'They've got pace to burn' - Irish League triple goal threat built on 'trust'
October’s run of four successive scoring appearances has further cemented the reputation of Carrick Rangers’ attacking triple threat – with Paul Heatley, Danny Gibson and Adam Lecky sharing seven of the 13 goals.
That scoresheet return – in wins across league and cup over Crusaders, Dungannon Swifts and Newry City AFC alongside a fightback draw with Linfield – is one celebrated by the man who assembled the Taylors Avenue frontline trio.
“They've got pace to burn and they've got quality...they've got goals in them,” said Carrick boss Stephen Baxter. “I think big Adam Lecky has been outstanding.
"Somebody who can hold the ball and bring the others into play and link the game for us.
"And we've done that particularly well also, so lots of wee positives in the stuff that we're doing going forward.
"I think you've got to have an understanding of what the league looks like.
"You've got to understand the resources that you have and then you've got to try and build a team capable of competing in this league.
"I could have gone out and tried to bring in younger players and we looked at the market in England, Scotland with the agents in around that 18-to-22 mark...I don’t know that would work in that same model here."
Baxter, ahead of playing host to Limavady United this weekend, puts trust at the centre of the squad-building success.
“You've got to have great trust with the people that you work with and the people that I've brought in here," said Baxter. “All these players that have played for me for a long time are people I trust implicitly with how they look after themselves, how they work.
"If they ring me and say ‘Stephen I'm struggling with an injury’, I'm going ‘that's fine, take a night off, relax’.
"I'll ring them and say ‘take a night off, you've been working really, really hard’...you can't get Heatley to take a night off.
"And that's trust and you need to be able to trust your people and know who you're working with and that's why I enjoy working with them...people that I know when they go out on that pitch they'll absolutely flatten it for you.
“You build your team around that, what players fit into the profile and then you target the people you think you can do it with.”