After 10 minutes at the Oval the away side believed that Glentoran should have been reduced to 10 men after Lowry was brought down in midfield by a late sliding tackle by Dylan Connolly, who was cautioned for the foul.
Four minutes later, Glentoran fans were left confused as to how their side hadn’t opened the scoring after Kodi-Lyons Foster connected with a corner and had two shots blocked before having one hoofed off the line.
Crusaders failed to clear the danger though with Harry Jewitt-White then making two blocks off the line, before Jarlath O’Rourke eventually cleared the ball to safety.
The chances were few and far between but just before the break, another Glentoran corner caused a scramble. However, Frankie Hvid couldn’t steer home Charlie Lindsay’s delivery from close range with Crusaders eventually knocking the ball out of play and Dylan Connolly firing the second corner wide.
After the restart Lewis Barr made a crucial block to divert Nathaniel Ferris’ effort after a mistake from Jimmy Callacher had gifted him a good opportunity before Jonny Tuffey was called into action to tip Joe Thomson’s powerful free-kick over the crossbar.
Crusaders broke the deadlock on the 75th minute when substitute Stewart Nixon beat Frankie Hvid to the ball, burst into the box and played the ball back for the unmarked Lowry to head home.
Glentoran upped the tempo in the final few minutes and hit the crossbar in additional time, but couldn’t find a leveller.
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