Heatley Commends Baxter’s ‘Massive Impact’ Following Carrick Rangers’ Victory

Paul Heatley expressed strong commendation for manager Stephen Baxter after Carrick Rangers secured a decisive 3-0 triumph over Crusaders, their former club. Both the player and the manager had departed the Seaview-based team this summer, and in their inaugural encounter against their previous employers since leaving, they comfortably earned all three points. Heatley netted two goals during the match, with Emmett McGuckin scoring Rangers’ other goal, which propelled them to tenth place in the Irish Premiership table. “He’s had a massive impact and I’m probably the best versed on that,” Heatley stated regarding Baxter after the game. “I’ve played with him my whole career so personally it’s very simple for me but the other players have taken to it like ducks to water. You can see the togetherness of the players and fighting for each other. The performances over the last few weeks have been tremendous and we just haven’t been getting the results but today we did.” This victory marked Carrick’s first win in four weeks, following a period that included three draws and one defeat. “The last few weeks we’ve been playing good football but not killing games off which has been really frustrating,” Heatley admitted. “It can creep into players mind so seeing the second goal go in gave us a bit of breathing space.” He further explained their approach: “Going in a half-time we know 2-0 could be the most dangerous score in football so we had to go out and play like we were a goal behind and keeping doing what we did the first half, and we got our rewards again.”