Killer Kelbie!

Kevin Kelbie, much maligned by ourselves among others when signed by United manager Tommy Wright just before the August deadline, silenced his critics last night at Inver Park, with an almost flawless exhibition of goalscoring excellence. United with the same starting line-up as last Saturday, began in a positive frame of mind and after winning the toss elected to play up the Inver Park slope in the first period. United brought both wingers, Scates and King into the game quite early and sought to expose the Larne defence. United and their fans thought they had taken the lead after twenty minutes, when after a good run Aiden Watson ‘squared’ the ball for Vinny Sweeney to blast it into the net. The celebrations were however short lived as the linesman signalled that Sweeney was offside. I’d really love to see this action once more, as I personally thought Sweeney (who has a habit of getting caught offside I must admit), was at worst level with Aiden, when the pass was made. Five minutes later Stuart King used his pace to good effect, before setting up Kelbie, whose shot was clearly handed by a Larne defender, but referee Davey Malcolm or t t (tiny testes), as he is more commonly known didn’t want to know.
Little was seen of Larne as an attacking force as United tended to break up most of their attacks in midfield, but they came close when a reflex header just shaved the United post, with McFrederick scrambling across his goal. Stuart King and Craig McClean combined well down the left flank and when young Craig put over the ‘perfect’ cross, United’s top scorer Vinny Sweeney headed wide when it looked easier to score. On the stroke of halftime, Kevin Kelbie, timing his run to perfection, ran onto an Aiden Watson pass only to be called back by a late flag from the linesman. This was another poor decision, as Kevin was well onside when the ball was played, but was punished for having too much pace by a linesman who couldn’t keep up with the game.

Kevin didn’t allow the incident before halftime to faze him and sent United fans into raptures two minutes after the restart. Taking a pass from Kieran Donaghy he controlled the ball, swivelled and fired into the corner of the net from twenty yards, with the Larne goalkeeper rooted to the spot. United retreated into their shell a wee bit after this goal and allowed Larne to dictate the pace of the game for the next seven minutes or so. Ten minutes into the second period, Albert Watson’s free kick from just over the halfway line was headed across goal by Gary Haveron and the alert Kelbie steered the ball into the net to put United two up. United were content after this to allow Larne to come at them and try to hit them on the break. This ploy looked to have paid dividends when Sweeney got on the end of a Kelbie pass, to make it three nil, only to have the goal chalked off for yet another doubtful offside. Larne should’ve pulled a goal back, when they failed to find the target with a free header from a corner kick. As Larne stepped up the pressure, United captain Gary Smyth was cautioned for a heavy challenge. Kevin Kelbie missed a glorious chance to complete his hat-trick, when he ran onto a Sweeney pass, but shot weakly and the Larne keeper made a good save low to his right. With ten minutes to go United manager Tommy Wright (or as the Sky Blue Crew like to say, ‘Tommy Wright! Wright! Wright! Wright!), took off Scatesy with Gerald Rowe taking his place on the right side of midfield. Rowe made one or two good runs, but still looks short of match fitness and may need a full game before we can access his true potential. Three minutes later the United manager took off Sweeney and King, bringing on Charnock and Rory Hamill. United defender Albert Watson received a nasty blow on his nose, as he attempted to clear a Larne attack. Fortunately enough he was able to continue after treatment, but hurt his nose again soon after, but like the true ‘soldier’ he is, he played on. Larne sub Kenny Wilson hacked Gary Haveron down as the United man powered his way out of defence, but somehow only got ‘chided’ by the referee, instead of being shown the yellow card. United sub Gerard Rowe was then ‘harshly’ booked as he late tackled a Larne player, but it was just a late tackle, not a vicious one like Wilson’s. Larne last chance came when a Dickson header was brilliantly clutched by McFrederick. With the game deep in stoppage time, Kelbie beat three Larne defenders down the left, before firing home his and United’s third goal and therefore ensure United’s first final since 1989. One minute later the referee brought the game to an end and the United fans cheered their heroes off the pitch. A great win and a great display by Kelbie, but now it’s back to basics at home to Loughgall on Saturday. But let’s savour this victory first and let’s hope it’s the first of many semi-final wins for the wee Sky Blues!

McFrederick 7 Aiden Watson 7 MoM: Kelbie

Donaghy 7 Sweeney 7

McClean 7 Kelbie 8

Haveron 7 King 7 Referee: D. Malcolm 5

Albert Watson 7 1st Sub: Rowe 6

Smyth 7 2nd Sub: Charnock 6

Scates 7 3rd Sub: Hamill 6