Linfield further boosted their Irish League title hopes yesterday evening with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Crusaders at Seaview, in which second-half goals from Matthew Orr and Matthew Fitzpatrick re-established the Blues’ 19-point lead at the top.
It was just the response David Healy would have wished for from his players after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Coleraine at Windsor Park in their last outing a fortnight ago. David Healy three changes to the team, with January signings Callumn Morrison and Kieran Offord making way for Josh Archer and Jamie Mulgrew to start, whilst Chris McKee made way for Matthew Fitzpatrick who was returning from a one-match suspension.
As for Crusaders, they were without midfield duo Ross Clarke and Jordan Forsythe who were both serving two-match suspensions having accumulated the threshold of 10 yellow cards in the Sports Direct Premiership this season. The Crues were also without injured strike duo Stewart Nixon and Jordan Owens, whilst long-term absentees Billy Joe Burns and Adam Lecky remain unavailable as they continue to recover from ACL injuries.
It was a match in which it felt like the first goal was going to be key in determining the winner. Crusaders almost scored within the opening three minutes when Linfield were unable to fully clear a free-kick before Harry Franklin arrowed a low strike towards the far corner, and it was well saved by David Walsh who dived low to his right to make a good reflex save before Chris Shields hooked the ball out of the danger area.
Other than that, it was a flat and scrappy opening 25 minutes with not much else to note. Crusaders goalkeeper Jonathan Tuffey was booked after 12 minutes when he delayed a Linfield throw-in by moving the ball, knowing that he was well out of his goal and could have been in trouble had he allowed the throw to be taken quickly. The yellow card was a price he was happy to pay.
The match opened up more in the last 15 minutes or so of the first half. The Blues had a real scare on the half-hour mark, as Ben Hall’s pass was intercepted in a dangerous area by Jordan Stewart who went through on goal, but David Walsh did brilliantly to read the intentions of his former teammate, pouncing at just the right time as Stewart attempted to round him.
Linfield then went straight up the other end and almost scored as Joel Cooper slipped in Euan East who was bombing down the left, and his whipped shot was brilliantly saved by Jonathan Tuffey who tipped it around the post. Minutes later, Cooper was then on the receiving end of a good through pass as Fitzpatrick clipped the ball over the top for Cooper to run in behind before he pulled his shot a yard wide of the far post.
Another former Linfield player, Jimmy Callacher, went close for Crusaders on 38 minutes. Jarlath O’Rourke was fouled by Ethan McGee high up Crusaders’ left side, and O’Rourke delivered a deep free-kick which was header against the crossbar by the central defender who made over 300 appearances for the Blues.
Callacher then had another great opportunity to score on 43 minutes when David Walsh was unable to get to Jordan Stewart’s deep corner, leading to a free header for the big defender, but he was unable to keep his header down as it went over the bar, and his frustration was evident.
The Blues then had the ball in the back of the net on the stroke of half-time, but it was disallowed for offside. A Kyle McClean header from 10 yards crossed the line, but as it trickled over the line the excellent efforts of Fitzpatrick to hold off a defender on the line proved to meaningless as the forward was ruled to be offside. Whilst there was a defender behind Fitzpatrick, the forward was behind Crusaders ‘keeper Tuffey when McClean made contact, and rules state that there must be at least two defenders behind the goalkeeper for the forward to be onside, and that wasn’t the case in this situation.
HT: Crusaders 0-0 Linfield
The Blues really turned the screw in the second half. Jamie Mulgrew and Kyle McClean in central midfield for Linfield really took the game by the scruff of the neck, and Blues’ keeper David Walsh had little to do in the second half.
Linfield were agonisingly close to taking the lead on 53 minutes when Ethan McGee’s long throw from the left was headed on by Ben Hall, and it hit Matthew Fitzpatrick who was just a yard out, but it somehow spun up over the crossbar.
Josh Archer then threatened when he played a crisp one-two with Matthew Fitzpatrick inside the box, but he fired wide from an improbable angle when, with hindsight, he was kicking himself for not squaring it across goal.
The breakthrough in the match then finally arrived on 71 minutes and it was a moment of brilliance. Kyle McClean’s free-kick from the left was headed out by Jimmy Callacher, however McClean latched onto the clearance to head the ball back into the box, where Matthew Orr still had a lot of work to do, but he rose well and got great purchase on his header which looped into the net. A top class finish for his second goal of the season and, on a day when the 17-year-old was called up to the Northern Ireland under-21 squad, it was quite the way to celebrate as the boy from Bangor continues a remarkable breakthrough season.
The Blues really kicked on after taking the lead. Rather than sitting back, they pushed for a second goal and were unlucky not to double their lead just a minute after the opener as Joel Cooper latched onto a bouncing ball and spotted Tuffey off his line, but the attacker was unlucky as his lob landed on the roof of the net.
Although David Walsh had a quiet second half, there was one fright for the Blues on 82 minutes as Chris Shields’ defensive diving header flashed not too far wide of his own post.
A minute later, Linfield knocked on the door again as the ball was switched to Euan East in space and he had a dig with a sweet 20-yard strike which drew another excellent save from Tuffey.
The Blues then finally got their second goal in the 84th minute as Kyle McClean played a neat pass around the corner to Matthew Fitzpatrick inside the box and he drilled the ball low and hard into the bottom left corner for his 15th goal of the season.
There was almost a third goal as Kieran Offord – who’d only been on the pitch a matter of minutes – went close against his former team after being slid in by Cammy Ballantyne, but his shot was well saved by Tuffey before Cooper’s volley on the rebound was blocked by Callacher.
The Blues now need three wins to secure a 57th Irish League title. That said, the approach of taking it one game at a time won’t change, so now focus turns to a home League match next Saturday against a Glenavon team who have been one of the division’s form teams since the appointment of Paddy McLaughlin as manager.
FT: Crusaders 0-2 Linfield