Ballymena United v Crusaders

of a long ball from David Hume, Arthurs held off a couple of defenders before finding the bottom corner. Taylor was called into action once again to prevent substitute Ben Kennedy from adding to Crusaders’ tally. Bangor applied some late pressure but the Crues had done enough to progress to the last eight. QUARTER-FINALS Crusaders 1 Glentoran 0 A Jordan Forsythe goal kept the holders on course for another tilt at Irish Cup glory as they edged past Glentoran in the last eight. Both sides started brightly at Seaview. Adam Lecky volleyed straight at Glens keeper Aaron McCarey early on before a low drive from Glens striker Shay McCartan struck the inside of the post and the rebound was cleared by Daniel Larmour. After that the hungrier Crues began to boss proceedings and it was no real surprise when Forsythe pounced after 29 minutes to score what turned out to be the only goal of the contest. Philip Lowry won the ball on the edge of the area before playing a one-two with Adam Lecky and shooting across goal. Lowry’s effort struck the upright before falling into the path of Forsythe and he tucked the ball home from five yards. Towards the end of the half Crusaders goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey had to be on his toes to tip over a Marcus Kane header. Six minutes into the second half Kane got on the end of a free-kick and headed the ball down for Jay Donnelly, however the striker fired wide. Crusaders continued to press and Paul Heatley went close with an effort from the edge of the area. The home side had another good opportunity when a free-kick fell to Philip Lowry and his shot went inches wide of the post. Glentoran battled hard but struggled to really test Tuffey and the Crues deservedly held on for the win. SEMI-FINALS Dungannon Swifts 0 Crusaders 1 Super sub Declan Caddell ensured the holders lined up a repeat of last year’s Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup Final. The experienced Crues midfielder showed great composure in added time to net the only goal of the game against the Swifts – with his first touch after coming off the bench in the 90th minute.

Although Dungannon battled hard throughout, Stephen Baxter’s team had the better of the chances during the match at Mourneview Park in Lurgan and deservedly reached the decider. The first clearcut chance came on 22 minutes. Crusaders winger Ross Clarke fired in a free-kick which was met by midfielder Philip Lowry and his powerful header was superbly pushed out by Swifts keeper Declan Dunne. Then Jordan Forsythe’s low strike from a free kick was comfortably gathered by Dunne, while Forsythe also had an effort which slid wide of the target. In the 37th minute Lowry picked out Paul Heatley down the left and he unleashed a low shot which hit the side netting. Just after the break Heatley was inches away from connecting with a whipped delivery from Rory McKeown. And then Heatley got on the end of a flick-on from Crues substitute Jordan Owens, however his sharp half-volley drifted inches past the post. In the 54th minute Forsythe produced a superb left foot volley from 25 yards which Dunne managed to push onto the post. It was a great fingertip save. On the hour mark Heatley bamboozled the Swifts defence with some fancy footwork before clipping the ball past the upright. The Dungannon defence, superbly marshalled by Caolan Marron and Dean Curry, had to work overtime to thwart the Crues as they tried to turn the screw. Curry put in a superb tackle as Heatley bore down on goal. The winner came two minutes into added time. Substitute Caddell, who just a few months back came out of retirement to help ease an injury crisis at the club, was only on the pitch two minutes when he got on the end of a through ball from Heatley and ran on to expertly lob the keeper. It was a cool finish.

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