Stephen Baxter was full of praise for Crusaders "legend" Jordan Owens after he came off the bench to seal the Boxing Day win over north Belfast rivals Cliftonville in style.
The Crues all-time leading goal-scorer may not be playing a leading role at Seaview at present but he proved his worth with another vital goal.
Owens lashed home from outside the box with four minutes to go to seal a 3-0 win over the Reds much to the delight of his manager, who was only too happy to heap praise on him after the game.
Read next: Boxing Day's Irish Premiership recap as Linfield and Crusaders earn derby wins
"I have so much respect for Jordan," he told the club's Facebook page.
'He has been a dream person since the day and hour he came to this football club, he's a legend of our club.
"The goal he scored is a wonder goal. They don't come much sweeter than that, the way he hit that today. It capped off a really great day.
"You need your senior pros to step up at the right time and deliver for you."
Crusaders dominated proceedings at Seaview and ran out deserved winners in the end.
Baxter was quick to point out it was only three points, but said he was delighted for the fans, comparing the atmosphere to when the Crues last won the league.
"You get to a fixture like this on Boxing Day, supporters come out in huge numbers for a full house and it means a lot to everyone," he said.
"There's an edge in this game, which is always important.
"You have to make sure you're ready to play it, and our team was ready to play it today.
"We were magnificent from the get-go, we were stronger than them, we outfoxed them with our shape.
"We lost Clarkey to suspension and needed to get some attacking threat up there, so I thought playing Paul up there with Adam would cause them a lot of trouble.
"We hurried them from the start and didn't allow them to get into their stride, they just couldn't cope with it.
"I thought our performance levels were as good as I've seen them for some time.
"We have to keep working on it and it's only three points, but this is a special day because it's the north Belfast derby.
"The atmosphere in the ground was like winning the league all over again, the fans roared us on."
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