Crusaders' Phlip Lowry wants Institute survival

The Limavady man, who played his part in Crusaders come from behind to win on Saturday, still hasn’t forgotten the enjoyable years he spent at Drumahoe during the early stages of his career. Currently sitting at the bottom of the Premiership table, ’Stute are three points away from fellow strugglers Warrenpoint Town and Lowry knows it’s going to be a tough run-in for his old club. “Yeah it’s looking tough for them,” he added. “Even looking at their team today, it’s a completely different team that we played at the Brandywell and the team that took a point off us early in the season at Seaview. Speaking to their manager after the match, he was saying the boys have been fantastic with him. “To be fair they are still up for it and I know they have two difficult games coming up against Cliftonville and Ballymena United before the split. The Ballymena game is going to be huge because of the form they are currently in. “From my point of view I am crossing everything that they can pick up a few points between now and the end of the season. “If they do get into the play-off then obviously it’s not going to be easy and it’s always a nightmare fixture for the Premiership team in the playoff, but I really do hope, from a personal point of view, that they can stay-up. “It’s great having ’Stute in the league and I enjoy playing at the Brandywell. Yes, I am sure they’ll be hoping to get back into their own home eventually, but they and the Brandywell have been a nice addition to the league. “I obviously still hold the club dear and I really do hope that they do their best and stay-up.” The Crues had a bad couple of weeks having lost heavily at Linfield in the league. They followed that up with an Bet McLean League Cup Final loss to Coleraine and were knocked out of the Irish Cup at Glentoran. The 30-year-old was happy that Stephen Baxter’s men secured their first win in six games and he wants the Shore Road men to finish the season strongly. “We had a disappointing run of form recently losing cup finals and Irish Cup quarter-finals and losing the big clash against the Blues as well when we were below par, so yeah it was just about getting the three points and thankfully we did that,” he stated. “Now we just have to look after ourselves and look to win every game and see where it takes us come the end of the season. Hopefully we can secure European football for next season. “We are 10 points behind Linfield so it wouldn’t be easy to claw that back with only seven games left, so we are relying on Linfield dropping half of the points available to them, however it’s not outside the realms of possibility, because maybe a few defeats and then the nerves start kicking in, so it’s up to us and other teams to keep the pressure on them and I’m sure there’ll be more twist and turns before the end of the season.”