Crusaders delight at debut by Cameron Dummigan

Cameron Dummigan (right) competing for Crusaders against Carrick Rangers on his weekend debut. Pic by Pacemaker.

Crusaders may have conceded a first goal since Boxing Day in Saturday’s convincing defeat of Carrick Rangers but it was a rare blemish on an assured debut by right-back Cameron Dummigan.

Lurgan-born Dummigan arrived in the January transfer window on a loan deal from Dundalk, having previously spent time at Burnley and Oldham Athletic.

His performance attracted praise from Stephen Baxter - with the Crues boss expecting even more to come from the former Northern Ireland under 21 international.

“Cameron Dummigan is an outstanding player,” said Baxter. “He’s easy on the eye, has a natural footballing brain and passes it great and I was pleased with how he defended the ball at times.

“He cleared one off our line as well with two men around him.

“He has great awareness and played the game at the highest level in England but will take just a while to get up to speed with the Irish League as it’s a different style of football to which he maybe has to adapt.

“But with a player who has played at the level Cameron has he will turn into a super, super player.

“He is 23-years-old so has youth on his side and you don’t necessarily need that extra fitness but he has been on his break (coming from the League of Ireland).

“He’s in his pre-season training really, not having played any football really bar 45 minutes of a friendly as Dundalk are only really getting started.

“Training for a few weeks with us has allowed him to get up to some sort of level but I’m comfortable to play him at this moment in time.

“I think this was the right game to get him started and now it’s about getting Cameron up to the level we want but you could see what he gave us today.”