Patrick Punishes!

For 28 minutes on Saturday, Ballymena United looked to be in charge of their own destiny. That’s not to say that they were totally dominant, Limavady looked dangerous at times, but United at this stage had already carved out and missed three or four chances. So when Rory Hamill chested down Donaghy’s long throw at the edge of the six-yard box, swivelled and passed for Vinny Sweeney to rifle the ball into the net, I thought we were about to break our Limavady hoodoo. Nothing of course could have been farther from the truth. United had missed the target on three occasions with headers from Rosbotham corners, one in particular from Gary Haveron a glaring miss, with the goal gaping., while no-one was able to get on the end of a Gary Smyth header which trickled across the goalmouth, just needing a touch. Rosbotham had also ‘smacked’ the crossbar with a free kick, which the referee adjudged former United keeper Dwayne Nelson had touched for a corner, but in fact he was nowhere near it. Limavady of course didn’t lie down after United opened the scoring and with another former Sky Blue, Lee Patrick bossing midfield, subjected the home team to some extensive pressure. Kieran Donaghy was getting caught out by the Limavady wide player and when McFrederick, who appeared to be fouled by a visiting forward, dropped the winger's cross ball, Patrick forced it over the goal-line in the 36th minute, to level the scores . I honestly waited for the goal to be disallowed for a foul on the keeper, but referee McFadden allowed the goal to stand, one of many strange decisions by the official. United manager Tommy Wright then failed his first tactical test of the season, when with Donaghy struggling he didn’t change things round and United in my mind paid the ultimate penalty. With the same starting line-up as last Saturday and the same subs, his options were obviously limited, but surely he should and could’ve, switched midfielder Dean Youle to right back to try and stem the Limavady flow, but I’m afraid he didn’t react. Donaghy had in fact come within an ace of giving United a two goal lead, when his ‘cross-cum-shot’ forced Nelson to push the ball over the bar, three minutes after United had taken the lead. But it was his defensive ‘frailties’ which cost the home team dearly and when he allowed the Limavady winger to get in a low cross on the stroke of halftime, the United defence were undone once more. As the ball was played along the 18 yard line, Patrick reacted first, turning to collect the ball, before firing into the bottom corner giving McFrederick no chance.

United, to their credit, came out for the second period and attempted to get into the game, but it was obvious a change was needed upfront, but the United management did nothing. Lee Patrick, who had already ‘got away’ with a couple of rough tackles, was lucky to stay on the pitch, when he ‘hacked’ down Sweeney when he burst through a static Limavady defence. Referee McFadden, who had already ‘talked’ to the player twice before, merely cautioned him. Two minutes later, United player Sweeney was somewhat ‘lucky’ to stay on the pitch, when he kicked out at visiting keeper Dwayne Nelson. The referee cautioned the home player also, two wrong decisions in my opinion and I think the United management must look into this incident as it could have been a costly misdemeanour. The United fans were calling for the manager to make a change, but he did nothing and we paid the ultimate penalty. Limavady broke down the left once more and when Donaghy allowed the cross to come in, the United defence went ‘asleep’ once more and the ball was drilled into the net to put the result beyond doubt. That goal came after 66 minutes and the manager finally awoke from his Saturday ‘afternoon nap’ and made a change. Unfortunately he made the wrong change, instead of taking off any of his two midfielders, who were outplayed throughout the match; he took off Andy Rosbotham, the only player who looked capable of unhinging the visiting defence. He also in my mind ‘boobed’ by bringing on Paul McDowell, when surely Kevin Kelbie would have been a much better option as McDowell has failed to impress so far. This also meant Hamill moving into centre midfield, which although a good move, meant he was missed upfront. Would it not I thought have been wiser, to push Scatesy into midfield and have either Hamill or Sweeney switching to the right. Ten minutes later he took off Youle, bringing on Boydie and suddenly we looked somewhat more dangerous. McDowell was guilty of a horrendous miss, when he attempted a long shot from 30 yards, after being put through by Sweeney. If this had been a back pass to the keeper, it would have been excellent, but as a shot on goal it was pathetic, as it trundled along the ground into the keepers grateful arms. United failed to capitalise on another corner, when Gary Smyth failed to find the target from a corner and the match just petered out after that. Was this just a ‘blip’ I wondered, a costly ‘blip’ as United missed the chance to move within two points of fourth place. I’m not so sure it’s just a ‘blip’, as in my opinion, United and their coaching staff are devoid of ideas and with four hard games coming up they will be tested to the full. We’ll now see what big Tam and his staff are made of, starting with next Saturday’s game at home to Lisburn Distillery, if a ‘crisis’ is to be avoided, a victory, is surely a must!


McFrederick 6 Hamill 6 MoM: Rosbotham

Donaghy 5 Sweeney 7

McClean 6 Haveron 5

Youle 5 Rosbotham 7 Referee: P. McFadden 3

Albert Watson 6 1st. Sub McDowell 5

Smyth 6 2nd. Sub Boydie 6

Scates 5