Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES..
Lowry: It’s a big ask but we can catch Blues
CRUSADERS midfielder Philip Lowry hopes this season’s Premiership race continues throwing up the unexpected.
The Crues need a miracle if they are to overhaul Linfield and get their hands on the Gibson Cup.
Stephen Baxter’s side trail the Blues by 10 points with just eight games remaining.
It follows a nightmare February when Crusaders’ trophy ambitions swerved into an unforgiving mire.
They picked up just one win last month, suffered League Cup final heartbreak against Coleraine and crashed out of the Irish Cup.
Add in league defeats to Glenavon and Linfield and all of a sudden the Shore Road men are staring down the barrel of a trophyless season.
“It is hard to explain February. We won the manager and player of the month awards for January, and then we couldn’t find a win in February,”
Lowry said. “We maybe tinkered with the team a bit too much, and had two or three players going out of form at the same time.
“We just lost our way a wee bit, and a few contentious decisions haven’t helped either.
“But we have a big squad and there are plenty of experienced heads in there to get a strong finish.
“They are all mustwin games for us now.
We have Institute, Glentoran and Carrick before the split. We need nine points.
“I know some of the other teams will potentially have more difficult games than us pre-split.
“We have to put together a run of wins, and see where we are at come the split. And then there will be five ding-dong battles before the end of the season.”
If Crusaders are to overhaul the teams above them, they need to string together a winning run and hope their title rivals slip up.
Linfield remain the team to catch, with David Healy’s (inset) champions having won their last four in the league to sit four points clear of Coleraine in second.
The Crues started March with a 0-0 draw against Cliftonville on Tuesday night, a result that did both clubs no favours.
“It will take a miracle to claw back Linfield, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility, especially given the way the top six teams have performed this season,” Lowry said.
“A lot of teams can take points off each other, so if we can strong a run of four or five wins together then who knows what will happen?”
Reflecting on Tuesday’s draw with Cliftonville, Lowry added: “It was typical end-of-season affair, really. For a North Belfast derby, there wasn’t a bad tackle about it. Which says it all.
“We are disappointed from our end.
“We are probably short of confidence at the minute, in attack and defence.”