Gavin Arthur's free-kick gave Crusaders the lead

A spirited fightback by Limavady United just failed to avoid defeat to Crusaders in a basement battle at the Showgrounds.

With former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Tommy Wright in charge for the first time, United found themselves 3-0 down after 57 minutes.

But they hit back with two goals and almost snatched an unlikely draw.

"It was a storming comeback and we almost sneaked a point at the end," said Wright.

"But we gifted Crusaders three goals. They were down to mistakes by us.

"I said to the lads the second half performance was the type we needed to produce for 90 minutes from now until the end of the season.

"If we do that we stand a good chance of staying in the Premier Division."

Crusaders took the lead on 18 minutes when Gavin Arthur fired in a free-kick from an acute angle.

Young Chris Morrow pounced on a slip by John Neill to shoot in number two for the Crues 11 minutes later.

Brian Russell got number three for the Belfast outfit with a header in the 58th minute.