IRISH LEAGUE ROUND-UP: Wins for Crusaders and Limavady United as Ballymena United and Carrick Rangers share the spoils
Dungannon Swifts goalkeeper Declan Dunne was sent off as Crusaders fired home three second-half goals for Seaview success.
Robbie Weir, Scot Rough and Lloyd Anderson each grabbed goals in the Crues’ 3-0 win.
It marks a return to winning ways for the Hatchetmen after back-to-back losses to Coleraine and Limavady United.
Reflecting on the result, Crusaders assistant manager Sean O’Neill told the club’s social media channels: “We had planned all week for that and it started after the disappointment on Saturday.
"Thankfully, the players were brilliant and it’s a great response.
“People might have looked at our result last Saturday and thought ‘Crusaders are back to their old ways’.
“We know Dungannon are a great side, so to come out and win 3-0, is a great result, it’s very positive and it shows there’s a huge amount of character in our changing room.
“Our plan was to frustrate Dungannon...we knew they liked to overload the middle of the pitch with (Jamie) Glackin and (Sean) McAllister, so we decided to be nice and narrow and be compact, and the boys were brilliant.”
Meanwhile, Jamie McGonigle grabbed three goals inside 22 minutes during Limavady United’s 3-1 home delight over Bangor.
Tiernan Mulvenna cut the gap and Bangor also managed to benefit with Stephen Lowry’s home red card but Limavady claimed full points for a second successive game.
Aidan Steele’s late header off a Danny Gibson cross left Carrick Rangers with a share of the spoils from the Ballymena Showgrounds.
The 1-1 draw featured Igor Rutkowski firing Ballymena home early in the second half before Steele made his mark.
Carrick suffered a red card off Kym Nelson’s straight dismissal.
Ballymena boss Oran Kearney spoke of his frustration after the full-time whistle that his side failed to bank all three points.
"We know there’s a lot of new players and a lot of newness to it...and it looks at times, particularly tonight, that they’re trying to figure each other out,” he told Ballymena’s social media channels.
“The first half was poor, there’s no other way around it, poor in terms of doing the simple things and the basics.
“At this level you can’t go to half-time without chinning the bar.”