Baxter’s farewell tour will have a continental flavour
AS a player and manager, Stephen Baxter has given Crusaders the moon, the sun and the stars and his final gift is another shot at European football.
What a way for the 58-year-old to end his domestic reign as boss of the club he loves and what a way to finish a dramatic Irish League season.
On Saturday, Cliftonville ended 45 years of hurt in the Irish Cup by beating Linfield 3-1 in the Final and, 48 hours later, it was north Belfast rivals Crusaders celebrating following a dramatic 3-2 Play-off triumph over Coleraine courtesy of Jordan Owens’ injury time winner to seal a spot in Europe next season.
For the Crues, the victory means a precious £200,000 in the bank and that Baxter is not quite finished as boss yet because, for the 14th season, he will lead them into continental competition before completely stepping away as successor Declan Caddell does not have the necessary coaching qualifications yet to manage in Europe.
When Baxter was a formidable forward for the Crues, he was an influential figure as Roy Walker’s side won two League titles.
Fast forward to 2005 as he started out as boss, stirring something inside the club to return to those glory days, earning promotion from the Championship to become top flight champions on three occasions.
He also delivered the Irish Cup four times, three County Antrim Shields as well as the League Cup and Setanta Cup plus all those European qualifications.
In almost two decades at the helm, out of the hundreds of players he worked with, few were more important than club greats Owens and Paul Heatley, who unsurprisingly played key roles yesterday.
The European Play-off Final was Heatley’s last match having announced his retirement at the end of the season earlier this year.
It was some way for a true Irish League hero to bow out.
Trailing to Jamie Mcgonigle’s early strike, 36-year-old Heatley produced a delightful touch and pass to set up Jarlath O’rourke’s equaliser in the 36th minute and the game was transformed with Daniel Larmour’s deflected shot 95 seconds later giving the home side the lead.
There was further drama to come in the second-half when a blinding 70th minute strike from Josh Carson levelled things up prior to both sides going close in a tense finale as the clock ticked down.
Crues forward Adam Lecky had the ball in the net only for a touch-and-go offside decision to halt his joy but there was no stopping the Crusaders euphoria in the 92nd minute when, after a corner caused confusion, Jordan Forsythe struck goalward with Owens claiming the final touch.
Sheer delight for the Crues. Devastation for Coleraine.
This was a desperate way to end a dismal campaign which has seen fan protests calling for manager Oran Kearney to go.
Kearney will stay and will hope investment from the new owners will lead to better next term.
As for Baxter, there is just a little more to come as manager before he can walk away into the sunset.
He will do so as the ultimate Crusaders icon