Tuesday 29th August
Kick-off 7.45pm
On Tuesday evening, 10 days later than planned, we welcome Crusaders to the Bet McLean Oval.
While Crusaders have enjoyed many positive results at the Oval in recent years, they were defeated on both visits to East Belfast last season: firstly in August 2022 when an early Ross Clarke strike was quickly cancelled out by Rory Donnelly’s equaliser, before a second half penalty by Conor McMenamin and header by former Crues defender Aidan Wilson secured a 3-1 win. The second game in late January of this year saw Shay McCartan net a quick brace at the start of the second half to secure a 2-0 win in front of the Monday night tv cameras.
Stephen Baxter looks to have recruited shrewdly in the summer window. While 7 members of last season’s Irish Cup winning squad have moved on, Baxter has brought in 6 new recruits, with the highest profile being former Glentoran and Linfield defender Jimmy Callacher. Also, highly rated midfielder Lloyd Anderson and exciting winger James Teelan have been brought in from Carrick and Newry respectively as the Shore Road men look to build for the future. Former Charlton Athletic striker Mikhail Kennedy from Dergview, goalkeeper Jordan Williamson from Ballymena and versatile ex Glentoran man Mal Smith have also been added to a hugely experienced group.
Crusaders are so far the in-form team in the Sports Direct Premiership, being the only team with a 100% record and an enviable goal difference of +16 after only 4 games. The Crues’ main attacking threat will come from towering striker Adam Lecky, winger Paul Heatley and free scoring midfielders Ben Kennedy and Philip Lowry. Though they suffered a major blow on Saturday in their win at Newry when Jimmy Callacher was carried off with what Baxter said may be a serious knee injury.
Warren Feeney: “On Friday night at Ballymena I was happy with how we got the job done. After scoring early I thought things got a bit casual for a while, but overall it was a good professional performance and we got the three points and didn’t look like dropping them at any point..
We’re still finding our feet a bit as a squad and the injuries we’ve had don’t help with gelling the team or finding the rhythm we want. When I looked at the lads in Ballymena who were ruled out that’s a lot of players who’d get into most teams in the league. We lost Moko at half time with an injury but I thought Jonny Russell was excellent when he had to be thrown in. He certainly looked comfortable at this level. The same goes for any of the lads who’ve come in since the first game. None of them have let themselves or the club down.
We can expect a tough game tomorrow night. I have a lot of respect for Crusaders. They’ve started the season very well and have a lot of dangerous players. But so have we. We know this will be a tough one but we’re well up for it. On the injury front we hope to have a couple of the lads fit and available so that will give us a few extra options.
I know supporters will be speculating with the transfer window closing this week. All I can say is that we do still want one or two in before Thursday and we are working very hard to secure them.”
Remaining tickets for this game can be purchased HERE
