Owens does a one man demolition jobto end Ballymoney’s Irish Cup run

BALLYMONEY UNITED 1

JORDAN Owens - one of the tallest strikers in the Irish League - performed a one man demoliton job to bring Ballymoney United’s Irish Cup run to an abrupt end at Seaview on Saturday.

Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter labelled striker Owens as a “class act” following his performance against Ballymoney United in this Irish Cup sixth round clash.

The big 24-year-old bagged a sensational hat-trick to send his team into a last eight meeting with Ballyclare Comrades on March 1.

Teenager Curtis Dempster also marked his Crusaders debut with an injury time goal, which also pleased his boss.

“This lad is a goal machine,” purred Baxter. “Curtis scored a hat-trick for Northern Ireland’s Under-18 side earlier this week. He has natural talent – and he’s also a big Crusaders fan as his goal celebration would suggest.”

Baxter lauded Owens, who has now bagged an impressive 20 goals this season, adding: “It’s always good for a striker to get among the goals.

“But he needs to be doing it more consistently. Ballymoney just couldn’t handle him. He scored three and may have even had a few more.

“However, his finishing was superb.

“We had some big performers out there. Gary McCutcheon was fantastic – Richard Clarke was excellent on his debut and Aidan Watson never gave them a moment in midfield.”

With Ballyclare next up, Baxter insisted they will be treated like any other opponents.

“You always hope for a home draw and we got that,” he said.