David Healy says Linfield performance ‘not good enough’ and slams ‘horrific’ pitch at Windsor Park

Striker Robbie McDaid was guilty of two glaring early missed chances, but that was as good as it got for the reigning Danske Bank Premiership champions.

Former Northern Ireland striker Healy was not only critical of his team’s efforts, but also the horrible state of the Windsor Park playing surface.

“It was a horrendous game, poor standard from both teams,” said Healy.

“We talk about the improvements we all want to make (in the League), but from our point, it wasn’t good enough.

“The pitch is horrific, and people should be embarrassed that that is the pitch at our national stadium. I slipped as soon as I walked onto it – it was like an ice rink.

“Quite frankly the people who maintain and look after that pitch should be hiding, because it is disgraceful.

“People will watch from afar asking ‘what the hell is that cabbage patch all about’? I watch games on television, FA Cup matches up and down the country and whatever else. I’ve yet to see a pitch in the horrendous order Windsor Park is at the minute.

“Did it contribute to the standard of the game? It’s hard to say. I know my team should have played better. But we didn’t offer enough going forward.

“We put so much into the game in midweek (against Larne), we looked leggy and tired. I don’t use it as an excuse, but we had several players missing, then we lost Stevie Fallon early on.

“The bottom line is, we didn’t do enough. We didn’t work the goalkeeper over the 90 minutes. That’s why it finished scoreless and that’s why it was a crap match.”

Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter was happy with a point, considering the number of injured players he had to deal with.

In fact, veteran midfielder Declan Caddell was forced out of retirement such was the chronic state of the growing list for the treatment room. He hung up the boots last season to concentrate on running the club’s academy.

As fate would have it, Caddell was called into action after only half-an-hour when Robbie Weir hobbled off.

“I think we’ll see a bit more of Declan in the coming month,” admitted Baxter.

“We’ll have to see what the next few days bring us, but I’d definitely think coming into this busy spell that he’ll will be involved, provided everything goes well for him and he’s up for the challenge.

“It’s a needs-must situation at the moment; this wasn’t something we sat down and planned in terms of when we were going to bring him back. It’s difficult to step into and game at that level, the pace and the intensity was terrific.

“When he flew into his first tackle (on Mulgrew), I thought, what have I done here?

“Seriously, I told him last Thursday night I was giving him three nights training because we really needed him. I knew we were two injuries away from disaster, so he had a week and a half to get fit, but he was terrific.”

LINFIELD: Johns, Finlayson (Pepper 70), Roscoe, Callacher, M Clarke, Shields, Mulgrew, Palmer, Fallon (Devine 17), McKee (McStravick 76), McDaid.

Unused subs: Walsh, Newberry, McGann, Doherty.

CRUSADERS: Tuffey, Weir (Caddell 32), Burns, Larmour (McMurray 45), O’Rourke, Thompson, Snelgrove (Owens 70), Lowry, R Clarke, Lecky (Ebbe 70), Heatley.

Unused subs: Murphy, Steele.

REFEREE: Ian McNabb (Coleraine).