Crusaders midfielder Philip Lowry 'loving every second' of memorable campaign

The 33-year-old would make it twenty goals for the season – and sixty in total for Crusaders – as he scored in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win against Coleraine at Seaview.

“I’m delighted to get sixty goals for the Crues,” he said.

“It’s been a brilliant season personally, I’m enjoying every minute of every game and the accolades seem to keep coming.

“I’ve managed to put the ball in the net nine times out of ten this season.

“When you get a run going, it’s sometimes hard to get off it and the chances have just presented themselves and I’ve got to credit my team-mates for that.

“You have to keep enjoying these things but more importantly, we managed to get the three points.

“I don’t think people realised how difficult the conditions were in the first-half, it was all about managing that and getting in at 0-0.

“We gave away a sloppy penalty but I thought we ran out comfortable winners in the second-half and it was a thoroughly deserved victory.”

Larne visit north Belfast this evening knowing a single point will mean they are crowned Danske Bank Premiership champions for the very first time.

However, Lowry was quick to point out that the Crusaders squad will simply focus on themselves.

“We are out of the title race but we still have bags to play for with the Irish Cup final on the horizon and the European play-offs or the chance to finish second,” he added.

“We have gone under the radar all year and no-one has given us any credit.

“Look at the nature of the injuries we’ve had; we lost Paul Heatley to seven games, Ben Kennedy has barely kicked a ball and it’s been a phenomenal season to hang in there really.

“Everyone thought we weren’t going to score any goals but we are probably the second or third highest scorers in the league.

“They have come from all over the team and it’s a really good changing room to be a part of.

“We will put it up to Larne and aim to protect our record at Seaview.”

Crusaders have three avenues still available in terms of securing European football next year either by finishing second in the table, winning the Irish Cup or through the end of season play-offs.

“If we could finish second, I wouldn’t say it’s a free hit at the Irish Cup final but we would have secured Europe.

“That’s down the line and we will deal with the Irish Cup when it comes.

“I thought we deserved at least a point last Friday against Linfield and we probably had chances to nick it.

“These games against the top six are always extremely difficult but nobody will want to play us as the last game we lost was against Glentoran in January.

“We will look to keep this run going until the end of the season."