Crusaders Manager Declan Caddell Criticizes “Totally Unacceptable” Second-Half Display

Crusaders manager Declan Caddell described his team’s second-half performance in their 3-1 loss to Glenavon on Tuesday night as “totally unacceptable.” This defeat marked the second consecutive 3-1 Premiership loss for Caddell’s side. During the match at Mourneview Park, Philip Lowry initially put the Crues ahead. However, Michael O’Connor scored an equalizer for Glenavon. Peter Campbell then gave the Lurgan Blues the lead, and Jordan Forsythe’s own goal ultimately secured Glenavon’s first league victory under manager Paddy McLaughlin. “I thought first half the conditions were difficult for both teams and it was quite scrappy,” Caddell informed BBC Sport NI. He continued, “The second half was totally unacceptable for ourselves – bad decision-making in major points of the game, poor goals to concede – two counter-attacks. That’s crept into us lately, which is very uncharacteristic of us in terms of what this club is built on – hard work, dedication and putting your body on the line. That was missing a lot tonight.” Caddell expressed disappointment regarding the lack of impact from some of his more experienced players, noting that this was their second successive defeat by the same scoreline, following a loss to Glentoran on Friday. “We came into the game with 10 players out and it was a patch-up job but we had enough experience on the pitch to deal with the game and some of the senior players let down,” Caddell stated. He added, “That’s two 3-1 defeats in a row and that’s hard to take.”