Same story as their previous meeting this season, a 1-1 draw and no pointers as to how the sides will fare in the Irish Cup in a fortnight's time.

Whites' boss Paul Kirk opted to watch this one from the stand, a 'different perspective' as he put it afterwards, maybe he saw something different that will give the Whites an edge in the cup!.

Andy Waterworth broke clear four minutes in to this game, but the Crues young keeper Aaron Hogg,dived bravely at his feet to make the save.After that there was little football played in a poor first-half, the ball constantly being thumped into the air until the Whites broke the deadlock on twenty-seven minutes.

Andy Waterworth lost his marker to swivel and fire a left-foot shot past the unsighted keeper.It was the Whites who then took the game to the visitors but no further advantage was to be had.

Second-half, Crusaders came back into things and they began to be the side who did the pressing. Paul Muir waas there to clear the danger after Anto Crawford had broken into the box and got past keeper Phil Matthews but their pressure paid off from the corner that followed. David Larmour headed home on the goal-line after Andy Hunter had headed the ball to the back post on seventy minutes.

Matthews made a good stop at his near post from a Crawford shot but it was the visitors though who finished the stronger, veteran Jeff Spiers put in a telling tackle to deny Francis Murphy breaking forward, and then Hogg made an excellent save to keep out a Waterworth shot.

A disapointing outcome to a game where the Whites looked to be in no trouble at the break, there does of course have to be a winner on Saturday 03rd March 2007 when the sides meet in the quarter-final of the Irish Cup.