Cold Comfort!

Tommy Wright took his Ballymena team back to the scene of his former glories, the Showgrounds Limavady, but it was not a triumphant return. The Ballyclare man, as predicted in Sky Blue Sport gave a starting slot to reserve striker Randal Reid, with Kevin Kelbie serving an automatic one game suspension. That wasn’t the only change as Gordon Simms was replaced by Gary Haveron, while Gareth McConaghie got a seat on the bench, with Darren Fitzgerald and Stuarty King being the other two substitutes. Limavady must have one of the poorest grounds in the Premier league, with only one small stand and seemingly no ball boys. I say seemingly as this was perfectly illustrated after two minutes when United keeper Paul Murphy had to vault over the wall behind his goal in order to retrieve the ball to take a goalkick. Never mind the time being wasted by this manoeuvre, what if the keeper had slipped and injured himself, we would then have been in a tricky situation. Austen Friel was given his second successive start against his former club, but failed to grasp the opportunity, as his touch and control let him down time and again. His strike partner Reid on the other hand had an excellent game and showed some nice touches. Former United player Vinny Sweeney came in for some ‘playful’ banter from the Sky Blue supporters while he showed his immaturity by incitingly crossing himself. He then should’ve been cautioned for a two-footed tackle on United’s Randal Reid, but referee Adrian McCourt merely gave him a talking to. United took a deserved lead after 34 minutes when winger Mark Picking outpaced home fullback Cutmore and then turning inside another defender found Reid’s head with a delightful cross. The young striker headed forcefully into the net to put United one up and open his senior goalscoring account for the season. United strove to increase their lead but the final pass seemed to go astray and despite forcing several corners and free kicks never looked like increasing their lead. Restarting is an area where the Sky Blues are failing miserably, throw-ins invariably got to the opposition, while free kicks and corners are fairly one-dimensional, a long ball to the far side which brings little or no reward. But bad enough that these plays are, they are brilliant compared to kick-offs, which seem to consist of an aimless punt downfield, either out of play or straight to the opposition.

As if to prove my point United began the second-half with an aimless punt straight to the opposition, allowing the home team time to settle. Would it not be better to try something a wee bit different, like holding possession and trying to catch the opponents out or is that not in the United coaching manua. The home team levelled the scores 7 minutes into the second-half and the United defence were caught flatfooted by the move. Fullback Cutmore was allowed to encroach deep into the United half and his deep cross was headed powerfully past the stranded Paul Murphy by the unmarked Steven Parkhorse. Where was the marking I wondered as the Limavady striker was in acres of space and even though some fans thought the keeper at fault, I think he was let down by his fellow defenders. United to their credit kept their heads up and they should’ve went back in front when ‘man of the match’ Picking dribbled through the centre of the home defence before releasing Austen Friel. The tiny striker with the goal at his mercy blasted the ball over the bar, a horrendous miss. Then Picking took a long pass from Haveron and his shot from 25 yards clipped the top of the crossbar with the keeper beaten all ends up. Friel was given yet another chance to redeem himself but he shot too close to the keeper who pushed his shot for a corner. Albert Watson almost scored from the resultant corner but his left foot shot was scrambled for another corner. Friel was then pushed in the box but Adrian McCourt ignored United protests and waved play on. Tommy Wright then took Friel off but to the consternation of United fans it wasn’t Fitzy who replaced him, but Stuarty King. Even though this released Picking to play up front, I saw this as a negative move and I thought that the manager was happy with the draw. Stuarty King had his usual non-effective game and this player has been yet another massive disappointment since his arrival at Ballymena. A draw was what we got in the end, but it should and could have been much more and Tommy is now treading on dangerous ground. The United board have been patient, they have acceded to most of the manager’s requests, but so far they’ve got nothing to show for it. But in my opinion, anything less than four points from the next two games and I think, a new manager will be required for the Sky Blues!

P. Murphy 7 Picking 7 MoM: Picking

Callaghan 6 Aid Watson 6

Boydie 6 Friel 5

Scates 6 Reid 7 Referee: A. McCourt 3

Alb Watson 5 D. Murphy 6

Haveron 5 1^st Sub: King 5