (League)

Lisburn Distillery 4 - 0 Crusaders

Team: McKay, Murray, Gibson, Watterson ( c), Turner, Rooney, Bowers, Lorrimer, Armstrong, Roy, Arthurs.                Subs: Hogg, Lenaghan, Boylan
 

A result that flattered Distillery a little with a few individual errors and bad finishing being the difference between the two teams. Crusaders went behind after 20 seconds in disastrous fashion when Gibson slipped and then Watterson slipped and it left a Distillery forward a simple task of shooting home from close range after a long clearance. Crusaders responded and the distillery keeper made a good save from Roy. Lorrimer shot wide after good play from Armstrong. The wet pitch was playing havoc and another slip in the Crues defence resulted with another goal for distillery. Bowers should have equalised but his weak shot was easily dealt with by the keeper after another slip this time from the distillery defence.
Distillery went further when a Muir free kick was wickedly deflected by the Crues wall wrong footing the unlucky McKay.

Crusaders were playing some good football but lacked a little punch up front. Boylan missed from 6 yards after good work down the left by Arthurs. Lenaghan drilled a shot from 25 yards which the opposing keeper gathered at the second attempt. Arthurs hit the bar with a bicycle kick after distillery failed to clear a corner. Muir scored from a corner late on from a rare distillery attack.


Sat 20th September (League)

Lisburn Distillery 1 - 2 Crusaders

Team: McKay, Shannon, Gibson, Watterson (c), Turner, Rooney, Lorrimer, Lenaghan, Armstrong, Roy, Arthurs.            Subs: McAllister, Holland, Collingwood.
 
Crusaders picked up a well deserved win away to Distillery with a comprehensive display. Crusaders started off very brightly with Rooney causing all kinds off problems down the left wing and he was first to test the keeper from just inside the eighteen yard box but the distillery keeper did well to save. Crusaders took the lead when Turner and Rooney combined and  Rooney's wicked shot took a deflection off a distillery defender pass his own keeper. Crusaders got a penalty when the impressive Rooney was upended in the box. Unfortunately Lenaghan's penalty was well saved by the keeper.
 
The second half was similar to the first with Crusaders in control. Turner did well down the left but his curling shot was narrowly wide. Roy broke free but his shot was easily saved by the opposing keeper. Crusaders went further ahead after a good cross Shannon fell to Roy on the edge of the eighteen, Roy fainted to shot but instead crossed to Arthurs who touched home from 8 yards. Distillery equalised immediately when a ball from the right was not cleared and Cooling scored from close range. Lorrimer played Rooney clear with a fantastic defence splitting ball but unfortunately Rooney's shot went narrowly wide. McKay made a double save within seconds to keep Crusaders in front. Distillery applied a lot of pressure in the last 10 minutes but Gibson and Watterson who were in superb form dealt with everything Distillery had to offer.


Wed 17th September (League)

Crusaders 1 - 2 Ballymena

Team: McKay, Shannon, Spence, Gibson, Watterson (c), Bowers, Emerson, Lorrimer, McAllister, Roy, Arthurs.             Subs: Lenaghan, Rooney, Armstrong
 
Crusaders lost an evenly balanced home game to Ballymena in midweek. In a quiet first half Crusaders had slightly better of the chances with Arthurs striking the post from twenty five yards and Emerson heading wide from close range from a dangerous cross from the impressive Bowers. Ballymena had only one real effort when a long clearance over the top caught out the Crues defence and the Ballymena no 9 shot over.
 
From the restart Ballymena took the lead when a little hesitancy in the Crusaders backline was punished when another long ball was cut back from the right wing and tapped home from 6 yards. Roy was unlucky when he shot straight at the keeper from 15 yards. Crusaders equalised when Armstrong won a strong tackle, Lorrimer picked up the loose ball and fed Watterson who played a clever pass to Roy who made no mistake from 12 yards. Ballymena stole the match at the end when Crusaders lost the ball in the right hand side and the opposing No 9 drilled a shot low into the goal from 20 yards.


Wed 3rd September (League)

Glenavon 1 - 3 Crusaders

Team: McKay, Watterson, McQuillan (c), Spence, Gibson, McAllister, Caddell, Emerson, Hyndes, Arthurs, Bowers.        Subs: Rooney, Lenaghan, Armstrong
 
 
Crues got a valuable win in midweek after a good second half performance coming from a goal down to win 3-1. Glenavon had the Crues on the back foot and a weak Larmour shot was easily dealt with from McKay in the Crues goal. Leggett shot wide from when clean through for Glenavon. The Crues went a goal behind midway through the first half when the Glenavon No. 7 beat a couple of Crues defenders and fired home from just inside the eighteen yard box. The Crues nearly equalised when Hyndes headed over after a good cross from McAllister.
McKay made two fine saves to keep the Crues from slipping further behind.
 
The second half was a completely different story with the Crues changing their formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2. This made an immediate impact with a Bowers effort going narrowly wide. Emerson equalised from a fine shot from 25 yards after neat play between the impressive Gibson, Hyndes and Caddell.  Caddell put the Crues ahead with a fine strike into the roof of the net after being played in by McAllister. It was all Crusaders and McAllister played a one two with substitute Armstrong and fired home from 15 yards to put the game out of reach.


Sat 30th August (League)

Crusaders 1 - 6 Linfield

Team: McKay, Bryson, Turner, Gibson, Watterson, Shannon, McQuillan (c), Anderson, Rooney, Arthurs, McAllister.       Subs: Collingwood, Bell, Burke
 
 
A weakened Crusaders team missing no fewer than eight players faced a very strong Linfield team who had the advantage of calling upon five subs from their 1st team's game that was played on Friday night.
 
New signing in goal for Crusaders, McKay, made a smart save from a Miskimmon shot. Rooney was unlucky from 25 yards with his shot drifting wide. Linfield took the lead from a strike from the edge off the box after a header from Lindsey. McKay did well again diving bravely at the feet off White with both players ended up injured.
 
The young Crues started off brightly in the second half and an Arthurs shot was easily saved by Addis in goal. Anderson equalised for the home side hitting a stunning volley into the top of the net from 25 yards. Linfield scored against the run of play when Crusaders failed to clear a short corner and from what looked like an offside position the ball was touched home at the back post. McKay misjudged a deep cross and Martin headed into an empty net. Crusaders heads same to drop and Miskimmon scored from the spot. McKay failed to hold a shot and White touched home for number five. Martin headed home number six late in the game.


Sat 23rd August (Steel & Sons 1st Rd)

Glentoran 5 - 2 Crusaders

Team :Dempster, Shannon, McQuillan (c), Roughley, Murray, Quinn, Caddell, Lorrimer, Arthurs, Lenaghan, Rooney.        Subs: Curtis, Gibson, Turner
 
Crusaders were knocked out of the steel and sons cup after a comfortable win by a strong Glentoran team boasting 4 senior players. Crusaders started confidently with Lenaghan shooting wide. Crusaders went ahead when Shannon played a one two with Caddell and shot home from outside the eighteen yard box. Roughley went off injured after 15minutes and was replaced by Gibson. Rooney should have doubled the lead when somehow he miscued from 10 yards after neat play by Arthurs.  Arthurs was unlucky from 25 yards when with the keeper beaten his shot rebounded off the bar and to safety. Glentoran were coming more into the game and equalised, when good work down the right hand side and cross was touched home at the back post by Berry. Glentoran edged ahead when a poor pass from Caddell caught out the Crues defence and Glentoran raced away to score. Rooney had a chance to equalise but shot wide after good play from Arthurs and Lenaghan. Glentoran added their third in 5 minutes when Berry again got on the score sheet.
 
 
Glentoran put the game out of reach when Dempster failed to hold onto a weak free kick from the edge of the box. It was all Glentoran and they scored again from another free kick which took a wicket deflection wrong footing Dempster. A Caddell free kick fell to Arthurs who eluded two tackles to scored from close range. In the final minutes Caddell was sent off for his second bookable offence.


Thu 21st August (Steel & Sons Cup Prelim. Rd)

Crusaders 2 - 0 Bryansburn Rangers

Team: Dempster, Gibson, McQuillan, Murray, Smyth, Turner, Lorrimer, Caddell, Quinn, Rooney, Lenaghan.                   Subs: McAllister, Collingwood, Boylan
 
Crusaders progressed into the first round proper of the Steel & Sons cup after a comfortable 2-0 win. Rooney was first to try his luck robbing a defender and shooting wide when well placed. Rooney again went close shooting straight at the keeper. Crusaders had a lot of the ball with Turner causing all kinds of trouble from wide left. Crusaders eventually took the lead when Gibson fed Lorrimer who crossed for Caddell to head home.
 
Crusaders put the game out of reach early in the second half when Rooney beat the offside trap and slipped in Lenaghan who touched the ball into an empty goal. Crusaders controlled the game and Turner struck a post from 20 yards. On a rare attack Bryansburn's nearly pulled a goal back late on only for their centre forward to shoot wide when well placed.


Thu 14th August

Crusaders 7 - 1 Institute (League)

Team: Dempster, Spence, McQuillan (c), Roughley, Murray, Rooney, Coulter, Hyndes, Caddell, Roy, Arthurs.                  Subs: Turner, K Hogg, Goodhall, Curtis, Lenaghan
 
Stephen Coulter and Stephen Hyndes were given sixty minutes each to prove their fitness after pre season injuries. Crusaders opened the scoring after 5 mins after a flowing move down the left with Rooney crossing for Arthurs to touch home from 6 yards. Crusaders added their second goal after a poor kick out from the opposing keeper struck his own defender on the edge of the box and Arthurs slid in to score.
 
Arthurs completed his hat trick shooting low into the corner of the net after good play from McQuillan. Roy scored from outside the box with a delicate chip. Arthurs added his fourth with the aid of a deflection after a cross from Roy. Arthurs became provider crossing from the right for Rooney to score. Roy added his second from a pass from Arthurs. Institute scored a consolation goal late in the game.


Sat 9th August

Dungannon 2-1 Crusaders (League)

Team: Dempster, Quinn, McQuillan (c), Murray, Spence, Caddell, Emerson, Lorrimer, Rooney, Boyland, Lenaghan
Subs: Hogg, Collingwood, Turner, McAllister
 
Crusaders started of their campaign away to a strong Dungannon team boasting five 1st team players. Dungannon came out of the blocks quickly and scored after ten minutes. From a long throw in, the referee somehow missed a blatant push on Emerson and Dungannon scored from the edge of the box. Crusaders nearly equalised when a Boylan header from a Quinn cross was excellently tipped around the post by the home keeper.
 
Crusaders started off better at the start of the second half and Lorrimer split the Dungannon defence with a great  pass only for Rooney to shoot straight at the keeper. McQuillan  shot wide from 12 yards after good work from Rooney down the left hand side. Caddell was next to shoot wide when well placed. Disaster struck for the Crues when from another long throw in, McCann headed home from 6 yards.  Quinn was unlucky to be shown a red  card for second bookable offence. Crusaders pulled a goal back with 10 mins remaining. Rooney was played through and his shot was saved by the keeper, the rebound falling to Emerson who touched home. Dempster was called into action saving with his feet from Mark McAllister. Crusaders should have equalised when Emerson hit a 30 yard pass to Rooney who shot high and wide when 10 yards out.