‘We’ve got to change momentum’ plea as Carrick Rangers bid to arrest the decline with derby joy
Carrick Rangers’ derby date with Larne tonight goes beyond bragging rights – with stakes much higher than home pride.
Rangers welcome defending champions Larne to Taylors Avenue aiming to stop the rot following six Premiership defeats and five draws since the last league win last November 30.
That return has left Stephen Baxter’s side sitting nine points clear of bottom side Loughgall but stuck in the relegation zone looking up at a Glenavon team with an advantage of 12 having played a game fewer.
"We are where we are...we’ve got to change momentum, we’ve got to try and change mindsets,” said Carrick player/coach Curtis Allen across the official club social media platforms in the aftermath of last weeked’s Irish Cup exit to Dungannon Swifts. "The good thing is those things can change very quickly.
"We know we’re in a bit of a dog fight now in terms of the league.
"We’ve all just got to roll our sleeves up and make sure we’re pulling in the right direction.
"Big game obviously on Tuesday.
"Larne are a bit hit and miss so there’s a chance there to go and pick up points and all of a sudden you start building on that and we’ll see what happens over the next course of weeks.
"But there’s still plenty to fight for and we know and we’ve got to stick together and make sure we stay in this league and finish on a high.”
Danny Gibson put Carrick into a the lead up against Dungannon but the Swifts recovered with three second-half goals in a 3-1 knockout blow to Rangers.
”Obviously we’re disappointed...for periods of the first half we played very well, got our goal and looked probably as good as we’ve been for a long time.
"Had another chance for another goal...which would’ve changed the game probably.
"Going in at half-time you’re thinking ‘we’re doing okay here’ then I suppose recently the same things have been happening and just got a wee bit disjointed.
"A ball over the top and it’s a good finish...Dungannon were then on the frontfoot and we looked a wee bit tired and nearly thinking ‘here we go again’, which is disappointing at one each.
"We just didn’t really recover from that...at 1-1, we looked a bit jaded.”