Coming into this one off the back of a disappointing, narrow loss to Larne, the ‘Gers were keen to continue their good start to the season against the Hatchetmen.
The game got off to a perfect start for the home side as an Andy Mitchell corner-kick wasn’t dealt with and Curtis Allen was quickest to react as he acrobatically hooked the ball into the roof of the net.
Stephen Baxter’s men nearly found an immediate response, but Ross Glendinning was equal to Ross Clarke’s low drive from the edge of the box.
It was Carrick who would score again, however, as they robbed their opponents of the ball inside their box, allowing skipper David Cushley to slide the ball underneath Jonathan Tuffey to double the hosts’ advantage.
The Shore Road side fought hard and pulled a goal back when ex-Carrick man Paul Heatley found the bottom corner from outside the box, his shot seeming to deceive Glendinning in the Rangers goal.
They pushed for an equaliser and found it in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the half, the ball being worked across to Clarke on the left who dinked it into the far top corner.
Motivated to regain their lead, the home side again struck ahead ten minutes after the break - a corner-kick was headed towards the six yard box and Allen poked home for his second of the day.
Just a matter of minutes later and the game was level once more. Philip Lowry found space between two Carrick defenders to get his head on the end of a cross and direct the ball into the net.
The end-to-end nature of the contest continued as Stuart King’s side again went ahead with what would prove to be the winning goal.
Lloyd Anderson fed the ball down the right for Andy Mitchell whose cross was finished off by Emmett McGuckin, his strike crashing in off the underside of the crossbar.
Allen could have had his hattrick soon after, but Tuffey pushed the striker’s volley past the post.
Crusaders would be reduced to ten men before the end of the game, goalscorer Heatley being shown a straight red card for a headbutt.
Rangers withheld the late pressure thrown at them by their opponents to deservedly hold onto their victory.
Carrick Rangers: Glendinning; Glendinning, Ervin, Gordon; Forsythe, Cushley (Kalla, 90+4), Mitchell, Tilney; Anderson (Cherry, 90+5); McGuckin, Allen (Gawne, 90).
Unused substitutes: Hogg, Surgenor, McKiernan, Gillen.
Crusaders: Tuffey; Weir (Owens, 73), Burns, Larmour, O’Rourke; Lowry, Forsythe; Winchester (Hegarty, 70); Clarke, Lecky (McMurray, 70), Heatley.
Unused substitutes: Murphy, Ebbe, McKeown, Snelgrove.
Referee: Raymond Crangle
