Last Blast!

For the last match of the season, United manager Tommy Wright gave in my mind an indication of his thinking for next season, with the omission of goalkeeper Willie McFrederick, keeping (if you’ll pardon my unintended pun), Stuart Addis in goals. I’m not saying here that he rates Addis as his first choice, but I think McFrederick will be looking for another club during the summer break. With Gary Smyth, Craig McClean and Boydie all injured he recalled Kieran Donaghy at leftback, retaining Albert Watson at rightback. He also brought the fit again Aiden Watson back into centre midfield alongside Gareth Scates, releasing Gary Haveron to form a central defensive partnership with Gordon Simms. Stuart King retained his wide left position; Gerard Rowe played what was likely to be his last game as a Sky Blue wide right, while Rory Hamill started upfront alongside top scorer Kevin Kelbie. The United travelling support did their best to inject some enthusiasm into the occasion as they turned up in ‘fancy dress’, grass skirts and bikini tops etc, while the girls were well kitted out also. Unfortunately there was little to cheer on the pitch for the fans in the first half, with United, despite forcing several corners, giving a fairly lack-lustre display. Stuarty King picked up a booking for a foul on Institute midfielder Tommy McCallion after 5 minutes, from referee Davey Malcolm, who later on showed his inconsistency by allowing McCallion to get away without a caution when he late tackled United keeper Stuart Addis. (The fact that McCallion is a Glentoran old boy and Davey a committed Glens fan I’m sure had no bearing on his decision). Institute could and definitely should’ve, taken the lead in the first half, missing at least three clear cut opportunities. For a team trying to avoid the dreaded relegation play-off, these were bad misses indeed. Firstly the ‘benevolent’ United defenders were caught waiting for an offside flag which never came, but luckily the shot went wide of the advancing Addis and wide of his goal. Then Gordon Simms was caught napping but once again the shot went wide of the United posts with myself and the United fans holding our collective breaths. But Institute committed an even worse gaffe when after bursting through between Simms and Haveron, their number 9, hit the ball past the advancing Addis, but somehow missed the target also. In fact the highlight of the first half from a United point of view had very little to do with the football at all. It came when ‘Stute manager, Liam Becket kicked a ball from his dugout towards United’s Kieran Donaghy who was waiting to take a throw-in, but unfortunately missed him by twenty yards or so. A United fan called to Liam saying, ‘Hey Liam I see you’re as accurate as ever’, Liam simply replied, ‘You never lose it, do you?’ That was as good as it got for us during the first half and I was glad when the halftime whistle sounded.

There was a further disappointment for me at halftime when the burger van ran out of burgers and I was unable to avail my self of a ‘Stute’ deal, a burger and a coke for £1-50, allegedly. United came out for the second-half with a lot more purpose and drive, taking the game to Institute but still unable to get that telling pass that would unlock the home defence. United’s ineptitude was summed up for me when with 15 minutes or so left they won a free kick just outside and to the left of the home penalty area. Stuarty King who takes most United free kicks, without success it must be stressed, lined up alongside Gerard Rowe, with Rory Hamill there also. King rolled the ball to Rowe, who ‘teed’ it up for Hamill who blasted the ball straight into the home ‘wall’, a complete waste in my opinion. One of the highlights for me was the display in midfield of the diminutive Aiden Watson, who seemed to be always available and continually prompted his forwards. But even he should’ve done better when after a good run he hit a weak shot into the grateful arms of the home keeper. With 12 minutes left united manager Tommy Wright made a positive move, taking off Rowe and bringing on Paul Brown, with Hamill switching to right midfield. Five minutes after the substitution, Hamill fed Kelbie wide on the right and as he cut inside he ‘greedily’ shot for goal, blasting wildly over the bar with Paul Brown and King both unmarked. Two minutes later King skipped down the wing before putting over a pathetic cross and a United fan encouraged the United manager to get that ‘waster’ off and get Andy Rosbotham on, for at least could cross the ball. Whether the United manager took this on board I can’t say, but he did take King off bringing on Rosbotham. Andy did manage one or two runs up the field, but made little difference and as so often happens in these cases it was Institute who were given a good opening near the finish. Gordon Simms, despite his protests, was adjudged to have fouled an Institute forward on the edge of his own penalty box. From the resultant free kick Stuart Addis stopped the ball with a good save. Two minutes prior to this incident United had been indebted to Simms, when he somehow managed to ‘hook’ the ball to safety when a home forward looked to be clear on goal. Paul Brown was struggling to make an impact, but managed to get his head to a Hamill cross but didn’t really trouble the home keeper. United finally managed to break the deadlock and Institute hearts when after good work by Aiden Watson and Hamill the latter found Paul Brown, who hooked the ball wide for Kelbie to out-sprint his marker. The young Scotsman, showing maturity beyond his years looked up and seeing the home keeper off his line, coolly chipped him to give United victory by the only goal. The United bench erupted with manger Tommy Wright and his assistant Jim Grattan, dancing a jig, while Stuart King sprayed the United fans with some sort of liquid, probably Lucozade Sport, or was it champagne? Kevin Kelbie celebrated his sixteenth goal of the season by removing his shirt and picked up a booking in the process (a stupid rule in my opinion), a booking which will probably mean him missing two games at the start of next season. But let’s take nothing away from the young man, who in my opinion and my colleagues at Sky Blue Sport, has been our best player all season, Kevin Kelbie has been a real revelation. Even when he’s not at his best, he still keeps trying and you can never discount him. If big Tam can get a couple of good midfielders in the close season and a rightback, maybe with Kelbie, Paul Brown and the fit again Fitzyupfront, we can be a force to be reckoned with. Oh yes I nearly forgot, he definitely needs a goalkeeper, we’ve known that all season and even though we did actually finish joint sixth in the league, with our inferior goals against column, we’re officially seventh. It’s an improvement on last season, up one place, almost two, but a lot more will be expected next term. So boys, have a good rest over the close season, as next season you’ll need to pull out all the stops and lets try and win something this time, it really is, 'long', overdue!



Addis 7 Hamill 7 MoM: Aiden Watson

Al Watson 6 Rowe 6

Donaghy 6 Kelbie 7

Haveron 6 King 6 Referee: D. Malcolm 3

Simms 7 1st Sub: Brown 6

Ad Watson 8 2nd Sub: Rosbotham 6

Scates 6

Gaffer Gaffes!

United manager Tommy Wright handed three easy points to Glentoran in the final home game of the season, with a very poor display of team management. Yes I lay the blame for our heaviest home defeat firmly at the manager’s door. Firstly he committed the major gaffe of not giving Rory Hamill a place in the starting line-up, sticking instead with the out of form Paul Brown. Brown has not looked fit since signing at the transfer window and surely with two games left to play he should’ve at least been left on the bench, or maybe even left out altogether, giving young reserve striker Randall Reid a place on the bench. Hamill has shown of late that he is coming back to his best and after his wonder strike on Easter Tuesday at Lurgan, he surely warranted a start. But no our manager didn’t think so and the one other change he made was bringing Scatesy on to partner Haveron in midfield, with Sweeney moving onto the wing. United as is their wont elected to face the elements in the first half and even though they were under the cosh for a long time they still held the Glens at bay. Mark Glendenning upset Vinny Sweeney with a two- footed tackle and when the referee took no action Sweeney then tangled with Gary Browne, who lifted his hands, but referee Carville took no action. As the resultant throw-in was being taken, Sweeney foolishly kicked out at Glendenning after being pushed by the Glens defender and the referee cautioned both players. United manager Tommy Wright then committed his second gaffe of the afternoon, when he didn’t at least switch Sweeney away from the right wing or substitute him, as it was easy to see he had ‘lost it’. Sure enough in the 38th minute Browne went in late on the United number 7 and when the referee ignored the challenge Sweeney lashed out at Browne and promptly drew another booking which got him sent off. The home crowd applauded Sweeney off the pitch but I was in no mood to be so charitable, as I knew it would cost us dearly. As is often the case when a team goes down to ten men United actually played fairly well over the rest of the half, with Kelbie switching to the left wing and Stuarty King going to the right leaving Paul Brown to plough a lone furrow up front. Brown just failed in fact to get any power into a header from a Kelbie cross United’s best chance of the half as the match reached halftime.

During the interval the United manager committed his third gaffe when he reverted back to having Kelbie upfront with Brown leaving United’s midfield overstretched. I just knew it was a matter of when the Glens scored and then it would be all over and I didn’t have long to wait. Now I have talked long and hard all season but the ‘childish’ defending exhibited by this United team, but the Glens first goal yesterday was really the worst example yet. It appeared to be a mis-hit corner as the ball was played all along the ground to the edge of the box and while the United defenders looked on, the ball was rolled into the six-yard box and still our defenders stood by and watched as Nixon of Glentoran forced the ball over the goal-line. That was the end of the line for United and the defence just went completely to sleep after this, the one exception being Albert Watson. Gary Smyth and Gordon Simms were really useless and it was a miracle that they only shipped another three goals, which I won’t embarrass our defenders anymore by describing. Needless to say it was probably the easiest goals the Glens have scored this season. Referee Carville was in a benevolent mood as regards the visitors, for when Glendenning clearly elbowed Kelbie he merely said to him to not do that again, instead of issuing the mandatory yellow card. Tommy Wright rung his usual changes bringing on Hamill for Brown, which made no difference and Donaghy and Rowe for Scates and Haveron. But United were incapable of mounting a serious challenge and they closest they came was when Stuarty King’s wasted free kick went straight through to Glens keeper Elliot Morris. What a disgraceful display by United in their last game before a disappointing home crowd and a meagre visiting support. United are now in danger of having the unenviable record of conceding 50 goals in the season, a damming indictment of their slipshod defending as they approach their last game. By a strange quirk United’s premier supporters club (Seven Towers), gave their annual Player of the year award, not to United’s top scorer (15 goals in 29 games), Kevin Kelbie, but to centre-half and Captain Gary Smyth who with his co-defenders have let in more than three times as many goals as Kelbie has scored. The logic of their choice eludes me, Kelbie for me has been the only real positive thing that’s happened this season and I just hope we can give him a reason to stay with us until this time next year and beyond!

Addis               6          Scates               5     MoM:  Albert Watson

Albert Watson          7          Brown               5

Boydie               6          Kelbie               7

Haveron          5          King               5     Referee:     H. Carville     2     

Simms               4          1st Sub: Hamill     5

Smyth               4          2nd Sub: Rowe          5

Sweeney          3          3rd Sub: Donaghy     5

Over Drawn!

United manager Tommy Wright made two changes to his starting line-up after Saturday’s victory over the Coleraine Scum. One of them was forced upon him as Aiden Watson, not for the first time, was injured during the warm-up, which meant Gary Haveron taking over in midfield, with team Captain Gary Smyth slotting into his usual central defensive role. The other change was tactical with Paul Brown getting the nod upfront, therefore relegating Rory Hamill to the subs bench. United began the match somewhat sluggishly but should’ve taken the lead after 18 minutes when Gordon Simms sent a free header from a Rowe corner over the bar, a bad miss indeed. Craig McClean was caught with a late tackle but was able to continue after treatment and referee Davey Malcolm quite surprisingly booked the culprit. I say surprisingly as he seemed to think Paul Brown was fair game for the Glenavon defenders and gave no fouls against them despite their persistent foul tackles on the United hitman. Albert Watson came to United’s rescues when Gary Smyth got caught out of position, but Watson got back to save the day with a good tackle with Verner through on goal. Craig McClean then got injured again in an incident that led to a booking for Stuart King for a late tackle, but the Glenavon player retaliated against McClean but Malcolm of course took no action against him. Although McClean came back, it took him some time to shake off the injury and even though he put in some good crosses I don’t think he ever got back to full fitness. United took the lead after 26 minutes, when the persistent Kelbie tussled for the ball with the home keeper and a defender, as the ball rolled out to the left United’s top scorer rifled a left foot shot into the empty net. Five minutes later Kelbie turned provider when he unselfishly fed the ball to Gerard Rowe but the winger delayed his shot and allowed a home defender to get in a saving tackle, yet another chance gone begging. The home keeper was unable to kick the ball and United failed to put him under any pressure although he made a great save to deny Brown when the United striker’s header from a McClean cross looked destined for the top corner. Stuart Addis retained in goal for the Sky Blues messed up with a back pass and was relieved to see the ball whiz past his post when returned by Glenavon striker Marty Verner. Gordon Simms completely miskicked twice but luckily they came to nothing but the signs we there to see that United needed to consolidate their lead, but they failed to do so and halftime was reached with the visitors leading by just the solitary goal.

Seven minutes into the second half and United were made to pay for their benevolence when their leaky defence failed to get in a tackle and allowed Marty Verner to score from inside the six-yard box. This more or less signalled the end for Craig McClean as he signalled to the bench and was replaced by the veteran Boydie. Nigel almost made an instant impact as he beat four home defenders in a mazy run before just running out of energy, no doubt caused by his many weeks of inactivity. United forced several corners but couldn’t find the breakthrough although Kelbie missed a glorious chance when he headed a Rowe in-swinger over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Stuart Addis pulled off a great save from former United defender David McAlinden pushing his free kick round the post. Midway through the half manager Wright strangely took off big Brown, replacing him with Hamill. I thought he would’ve been better to have kept Brown on and slipped Hamill into midfield or went into all-out attack with a four, three, three, formation. Despite further openings and fruitless corners it was the home team who took the lead after 82 minutes. The United defence will not want to be reminded of this one as it was all down to them. Glenavon had won a corner and United left a home player unmarked on the edge of the box. The ball was rolled to him and even though he tripped over it the kind United defence allowed him time to get a shot on goal. It was a poor shot but Glenavon player McKnight was quickest off the mark, to hammer it past the stranded Addis. United fans were quick to berate their team and who could blame them as they had watched them throw away a great advantage, like so many times this season. Cometh the hour cometh the man they say and so it proved again when United ‘talisman’, Rory Hamill, rifled a real screamer from thirty yards into the corner of the net which left the home keeper gaping in awe and the home players shattered as it had come about thirty seconds after they had taken the lead. Two minutes later the United manager took off winger Rowe, who can also play upfront and brought on the more defensive Scates, in yet another strange move. Surely we should have been throwing everything at the home team in the hope of taking all three points, so taking off an attacker wasn’t really an option. Kelbie came within an ace of doing the business anyway when his goalbound effort was clawed to safety by the Glenavon keeper. Then at the other end Addis, not to be outdone, pushed a vicious shot from McVeigh round the post. With the match entering stoppage time Kelbie was harshly booked when he was adjudged to have fouled the home keeper as they both went for the ball, but it was plain to see that no contact was made. This booking could have serious consequences for United as it must push Kelbie towards thirty penalty points and a two match ban. The match came to an end about two minutes later and United’s penchant for drawing as they have done four times in their last seven games looks like costing them dearly, as just another two wins would have left them level on points with Dungannon, instead of trailing by four as they now do. If we are to be a team to be reckoned with, this is something the United manager needs to sort out and, he needs to do it quickly!


Addis 7 Brown 6 MoM: Kelbie

Albert Watson 7 Sweeney 6

McClean 6 Kelbie 7

Smyth 6 King 6 Referee: D. Malcolm 3

Simms 6 1st Sub: Boydie 7

Haveron 6 2nd Sub: Hamill 7

Rowe 6 3rd Sub: Scates 6

Derby Delight!

Ballymena, as predicted in Sky Blue Sport, fielded a vastly changed defensive formation. Out went goalkeeper McFrederick, with back-up man Stuart Addis taking over. While last years player of the year, Kieran Donaghy was also dropped, with central defender Albert Watson taking over in an unfamiliar rightback role. Gordon Simms and Gary Haveron formed a new central defensive formation and only Craig McClean retained his regular slot in the defence at leftback. Gerard Rowe got the wide right position in midfield, which left Scatesy on the bench, with Paul Brown and Boydie. The rest of the team were on fairly familiar lines, with Sweeney and Aiden Watson forming a new central midfield pairing. Despite losing the toss, United were asked to face the Summerfield end in the first half, which is their usual choice anyway. They could and should’ve made the visitors pay dearly for this gaffe as they missed three sitters in the first ten minutes. After winning the ball in midfield two minutes into the game, the ball was swept wide to Hamill and his low pass found Sweeney unmarked at the far post. Sweeney somehow managed to drive the ball against Scum keeper, fat Davy O’Hare and the ball rebounded to Stuarty King and he in turn drove the ball into the grateful keeper’s arms. Five minutes later Haveron headed an in-swinging corner from Rowe past the post, with the visitors defence at sixes and sevens and then a minute later, Sweeney shot over from 15 yards after a great run and pass from McClean left him clear on goal. United fans were anxious to see how Stuart Addis would perform and when Coleraine took a long throw from the spot where the United defence committed a real horlicks against Portadown last week, the debutant keeper allayed their fears when he came and punched the ball to safety. The home team seemed to lose their way a bit after their early pressure and the visitors began to look a little more menacing. United midfielder Aiden Watson was getting some rough treatment and even though referee Mark Courtenay gave fouls in his favour, I thought a couple of yellow cards would’ve been more appropriate. Coleraine keeper Davey O’Hare was taking an eternity with his goalkicks but the referee seemed oblivious to his time-wasting tactics. The United defence had a real let-off when Simms tangled with a Coleraine attacker, who it must be said went down rather easily, but the referee allowed play to continue and Addis made a good save to spare big Gordon’s blushes. The keeper came to United’s rescue once more, saving with his legs when a Coleraine forward burst through, when both Simms and Haveron were indecisive. Kelbie then missed a chance at the other end, when he went down under a challenge, but the referee waved play on. Coleraine had the ball in the United net after 33 minutes, but the goal was rightly disallowed for offside. Halftime was reached with the score still locked at 0-0 and it was hard to see where the goals were going to come from.

United centred the ball for the start of the second half and Aiden Watson sent a long punt down to the corner flag where it went out for a Coleraine throw. I was totally amazed at where the linesman allowed this throw in to be taken from, as he allowed the Scum defender to ‘steal’ at least ten yards. United recovered the ball and then won a free kick for a foul on Kelbie, with referee Courtenay finally losing patience and booking the culprit. Stuarty King, whose free kicks are generally poor, either too long or not high enough to get over the first man, actually produced a good one for a change. Stuarty’s free was nodded on by Sweeney, to the alert Kelbie, who from a seemingly impossible angle hit a screaming left foot strike past a helpless ‘Fat Davy’, O’Hare. Kelbie’s celebration was a delight to behold and hopefully United fans will be seeing a lot more of them over the next two seasons at least. This goal gave the game a real lift and United began slowly turning the ‘screw’ on their Derby rivals. This proved too much for Coleraine man Stuart Clanachan, who was lucky to stay on the field after a ‘leg break’ tackle on Aiden Watson. At this stage United were threatening to over-run the Coleraine Scum, but as usual let them off the hook. Coleraine for their part were reduced to punting long hopeful balls which the United defence dealt with fairly capably. Gerry Rowe missed a glorious chance to make the game safe, when after a delightful move involving Sweeney and Kelbie, he found himself one on one with Fat Davy. To the dismay of the United fans he attempted a lob which sailed harmlessly over the bar, a great chance missed. Rory Hamill was a tireless worker for the sky Blues and he just failed to get to a Kelbie flick, which was headed for a corner. Only referee Courtenay knows why firstly Paul Gaston wasn’t red carded when he clearly lifted his hands to Kelbie and then Clanachan blatantly pulled the same player back as he sprinted past him, surely a second booking which would have meant automatic dismissal. Kelbie was unlucky not to notch his second when Fat Davy pulled off a good save from a vicious left foot shot. United manager Tommy Wright took off Rory Hamill, bringing on Paul Brown and Rory got a huge ovation from the home fans. Big Paul was into action quite early, but unfortunately his shot sailed over the bar. With ten minutes remaining manager Wright took off Gerry Rowe, with Scatesy taking over, surely now I thought we’ll put the game beyond doubt, but we still couldn’t find that telling pass. Aiden Watson always seemed to be in space for United and began most of their counter attacks, while Craig McClean and Stuarty king worked well together on the left flank. There was always that nagging doubt that the ‘Scum’ would snatch an undeserved equaliser. Stuart Addis proved his worth to United with a good save low down to his left, was that Coleraine’s last chance I thought. But no there was another sting in the tail, when a Coleraine sub found himself through on goal but fortunately from a United point of view, the post came to their rescue, with Addis beaten. Referee Courtenay prolonged the agony for United fans, by finding four minutes of stoppage time and United chose to spend some of it by time-wasting at the corner flag, much to my chagrin. Surely it would’ve been much better to have tried to get a goal to make the game safe, but referee Courtenay brought the game to a close and United had done the double over their derby rivals, it doesn’t get much better than that now, does it?


Addis               7          Hamill               8     MoM:  Kelbie

Albert Watson          7          Sweeney          7

McClean          7          Kelbie               8

Aiden Watson          8          King               7     Referee:  M. Courtenay     4

Simms               7          1st Sub: Brown     7

Haveron          7          2nd Sub: Scates     7

Rowe               6     

Tommy Wrong!

Yet another three points presented to the opposition by this benevolent United defence, means the team have gone 9 games without a victory. I always knew this game against the Ports would be no pushover, but with most of their ‘big guns’ missing United could’ve and should’ve, seen them off. The United manager, who, like Sky Blue Sport, had said we were facing 9 cup finals in our last 9 league games, made what I thought was a rather strange team selection. Paul Brown and Craig McClean were both passed fit after injury, Big Tam decided to play McClean but send Brown down to the reserves. Surely if you really want to win your games, you need to go in with ‘all guns blazing’. Paul Brown has been less than impressive since his move to the Showgrounds, but his ‘nuisance value’ alone must surely make him an automatic starter for United. Tommy Wright had also asked the United fans to get behind their team for home games, as like all Irish league fans we tend to be lass vociferous at home, but I believe it’s up to the team to give us something to cheer and so far there’s been little of that. In the absence of Captain Gary Smyth due to a groin strain, Gordon Simms was promoted in his place, Craig McClean returned at leftback in place of Boydie who got a place on the bench. The United manager also left top scorer Vinny Sweeney on the bench, yet another strange decision, going with tiny midfielder Aiden Watson alongside Gary Haveron. These two players were swamped in midfield by Portadown’s Richard Clarke and the impressive Paddy Quinn who was a constant thorn in the flesh for United throughout the game. Portadown gave an early warning when Clarke drove the ball against the crossbar after ten minutes. But they weren’t to be denied for long and took the lead after 18 minutes when Gordon Simms was told by United keeper McFrederick not to play the ball back to him and he kicked it into touch instead. This was the beginning of the end for United as first the throw-in went over McClean’s head, then bounced over Simms, leaving Ports winger Taggart to side-foot the ball into the net. United keeper McFrederick as usual watched this catalogue of errors unfold, firmly ‘rooted’ to his goal-line. Two minutes later Kevin Kelbie went in late on Ports defender Convery who reacted angrily to the tackle and although he lifted his hands got off without a booking or the requisite sending off. Kelbie was rightly cautioned for his part and then Ports manager Ronnie McFall was ordered off for allegedly questioning the referee’s parentage. Six minutes later yet another defensive ‘horlicks’ allowed the Ports to increase their lead, when Donaghy and Scates failed to clear the ball and then Albert Watson allowed Taggart to put in a left wing cross which eluded McFrederick on the goal-line.  When the ball came back in Baker drove past the ‘hapless McFrederick to put the Ports 2-0 ahead. United were given a lifeline almost immediately when a low Scates corner was headed home by Rory Hamill, after his first effort had been blocked. United were repeatedly caught off-side by the working of the linesman’s flag by the Ports defenders, as every time Kelbie or Hamill broke through, Convery raised his arm and the linesman’s flag followed suit although some decisions were doubtful to say the least. United’s luck was right out when a Craig McClean speculative shot eluded Ports keeper Miskelly, but he somehow managed to push it round the post. The corner came to nothing and United went in at halftime trailing by two goals to one.

With no changes made at halftime United continued to be outplayed in midfield and it was no surprise when Ports increased their lead, but United defenders won’t want to see it again I’m sure. Ports fullback O’Hara was allowed to cross the ball from the left and McCann forced the ball home with the United defence looking on. This goal came after 58 minutes and still the United manager made no changes to his line up. The home crowd was getting increasingly restless and finally manager Wright changed things round, but done it rather strangely in my opinion. Despite the fact that Aiden Watson and Haveron were pathetic, he took off Donaghy and Scates, who were, let’s face it, none too impressive themselves. This move necessitated changing the United formation, with Stuart king moving to right wing-back and Gary Haveron moving into a three man defence alongside Albert Watson and Simms. Sweeney slotted into centre midfield alongside Hamill and Aiden Watson and Rowe went upfront alongside Kelbie. In the 80th minute Hamill almost gave United a lifeline when he shot across goal with Miskelly scrambling. Then with two minutes remaining he did give United a lifeline when his rasping shot was parried by the Ports keeper and the alert Kelbie hammered the rebound into the roof of the net. In a last ditch attempt United threw Simms forward but it was the wily Ports who held out for victory during the two minutes referee ken Ginnett chose to add on. There was one of those strange incidents during the closing minutes where a Ports player went down feigning injury and carried on with the pretence and limped towards the dressing room although he looked like a ‘bluffer’ to me. The treatment for this player took two and a half minutes, plus the added thirty seconds for the substitution, yet the referee merely added two minutes on, strange mathematics in my opinion. In the end United got what they deserved, nothing and tenth place in the final table is looming ominously closer by the minute!


McFrederick               5          Hamill               7     MoM:  Hamill

Donaghy               5          Aiden Watson          4

McClean               6          Kelbie               7

Haveron               4          King               5      Referee:   K. Ginnett          3

Albert Watson               6          1st Sub: Sweeney     6

Simms                    5          2nd Sub: Rowe          6

Scates                    5