Ugly Victory!

Three points were vital for the Sky Blues today and that’s what they got, but they almost threw it away right at the end with some sloppy defending. With only one change from last week’s starting 11, Gavin Melaugh taking over in centre midfield for Lee Patrick and Scates on the bench alongside, Fitzy and Lowery, United were very slow out of the starting blocks. In fact the early action concerned referee Alan Black and his penchant for booking United players. Firstly it was Gavin Melaugh, who needlessly kicked out a Dungannon player after the ball had gone. The referee in fact missed this incident but had it pointed out to him by the 4^th official and promptly cautioned the United midfielder. He then cautioned Stuart King for what best can be described as an innocuous tackle, before sending the player to the near touchline to receive treatment for a blood injury. This meant that the United Physio had to run round almost half of the outside of the pitch and when King went to meet him the referee’s assistant drew the ref’s attention and he told him no. This meant United were down to 10 men for about 8 minutes while Stuarty received attention. Shortly after he returned the referee again sent him to the touchline as he was still bleeding and he was substituted at this stage with Stephen Lowery taking his place. The visitors on the other hand were allowed to get ‘away with’ over the top tackles by the referee, which was in such contrast to his treatment of the home players. Dungannon were the livelier of the two teams, although they appeared to get themselves in a tangle at the back on the odd occasion. United keeper Paul Murphy rescued his side with a good save from a goal bound shot, in the Swift’s best attack. The first half was drawing to a conclusion when Kevin Kelbie was fouled by being elbowed about 10 yards inside the visitors half, no action taken against the culprit. From Craig McClean’s free-kick, former United keeper Dwayne Nelson came out to gather the ball, misjudged it and Albert Watson cushioned a header to striker Paul Brown, who headed into the net for his 3^rd goal in the last 4 games. The ironic thing was that United had scored this goal when they were down to 10 men, as Kelbie hadn’t returned after being treated for injury.

The second half was as boring as the first but I got the impression that United just had to wait for the visitors to mess up once more and present them with another goal. The visitors for their part seemed devoid of ideas although their main striker was giving United Captain Albert Watson a few headaches and I was a little concerned about this. With 70 minutes on the clock United were presented with another opening when Paul Brown charged down an attempted clearance from a Swifts defender and burst through on goal. As Dwayne Nelson advanced towards him the big striker unselfishly squared the ball to Kelbie and he had the simple task of shooting into the empty net. United manager Tommy Wright took off Brown and Picking at this point, with Scates and Fitzy taking their place. Despite United having almost complete domination at this stage they failed to take advantage and Aiden Watson missed badly when put through after good work by Fitzy and Melaugh, blazing his shot wide from six yards. This was almost a costly miss as Dungannon were given a lifeline when from a corner a header found the net through a crowded goalmouth. Kevin Kelbie then spurned another glorious chance when he burst through the static Swifts defence only to hit a weak shot straight at Nelson. At the other end United keeper Paul Murphy pushed a Rory Hamill shot up in the air and then caught it before it crossed the goal-line, a lucky break for the Dundalk man. With one minute of normal time remaining he was even luckier when he was left flatfooted by a shot which struck his left-hand post before bouncing into his arms. United survived the 3 minutes of added time for a pleasing if somewhat undeserved victory. Hopefully this is the first of many victories against the so called lesser teams and sets us up nicely for the visit of Linfield in the cup next Saturday. But if United are to progress in the cup they’ll require a vast improvement on today’s showing and it’s up to our management to help them make that improvement!

P. Murphy 6 Melaugh 6 MoM: Kelly

Callaghan 6 Brown 7

McClean 6 Kelbie 6

Aid Watson 7 King 6 Referee: A. Black 3

Alb Watson 7 1^st Sub: Lowery 7

Kelly 7 2^nd Sub: Scates 6

Picking 6 3^rd Sub: Fitzy 6

Referring Decisions!

No, our headline is not a misprint, it just sums up perfectly the contribution of referee Mark Courtenay today. In fact, maybe the correct headline should be ‘deferring’, as the Dungannon official seemed to wait until he got the nod from an unseen accomplice before making any decisions. United lined out as forecast in Sky Blue Sport, with Stuarty King and Aiden Watson, coming in for the suspended duo, Melaugh and Scates. United set out their stall early, attacking the league leaders from the outset as if to prove they had not come to defend. The linesman at the Spion Kop end of the ground, which United were defending, was wearing his Linfield scarf as he continually ignored blatant offsides and the cheating antics of Mark ‘the diver’ Dickson. Dickson needed little invitation to fall over and both referee and linesman aided and abetted him in his task. United with former Linfield players King and Picking raiding up both flanks tortured the Linfield back four during the early stages of the game. United’s Simon Kelly was harshly booked by the referee when he legitimately took the ball off Linfield’s Peter Thompson, but then again that’s not allowed, is it? United’s domination of the home team was succinctly demonstrated when, Paul Brown, Kevin Kelbie and Mark Picking, found themselves all attacking the same ball in the Linfield penalty area and messing up in the process. Linfield’s strong-arm tactics almost paid the ultimate dividend when Picking was hauled down on the edge of the Linfield box, no yellow card from the referee on this occasion (surprise! surprise!), and Stuarty King’s free kick smacked off the post for a goalkick. United were finally subjected to some pressure from the home team in the last 10 minutes of the half. Albert Watson and Thompson went down in an ugly heap, but the referee rightly allowed play to continue. United were guilty here of not clearing their lines and the home team tried to force the initiative. United were indebted to keeper Murphy who was on hand to turn a shot over the bar from a suspiciously looking offside Mark Dickson, Murphy’s first real save of the game. United survived the resultant corner, but were struggling to get into the game at this stage. Six minutes from the break, a through ball was played to home midfielder McAreevy but he stumbled on the ball and United’s Aaron Callaghan hooked the ball for a corner. McAreevy actually went down in sections and incredulously referee Mark Courtenay awarded a penalty. The United players and fans were stunned, but after all we were in Windsor Park, we had dominated the first half and that couldn’t be allowed to continue, now could it? United keeper Paul Murphy dived when if he had stood his ground the spot kick would’ve hit him and Linfield went one up in the game. As United attempted to get back in the game, Picking was viciously hacked down by McShane and referee Courtenay, after checking with whomever was pulling his strings (you’ll notice here I didn’t say the fat controller here, I never mentioned his name), duly flourished the yellow card. The home team managed to hold out until halftime and United trotted off at the interval wondering how they were a goal down after dominating the first half.

The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first with United attacking down both flanks and I can’t honestly remember keeper Paul Murphy having to make a save worthy of the name. Linfield were allowed to get away with foul play perfectly exemplified when their central defender rose in the centre-circle and caught the ball like an Australian rules player calling for a ‘mark’. Surely this must bring a caution I thought, but no referee Courtenay thought otherwise. United Captain Albert Watson perpetrated the ‘miss of the match’, when he failed to get his head to a Stuart King corner on the edge of the six-yard box. United manager Tommy Wright, obviously happy with a one nil defeat, took off striker Paul Brown with Fitzy taking his place. To me this was a wasted substitution as it just surrendered the aerial route to the home team. Fitzy was though involved in one of the most bizarre incidents I’ve ever seen at an Irish league game. Chasing a ball into the box he hit it goalwards and it hit a defender enroute before crossing the by-line, the linesman’s decision, unsurprisingly I might add, a goalkick to the home team. Aaron Callaghan was blatantly pulled back by a home player as he cut inside, but referee Courtenay waved play on when it was clear the United man had no real advantage. Linfield midfielder McAreevy added insult to injury a few minutes later, by rolling histrionically when tackled by United’s Aiden Watson, earning the United man a caution from duped referee Courtenay. The Linfield man who appeared to be so badly injured a stretcher would be required, got up unaided and couldn’t hide his grin from the United fans. The United manager took off Lee Patrick with 5 minutes remaining obviously intent on giving young Stephen Lowery a taste of the action. The fourth official held up the board showing 4 minutes of stoppage time and this was to work against the Sky Blues. Two minutes had elapsed when Murphy’s weak goalkick ricocheted off a Linfield player and came back towards the United goal. Not for the first time in his United career Murphy stayed stranded on his goal-line and Peter Thompson was allowed to chase the ball down before squaring for substitute Adamson to rifle the ball past the stranded keeper, to give the home team a flattering score of two nil. That was the end for United, with nothing to show for their spirited performance but I think they showed their full-time opponents that they are in for a real game in two weeks time when they meet in the Irish cup in Ballymena. As the United fans were singing, ‘full-timers, you’re having a laugh’ I made my way out of stadium.

Murphy 6 Patrick 6 MoM: Aid Watson

Callaghan 5 Brown 7

McClean 6 Kelbie 7

Aid Watson 8 King 7 Referee: M. Courtenay 1

Alb Watson 7 1^st Sub: Fitzy 6

Kelly 8 2^nd Sub: Lowery 6

Picking 7

Jammy Dodgers!

Any United fan who turned up for yesterday’s game against Amateur league team Comber Rec, hoping for a moral boosting win, went home disappointed. United enjoyed a lion’s share of the possession, but for all their efforts all they had to show at the end of the day was one solitary goal. The optimists will tell you that was all that was needed, as the prime requirement was to be in the next round and they are in the next round. But the purists, like myself, were looking for a convincing win, just to give us a wee confidence boost. But as is usual for United against lesser opposition they struggled and were probably a shade lucky to get through without a replay being necessary. Manager Tommy Wright restored Paul Brown to the starting line-up in place of Stuart King who was relegated to the subs bench, Picking went back to his more normal right-wing position, with Melaugh taking King’s place on the left-wing. New signing Simon Kelly, as expected made his debut alongside Captain Albert Watson at the expense of young Gareth McConaghie, which in turn released Aaron Callaghan to his more familiar rightback position. United could and probably should’ve got off to a brilliant start, when Picking found Kelbie with a neat cross, but the strikers weak header was straight at the visiting keeper. The visitors then missed a chance when one of their strikers shot weakly and Paul Murphy saved easily. After United’s debut boy Kelly was harshly adjudged to have fouled a visiting forward, former United player Jim McCloskey’s curled free kick, luckily eluded everybody in the penalty area. United took the lead almost immediately when Picking and Callaghan combined well down the right and even though the fullback’s cross was poor, the visitor’s defenders got themselves in a tangle and striker Paul Brown hammered the ball into the roof of the net from six yards out. The big striker who prior to last week had scored a disappointing 2 goals in a United jersey, has now doubled his tally to four. Surely now the floodgates would open I thought, but as usual I was wrong. Kevin Kelbie did get the ball in the visitor’s net with a neat chip, but the goal was ruled out by a late flag from the linesman, which looked harsh, but I was along way away from the incident and must give the official the benefit of the doubt. Gavin Melaugh failed to test the keeper from 25 yards with a free kick, surely the first rule must be to make the keeper attempt to save the shot. The rest of the half was a poor reflection on the Premier league team and the 130 or so visiting supporters said as much in their song ‘Premier league, your having a laugh’ and I had to agree with them.

In the second-half United enjoyed almost complete domination, but only carved out two clear cut chances that I can remember. First Kevin Kelbie found himself inside the penalty box on his favourite left foot, but with a clear view of the target screwed his shot miles wide of the goal. The other chance was created by United’s best player Paul Brown who swivelled and hit a thunderous left-foot shot which the Rec keeper tipped over the bar. The United manager took Picking off midway through the half, bringing on King to the left, with Melaugh reverting back to the right side of midfield. Melaugh and Callaghan raided constantly down the United right, but failed to put in a telling cross to unlock the visitors defence. Comber to their credit kept plugging away and the worry was that United would present them with one chance and they would take it. A banner on the visitor’s stand proclaimed that United’s Garth Scates was a Comber man and he almost proved to be their saviour ten minutes from time. Latching onto a loose ball 35 yards from his own goal and under no pressure, he decided to play it back to his own keeper. A Comber forward read it perfectly but United keeper Murphy just managed to beat him to the ball and clear it from danger. United Captain Albert Watson got the benefit of the doubt from referee Burns, when a Comber forward fell over in the box after a challenge from the United player. Comber’s keeper was injured in a challenge and play was held up for a couple of minutes while he received treatment. He was able to continue but was noticeably limping, but the United forwards failed to take advantage of his handicap. Tommy Wright took off the ineffective Kelbie and brought on the fit again Darren Fitzgerald. Despite getting a couple of openings Fitzy was unable to test the Comber keeper and despite the added 4 minutes of stoppage time the game ended with a one nil victory. The home fans duly applauded the Comber team at the end of the game, relieved that a replay wasn’t necessary but knowing that if their team was to progress further in the competition, they would need a vast improvement. When United were drawn first out of the hat for the quarter-finals we held our collective breaths and heard that we were at home to holders Linfield in the next round, yes a vast improvement is required, but we are at home and hopefully that will be in our favour.

P. Murphy 7 Patrick 6 MoM: Brown

Callaghan 5 Brown 8

McClean 6 Kelbie 5

Scates 6 Melaugh 5 Referee: C. Burns 5

Alb. Watson 6 1^st Sub: King 6

Kelly 7 2^nd Sub: Fitzy 5

Picking 5

Downed Ports!

United went into today’s Premier league game trailing opponents Portadown by 18 points, but most United fans knew their team wasn’t that much inferior to the visitors. Their optimism proved to be correct when their heroes took all 3 points against the second placed team in the league. The United starting line-up was as predicted in Sky Blue Sport, but Randal Reid was missing from the subs bench, with Aiden Watson joining Paul Brown and Stephen Lowry. Young fullback Gareth McConaghie had a couple of hairy moments in the early stages and United had a let-off when McCutcheon just failed to reach a cross-field ball, with the home defence at sixes and sevens. Little was seen of United as an attacking force, as when they did manage to break free, Mickey Collins and company invariably hacked them down. Referee Mark Courtenay had a word with the Ports hard man as early as the 8^th minute, but finally lost patience and cautioned him for a late tackle on Gareth Scates. United’s free kicks failed to put the visitors under any pressure as their ploy seemed to be to play them wide and they generally came to nothing. United’s one chance in the first half came from an unlikely source, when Stuarty King dribbled across the centre of the pitch before firing in a vicious right-foot shot which was touched onto the post by visiting keeper Miskelly. Despite Portadown’s pressure, aided and abetted by an inept display by an assistant referee (Linesman), United survived to halftime with the score at 0-0.

The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first with Portadown looking the likelier side to score, although in all fairness to the home defence, Murphy wasn’t really troubled in the home goal. Portadown were reduced to shooting from long range and the nearest they came was when a Wesley Boyle effort just cleared the crossbar. United carved out one good opening after sixty odd minutes when Mark Picking burst through, only to have his goalbound shot diverted for a corner. This was to be Picking’s last part in the game as he was immediately substituted with big Paul Brown taking his place. I thought this substitution was a bit hard on Pickey as he looked lively and had given the Ports defenders a few anxious moments. Gavin Melaugh was having another good game and he emphasised this perfectly when after a neat dribble he found Kevin Kelbie with a gem of a ball on the right wing. Kelbie turned neatly and swung over a left cross and there was Lee Patrick to head beyond the arms of keeper Miskelly and into the visitor’s net for his 5^th goal of the season. That goal came after 70 minutes and the United fans were on their feet and applauded their heroes for a good two minutes. Portadown stepped up a gear but United with Albert Watson and Callaghan in uncompromising mood, held firm. Ports manager Ronnie McFaul rang the changes taking off Collins and Boyle and bringing on Smart and Clarke, (sounds like two comedians, don’t it). Clarke was only on the field two minutes when he was cautioned by referee Courtenay, not the start he was looking for. United manager Tommy Wright then took off Stuarty King, with Stephen Lowry taking his place. With two minutes left on the clock United got the insurance goal they were looking for, when after Kelbie had gone down injured, Paul Brown won a corner on the right. Gavin Melaugh took it right-footed and big Paul Brown met it fairly and squarely to send a sweet header into the back of the net. To say the big striker was happy was to make a gross understatement and he ‘milked’ the applause of the United fans. Kevin Kelbie went off immediately after this goal, but whether that was a precautionary substitution or not I cannot say, with Aiden Watson taking his place. United played out the remainder of the game which almost had a fitting finale, when ‘man of the match’, Gavin Melaugh’s audacious chip from the edge of the box clipped the Ports crossbar. Despite the referee finding 4 minutes of stoppage time from nowhere and actually playing five, United held out for a deserved victory and a rare clean sheet.

P. Murphy 7 Patrick 8 MoM: Melaugh

Callaghan 7 Picking 6

McClean 6 Kelbie 7

Scates 7 King 6 Referee: M. Courtenay 6

Alb. Watson 7 1^st Sub: Brown 7

McConaghie 7 2^nd Sub: Lowry 6

Melaugh 8 3^rd Sub: Aid. Watson 6