STEPHEN Baxter ended his glittering career as manager of Crusaders on a high on Monday, beating Coleraine in dramatic fashion in the European Play-off final.
Jamie McGonigle gave the Bannsiders an early lead at a packed Seaview but Jarlath O’Rourke and Daniel Larmour scored in the space of two minutes to give Crusaders the advantage at the break.
Josh Carson scored a 30-yard screamer to level matters but Jordan Owens came off the bench to seal victory with a close range touch in added time.
Fans streamed onto the pitch at the final whistle and Baxter rejoiced amongst them having guided Crusaders to an incredible 13th foray into Europe.
Baxter will remain at the helm for the duration of Crusaders’ participation in the Europa Conference League as incoming manager Declan Caddell takes his coaching badges over the summer.
Caddell will take an increasing part in all football matters until Baxter officially steps down, and the longest serving manager in world football was emotional when reflecting on another sweet success on the Shore Road.
“This was the end for me, from my perspective”, said Baxter, who has been manager of Crusaders since 2005.
“This was my curtain call. I knew this was the last day, the last match.
“There was so much riding on the result, the full focus was on the game, not on me and I made that very clear to the players in the build-up.
“I didn’t want any of that, it had to be about the game, and it was easy enough to navigate that.
“However, I must come in because of my license for the European games, but Declan Caddell will be the new man.
“We’ll mastermind a little plan between us in terms of preparation.
“I thought there was going to be something dramatic in the game, although I didn’t expect there to be so many goals.
“I felt both teams were very evenly matched.
“But with the clock ticking down, we thought it would be Jordan Owens’ time, we rolled the dice and it worked. We got the goal that takes us into Europe.”
It wasn’t just the prestige of playing in Europe that was on the line on Monday afternoon, there is lucrative prize money on offer and with an increase from UEFA this year the Crues are guaranteed a minimum of around £260,000.
The contest could have gone either way on the day and Coleraine manager Oran Kearney was left to rue a missed opportunity.
“We are so disappointed, I felt it was a game that got away from us”, said Kearney.
“For big parts of the game, I thought we had all the ingredients to win the game; stamina, courage, mental and physical toughness, particularly at a very difficult venue.
“We looked quite strong and dominant, but that pinball moment of madness in added time cost us.
“It’s been a tough season but I couldn’t have asked any more of the lads over the past couple of months.”