Crusaders goal hero Paul Heatley more than happy to put side before self
Crusaders match-winner Paul Heatley was more than happy to put side before self after fighting through the pain barrier to ensure Stephen Baxter’s men earned a crucial three points against Loughgall.
The 36-year-old has scored goals for fun throughout his whole Crues career and stepped up once again when it mattered most in the 93rd minute at Lakeview Park.
It means the Seaview outfit haven’t lost any further ground on current Premiership leaders Linfield, who remain five points clear of second-placed Larne and nine ahead of the Crues in fourth, and Heatley says he wanted to offer whatever he could to his team, despite struggling with an injury.
"I've been struggling with a niggly injury and the gaffer is well aware of it having missed out against Portadown on Tuesday,” he said. “He asked me if I had a few minutes in me and I'm always happy to oblige when you get the opportunity.
"I think we thoroughly deserved it.
"We were unlucky to concede and we didn't let them create that much and controlled the game at 1-0, so it was just deserts to get the goal at the end and showed the fighting spirit that we don't give up.
"I was more than happy to come on and give him whatever I could.
"That's the same for all the players - it's a one for all, all for one approach.
"If you can contribute in any way then you're happy to take the risk and thankfully today it paid off for myself.
"It's a massive three points for us. We've had a poor couple of results and now we're leading into games against Linfield and Cliftonville, so it was really important to get back on track after Tuesday night.
"It's vital that we got those three points and I thought we genuinely deserved it."