Declan Caddell eager for Crusaders to learn from the mistakes ahead of Bangor trip
Crusaders boss Declan Caddell says it’s important that everyone at the club learns the lessons from their opening day defeat to Carrick Rangers.
The men from the Shore Road made a blistering start as goals from Fraser Bryden, Adam Brooks and Finley Thorndike had them three goals to the good.
However, the game took a twist when Jack Scott netted from the spot and Daniel Gibson then pulled another back to reduce the deficit to 3-2 at the break.
Carrick then stunned their hosts by levelling on the hour mark and then grabbed all three points at the death through a second Scott penalty.
Crusaders weren’t in action last weekend due to Larne’s involvement in Europe, and Caddell is hoping that the ten-day break can spur his side on as they travel to newly-promoted Bangor this evening.
He told Crues TV: "The Larne game being cancelled gives us 10 days before playing Bangor away.
"What we are looking for is a response.
"If we can get that first 35 minutes of performance week-to-week, we will be fine.
"It's learning for some of the new players who have come in. We had seven debutants vs Carrick...so it's all completely new to them.
"It's learning for everybody moving forward that nothing is handed to you in this league.
"You can play as well as you want for 35 minutes but it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win the game.
"It's three points we massively dropped.”
Several of Crusaders’ new stars caught the eye in that opening game – despite the loss – and Caddell believes even more is going to come from their latest influx of players.
"I saw them in pre-season but the wider public doesn't know much about them,” he added.
"Bryden and Brooks are two different types of players. They probably complement each other really well, the way they play.
"You can see Fraser is a work-horse and technically very good.
“Adam has scored goals wherever he’s been and that’s why we wanted to bring him in.”
Bangor started the season with an eye-catching 3-1 win against Cliftonville on home soil.
Their second game saw them being edged out by Glentoran as a solitary goal from Ryan Cooney meant they left The Oval empty-handed.