'You'd have got 5000/1 on us': Stephen Baxter 'not disappointed at all' as Carrick Rangers' top-six Irish League hopes ended

Stephen Baxter’s side transformed their season with a stunning run throughout 2026, but they’ll now be battling for the final European play-off spot with Dungannon Swifts securing a top-six position.

Igor Rutkowski’s brace helped ease Ballymena’s relegation fears while Danny Gibson’s penalty provided Carrick with a lifeline.

Here’s what Baxter had to say after the match:

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH?

"I thought we were probably the better team and were on top in the first half, had a wee bit more of it.

"Tight game, they get another goal quite quickly after their first...it’s a stupid mistake really from Danny (Gibson), not being spatially aware of where he was in the moment. We were ready to make a change just before the corner.

"We were going to the 3-5-2, we charged at it.

"I thought we were brilliant in the last 20 minutes, you know, the quality of how we did move the ball around, we worked the ball into their box in time and number, we got a penalty and then two cleared off the line in that last kick.

"A point probably would have been a fair result, but it's okay saying these things after the event.

"They won 2-1, they got three points, we lost, that's it.”

COUPLE OF BIG CHANCES IN FIRST HALF – TAKE THOSE AND DIFFERENT GAME?

"Well, that's football, isn't it?

"You know, there's lots of wee things that float through my head. You'll talk to a manager and say, it's always the ‘what if’ moments, I can only tell you what actually happened.

"If we'd have scored a goal, would it have been a different? Yes, because you'd have been ahead. It didn't happen and we're beat 2-1.

"I'm pleased with the performance in many ways. There's been one or two sick notes that have been floating around, we had to ask one or two to play today that probably weren't 100%, but look, it's not excuses.

“We didn't do enough. I felt in the second half in that 20-minute period, 30-minute period, we were brilliant, but look, not enough.”

ENDS TOP-SIX CHANCES – DISAPPOINTED?

"No, I'm not disappointed about that at all.

"If you went into the bookies, you'd have got 5000/1 on us doing that, given where Dungannon were, where Cliftonville were with the games in hand, that was never happening.

"I always thought in the last three or four weeks that it was always a seventh position.

"If we'd have won today, it might have been different, but there's now four teams chasing that seventh position, Ballymena being one of them because of the way the five games now work.

"Portadown are probably the strongest of the teams in regards to where they are in their squad size, etc.

"Look, we were in 11th position two months ago, and people were going, ‘might they get relegated? Will Glenavon catch them?’.

"We went on a fabulous run of football, which was actually top-two type football for two months, and we were brilliant. That is what this team do.

"Unfortunately, we don't have the panel that can weather the injuries and weather the suspensions, and that's where things hurt you whenever it comes into later games. But we've done a lot of hard work, and that pleases me in a way.

"We'll not get too down or distracted around all of that. We have fought for where we are.

"We must pick ourselves up off the mat, we were a hare’s breath away in this game, we've been a hare’s breath in all the games this season.

"Outside of Glentoran, nobody has beaten us probably by two goals at the max, but mostly one, and that's the mark of a team that's been very competitive all season. You'll see that in the goal difference column.

"I am delighted with what we've done this season, where we are as a group. We now have to see it through, see if the seventh position is possible, but it's always an uphill task.

"I don't think there's been any team that has finished in the seventh spot and has ever won a semi-final, so that's another milestone that you have to try and crack.

"But we've been positive about what we're doing and how we're doing it. I'm pleased with where Carrick are at right now, but there's so much more work to be done.

"It took me four years, five years to build Crusaders – we're only one year into this. Last year was survival, this year was building, next year, we'll see where that takes us.”