IRISH LEAGUE: Paul Heatley orders a Seaview treble

The Crues had lost to Ballymena United 2-1 the week before at the Ballymena Showgrounds.

But they are now four points clear at the top of the Danske Bank Premiership after Saturday’s convincing win at Seaview.

And winger Heatley says Carrick made it difficult for them throughout the 90 minutes.

“We knew the way Carrick would set themselves up and they would make it difficult for us.

“But we played well and we finished off the goals well. It was great to score three but I will think about the three I missed.

“I think the manager will remember the three I missed but it was good to score and the main thing is we got the three points and the team played really well to win the match.

“It was a good performance and result but we will move on to the next game now and keep on working to pick-up three points from every game.“

Heatley scored all three goals for the Crues, while Rangers, now under former Crues player-manger Aaron Callaghan scored through Tiernan McNicholl.

It was a good performance from the home side and after Linfield’s 1-1 draw with Coleraine they have extended their lead at the top of the table.

Heatley was again the match winner and with his speed and skill the Crues will be relying on him to keep performing and scoring goals in the weeks and months ahead.

And Carrick boss Callaghan was gutted to have lost the game against the league leaders on their home patch.

“We will be disappointed and we could have nicked it.

“Twenty minutes we had a chance after our first goal but to be fair to them they put you under loads of pressure and our keeper had to make a couple of world class saves just to keep us in it and we just ran out of legs and steam at the end.

The players worked very hard and I could not have asked anymore from them. Crusaders are a very good team and they will be hard to beat at Seaview,” he added.