Although the championship was effectively theirs before the game they still had to go through the relative formality of avoiding defeat and hope Glentoran produce a seven goal swing across the city at The Oval.

Any nerves the Blues might have had were swept away on 27 minutes when veteran striker Glenn Ferguson turned and shot towards goal for the ball to strike an upright and rebound off Crues 'keeper Aaron Kerr and roll over the line.

They doubled their lead three minutes before the break. A Paul McAreavey corner was met by a powerful Ferguson header which was cleared off the line by Stephen McBride only for Ferguson to deliver the rebound low beyond Kerr.

Mark Dickson completed the scoring two minutes from time with a stinging shot following good approach play from Ferguson and strike partner Peter Thompson.