Stephen Baxter hails club legend Jordan Owens as he hits his 250th goal for Crusaders

Glenavon 1 Crusaders 3

Jordan Owens celebrates his 250th goal in a Crusaders shirt

Stephen Baxter hailed Jordan Owens as a ‘legend’ of Crusaders after the striker took his all-time club record goalscoring tally to the 250 mark.

Owens has fulfilled the youthful potential that Baxter spotted almost 20 years ago in delivering numerous trophies in a glittering career and showed he isn’t finished yet, even at the age of 34, with an injury-time header that sealed the Crues’ 3-1 win over Glenavon at Mourneview Park.

That 92nd minute strike was crucial in killing off a threatened Glenavon comeback, sparked when Jack Malone scored from a free kick with 16 minutes to go.

Before that, the Lurgan Blues looked down and out as they trailed 2-0 to Jarlath O’Rourke’s opening goal two minutes into first-half stoppage time and a cool Paul Heatley finish 20 minutes after the break.

Owens had only been on the pitch five minutes when, in stereotypical style, he out-jumped goalkeeper Rory Brown and sent a looping header into the net, five-and-a-half years after a hat-trick against Glenavon had seen him reach 200 goals.

“Jordan Owens is an incredible individual,” said Baxter.

“He started off at the club as a 15-year-old coming through our youth system and we saw him early.

“He scored a few goals at that level and we brought him into the first team very quickly at 16 or 17-years-old.

“I remember going to Loughside to watch him as a 15 or 16-year-old and we said that this boy is going to become a great player. What a guy.

“We gave him his debut at Larne as a right winger, he has grown into the club and the team and he has become a legend of our football club for what he has achieved, what he has won, what he does off the pitch.

“He is an