It was the Crues who possibly enjoyed the better of the first half with midfielder Stephen Shaw coming close to opening the scoring after 20 minutes when his 25-yard free kick was brilliantly tipped over by Paul Murphy.

At the other end, United's best chance of the first half also came from a free-kick, Darren Murphy's side-footed curler from the edge of the penalty box bouncing awkwardly in front of Crues keeper Neil Armstrong, hitting him in the chest and hitting the post before going behind.

In keeping with the pattern of the first half, it was from a free-kick that Crusaders took the lead on 36 minutes. David Magowan played a free kick forward from just inside the Ballymena half, David Rainey flicked it on to his strike partner David Larmour who fired home an assured finish over the head of Murphy.

Crusaders might have doubled their lead just before the break when another Shaw free-kick was met on the volley by Chris Morrow but Murphy produced a stunning save to tip the ball over from point-blank range.

Ballymena were back on level terms on 58 minutes when Mark Picking's corner was met with a firm downward header by Gary Haveron.

The same pair almost repeated the trick on 65 minutes, this time Haveron's header was clawed away at the post by Armstrong.

As the game ebbed and flowed, it took a mistake by Crusaders to enable United to move in front. David Rainey played a careless ball inside which was intercepted by Kelbie. The Scottish striker played a pass to Picking and kept running for the return ball before firing a shot below Armstrong.