Their first competitive game as a senior club was on 20 August 1949 and resulted in a 1–0 City Cup win at Portadown – ex-Belfast Celtic striker Vincent Morrison, signed during that summer, had the honour of scoring the club's first ever goal as a senior club. Morrison was the club's top scorer of their first senior season with 11 goals in all competitions. The Crues' first league match took place on 26 November, a 1–4 defeat to Linfield at Windsor Park, and their first victory came on 10 December away to Ballymena United by 3–1, but the side would have to wait until 1 April 1950 for the first league win at Seaview, with a 4–1 victory over Glenavon. The season was tough going for the 'Hatchetmen', as they were also known, and they had to apply for re-election after finishing in 11th place out of 12 clubs. As has always been the case, however, Crusaders never lacked determination. On 17 May 1952 they participated in their first senior final, the Festival of Britain Cup final, which they lost 0–3 to Ballymena United. Under the player-managership of Jackie Vernon they recovered to win their first senior trophy in the 1953–54 season by defeating Linfield 2–1 in the final of the Ulster Cup. The 1950s were not easy in spite of the presence in the side of some excellent individuals and the end of the 1957–58 season saw another application for re-election. The decade also saw the emergence of Curry Mulholland, who represented the club from 1951 until 1960, setting a goalscoring record of 149 which would not be beaten until the 1990s. Irish Cup wins and European forays (1960–1970) The 1960s brought much more success. On 17 May 1960 they won the County Antrim Shield for the first time, repeating the feat in 1965 with a 6–0 victory over Larne (this was the joint-biggest margin of victory in the final of the competition until Linfields 9–1 victory over Bangor in 1973). With Jimmy Murdough as coach they also picked up another Ulster Cup final win on 1 October 1963, with a reply victory of 1–0 over Glenavon. These successes were overshadowed by two unexpected victories in the Irish Cup finals of 1967 and 1968 against the might of Glentoran and Linfield respectively. This led to Crusaders' first sojourn into European competition, against Valencia CF in August 1967. Also in