CRUSADERS goalscorer and man-of-the-match Paul Heatley says he is “happy to follow” the teachings of manager Stephen Baxter as the European dream continues for the north Belfast side.
After claiming a deserved 2-2 draw against Haka in Finland last week, there was a feeling of expectation in the air approaching kick-off time at Seaview on Thursday night and the diminutive winger was not going to disappoint his fans.
Anthony Herbert dilly-dallied on the halfway line and as the giant defender awaited the bouncing ball to return to earth, he had his pocket-picked in broad daylight by Heatley who raced away to score the only goal of the game.
- Read more: Paul Heatley goal gives Crusaders a Euro date with Rosenborg
The win sets up the Crues with a second-round tie with Norwegian heavyweights Rosenborg.
“I think everything pretty much went to plan out there tonight” said the 36-year-old.
“It’s a matter of trust. Our job as players is pretty simple, we go out and play the game and follow the instructions of the gaffer (Baxter) and there is no other man I would trust as much with his advice and guidance, it’s only now I’m a bit older I’m listening better”.
With so much time on his hands after dispossessing the Haka centre-back, did Heatley feel the pressure of the crowd and team-mates to beat the goalkeeper?
“Not really, like the rest of the crowd I was watching that ball bounce and I couldn’t understand why he (Herbert) was not reacting.
“When you are in that position of stealing the ball and chasing down on goal I wasn’t really getting nervous, I suppose that’s the benefit of being in this business for most of my life,” the veteran says.
Heatley remarked that so much work is done off the pitch so all the players have to do is focus on the game.
This work included Baxter and the club sending scouts on a mission to watch Haka on home soil against Larne’s Champions League opponents HJK Helsinki.
This information was then fed back to each of the players so they all knew their job “inside-out”.
The Crusaders boss also had some thoughts on Heatley himself.
“Paul has been around for quite a few years now. He keeps commenting that he is going to retire but he still shows up,’’ he said.
‘‘In fairness, I tell him he can’t retire because he’s still the quickest thing on two legs in the Irish League.
“He is also a great person and a great influence to be around the club, and most of all a great human being. He and his family will be proud tonight and they deserve to be.”
Rosenborg will travel to Belfast next Thursday for the first leg of the second-round tie and the Crues stand to collect a cool £200,000 for their progress to date.
The Norwegian side are not the force of old but they have some real European pedigree, reaching the quarter-final of the Champions League in 1997, where they lost to Juventus.
However, Heatley will remember all too clearly the last time the two sides met 10 years ago, when the Norwegian outfit thumped the Crues 9-3 on aggregate.
“We know we are smarter now and more astute. We know it’s another step up in class, but these are the games you want to play, it’ll be a hell of a challenge but one we must embrace.”
