Agony at the Oval as Stephen Baxter’s Crusaders suffer penalty pain in Irish Cup exit

Baxter described a penalty kick for handball by Jarlath O’Rourke - which referee Andrew Davey awarded after confirmation by Crangle - as the moment which “turns the game” in the 2-1 loss to Glentoran.

“The penalty kick comes and turns the game in the final two or three minutes to make it 2-1,” said Baxter in relation to the incident in which Davey stated the view of his assistant was blocked and that Crangle confirmed the referee’s “gut reaction” of handball. “We are watching from the halfway line, I’m standing beside the fourth official who gives the penalty - I couldn’t tell from the naked eye if it was a penalty.

“The linesman is right beside it, the referee is right beside it and both don’t give it.

“That’s the disappointing part of it, there’s no time to recover from an 87th-minute penalty.

“But they are here to do a job and give a penalty decision, so that’s it.

“I felt sure the tie was heading for extra-time and then we were hoping to get the turnaround again with the wind.

“The wind was incredibly strong, you’ve got to be able to control that as best as you possibly can but I was really pleased with how we knocked it about.

“Some of our passing and breakways were very good, we came here to try and win the game, with four forwards to push up the pitch and try to get possession.

“The game was dictated a lot by that gale-force wind, we had the better of it in the first half so we were able to get up the pitch and Glentoran could not get out.

“That swirling wind makes it difficult to control for everybody and everyone gave their best and worked hard.

“You have to congratulate all the players on both teams for putting on a great spectacle, a great game of football, given how difficult it those match conditions.”

Baxter was issued a post-match red card by Davey for an incident the referee described as “confrontation on the field of play”.

Davey also confirmed he would include in his report red cards for Crusaders’ Jordan Forsythe and Gerard Doherty, the former for “violent conduct for a push on a ballboy” and the latter for “throwing back the bottle” after “there were bottles came in from the crowd”.

Baxter, when asked about the red card incidents, said “I can’t talk through it”.

SADLER’S PEAKY BLINDER IRISH CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW: Ballymena United v Coleraine; Cliftonville v Glentoran.