Crusaders keep 100% winning record but 4-0 victory over Newry City marred by serious Jimmy Callacher injury

​The 32-year-old, who arrived from Linfield this summer, was involved in a collision in the 18th minute and had to be carried off on what was an otherwise perfect afternoon for Stephen Baxter’s side on the road.

Ben Kennedy, fresh off scoring four times in their 9-0 victory over Carrick Rangers on Tuesday, found the net once again to give the Crues a lead before Daniel Larmour’s header and an Adam Lecky second-half brace secured the points.

The Seaview outfit continued their fine form at both ends of the pitch – they’ve now scored a league-high 17 goals in four matches while conceding only one – but Baxter admits there was a “big black mark” on the afternoon with Callacher’s injury.

"I'm happy with the goals,” he told CruesTV. “Our performance level was okay.

"To come away from home and score four goals against anybody is a really good result, but sometimes you're looking at the performance and we could have got a little bit more out of it.

"There's obviously a big black mark over the day with the injury to Jimmy Callacher, which is the most worrying aspect of today and it looks a very bad injury - we're very concerned for him.

"That was difficult to deal with and we had two or three of our players struggling with a little bit of illness and they were waving over saying they were going to be sick.

"There was a bit of lethargy in the way we were playing and I thought Newry knocked it around pretty well.

"I thought our finishing and the areas we got into put them under severe pressure and that told with the goals.

"I felt before half-time we were very comfortable, were passing it around and had them at arm's length.

"They got off to a reasonable start in the second-half and kept it in good areas.

"We whipped in a cross and probably took the game away from them with that goal.

"From our perspective, it's a solid performance on the road, we're very pleased with the three points and you move on."

Newry have shown early signs of promise under new boss Gary Boyle, beating Carrick Rangers and Glenavon, and Baxter predicts the Showgrounds could be a tough place for opposing teams to pick up points at this season – which made Saturday’s success even more pleasing.

"I think teams will get it tough down here,” he added. “This is a Newry team with a lot of enthusiasm, lots of decent players in their team, they play to their style and put you under a bit of pressure.

"This won't be an easy place to come for anybody, so when you come down here and get up the road with your three points you're well pleased.

"When you go away from home, opposition are going to set up how it suits them and the style they play with, and therefore you have to work all of that out before you come.

"Points are hard gained - you see at Windsor Park with Carrick's result there."