Paddy McLaughlin left to rue crucial offside call as Cup dream ends

It’s a remarkable 43 years since the Reds lasted lifted the trophy and that run goes on as their north Belfast rivals came out on top 2-1 in the semi-final clash.

Joe Gormley gave McLaughlin’s men an early lead before Ross Clarke and BJ Burns gave the Crues a half-time lead which they never relinquished.

McLaughlin though felt the decision to rule out a Paul O’Neill goal with the score at 1-0 was a big turning point in the game.

“It was a brilliant start for us,” he said.

“We got out of the blocks really quickly, went 1-0 up and I think we were in total control of the game.

“We looked very dangerous every time we attacked.

“We scored a second perfectly good goal which was disallowed. I think if that stands it puts us in a really strong position to go on and win the match and get the club into the final.

“But that has been taken away from us.

“We’re disappointed with the decision. But that’s no excuse, going into half-time we took our foot off the pedal a bit and got a bit complacent.

“I spoke before the game about the experience and quality Crusaders have.

“They sometimes get a bit of criticism about it not being easy on the eye, but it’s effective.

“That got them the result. They knew how to defend and how to do the dirty stuff and run the clock down, but you’d do it yourself to try and take the momentum out of your opponent.

“They have that experience and craft, sometimes we could learn that ourselves.

“They nullified our threat until late on when we really went at it, but it was probably a wee bit too late.

“The Crues are very good at that. They are full of experience and quality and those are the kind of things you pick up along the way.

“If you can add that to your game, as long as it’s within the rules of the game, it’s a good thing to have and experience gets you that."