Dean Smith: Crusaders disappointment shows how far my Loughgall side have come

​The Villagers gained top-flight promotion for the first time in 16 years only a matter of months ago but have already shown they can compete with the big boys, beating defending champions Larne in September while also picking up positive results against Cliftonville and the Crues earlier this season.

Smith would have thought his side were about to repeat the feat as the seconds ticked away at Lakeview Park on Saturday, but Paul Heatley had other ideas as the 36-year-old came off the bench to score in the 93rd minute to condemn the hosts to a 2-1 defeat.

"I’m frustrated with the result because we battled hard,” said Smith. "It probably wasn’t the prettiest game to watch ever but we certainly battled hard and we restricted them to very little chances.

"Sometimes as a manager all you ask for is everything out of your players and we got that today.

"I have to be happy in that respect and you can see how disappointed they were at full-time.

“I just said to them that 12 months ago Crusaders weren’t even on our radar and now we’re bitterly disappointed not to get anything in a game against them, so it shows how far this group have come.

"The biggest thing for us is that we didn’t look out of place today and that’s a big positive."