Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HAZARDS WARNING
Forsythe wary of strugglers after high of beating champs Linfield
DYNAMIC Crusaders winger Jordan Forsythe wants to avoid a Blues hangover against struggling Ards at Seaview.
The Crues head into today’s showdown buoyed by an impressive midweek 2-1 win over reigning champions Linfield.
But while Ards, who lie 10th in the table with just three points from their opening six games, are 12/1 outsiders to cause a shock, Forsythe is taking nothing for granted.
The 26-year-old, who opened the scoring against the Blues with a stunning strike into the top corner, said:
“You can’t beat
Linfield midweek and not back it up on
Saturday. Games against the
Blues are always heated and they’re brilliant to play in because we are probably the two best teams in the league. But we have to go again.
“It was great to get the win on Tuesday but Stephen Baxter is always drilling into us that we have to take it one game at a time.
“Last season we were maybe guilty of looking too far ahead. This season we aren’t getting too far ahead of ourselves. Our full focus now turns to Ards at home.” Forsythe knows the Crues, who are second in the table just three points below early leaders Coleraine, struggled to get the better of Ards in all three league meetings last season.
It took stoppage time goals from David Cushley and Jordan Owens to salvage 1-0 wins – home and away – before Christmas.
Baxter’s men, who were pipped to the title by Linfield in April, also had to come back from 2-0 down to secure a 4-2 win at the Bangor Fuels Arena in January.
Forsythe is bracing himself for a similar challenge this afternoon.
He said: “We struggled against them last season and I do remember we had to score a last minute winner at Seaview.
“We struggled against some other lower placed teams last season, scraping 1-0 wins here and 1-0 wins there.
“I remember going down to Dungannon and winning late on.
“I think we have to be better all round this season and not get too ahead of ourselves. Ards will be another big test.”
A big plus for Crusaders is the fact they have now scored 19 goals in six league outings – an average of more than three per game.
No fewer than seven players have chipped in, including Forsythe on four and Paul Heatley (left) who took his season tally to seven with a superb dipper against Linfield.
The early campaign goal glut contrasts sharply with the climax to last season when the Shore Road men failed to score in three of their last six league games.
Forsythe said: “That’s what we needed to get back to – scoring more goals. We need to keep doing that, although we also want to try and keep clean sheets as well.”