Silly Billies!

United finished the game today with 9 men today and had nobody to blame for it only themselves, admittedly the referee was crap, aided and abetted by a linesman who, missed four barefaced offsides in the first half and who obviously leaves his guide dog behind the stand, but at the end of the day both players deserved to be sent off. United, with Albert Watson restored to their defence in place of the unfortunate Gary Haveron and with young trialist George Stewart getting the nod ahead of Ormo and Lockhart on for Taggart, were caught sleeping after 19 minutes when after a quick throw-in, the ball was worked across to Rainey and he swivelled onto his left foot before bending a shot past Sean O'Neill to put the visitors one up. Kevin Kelbie missed a glorious chance to level the scores when fed the ball by the industrious Andy Smith, but unfortunately shot straight at the Crues keeper. Young Stewart then burst onto a lovely through ball but the Crues keeper bravely threw himself at the his feet. As play continued the keeper was lying down injured and Smith intercepted the ball with his hands to stop play. After lengthy treatment the keeper was able to continue, but to the utter amazement of the home players and fans instead of a 'bounce ball' the referee gave a free kick to the visitors, the first of many miscarriages of justice. Aiden Watson was yellow carded for showing dissent after an innocuous foul and then visiting player Eamon Doherty scythed United's Lee Colligan with a vicious tackle which should have drawn a straight red card but was only yellow. Colligan was tripped once more by visiting defender Gareth McKeown, who was also cautioned for dissent and from the resultant free kick Carson found Albert Watson unmarked and he deservedly equalised with a firm header. Four minutes later the game was turned on it's head when after a decisive tackle by Surgenor on Doherty the Crues player began kicking out at the United man and also grabbed him by the throat. Home keeper O'Neill rushed from his goal and foolish pushed the Crues player, who executed a dive that Tom Daly would have been proud of. As a result the United keeper was sent off, while the instigator, Doherty got off scot free. The linesman obviously saw nothing, but then again his guide dog was tied up behind the stand after all. Defender Surgenor took over in goal for the last 5 minutes of the half, plus the paltry 2 minutes of stoppage time, when we had lost about 5 minutes due to injuries and the sending off.

United's goalkeeping coach kept Surgenor out on the pitch during the interval but surely I thought we'd have to bring on a central defender to take his place. Roy Walker however thought differently, pushing Lockhart into the back four and Kelbie onto the left wing. This was a major technical blunder, as Lockhart struggled at the back and as we all know only too well Kevin can only play upfront. Six minuted into the 2nd period Aiden Watson foolishly went in with a late tackle and the referee couldn't get the yellow card, followed by the red one out quick enough. Surely now I thought the manager will act, bringing on Archie for the struggling Lockhart but he fiddled, while we struggled. Two minutes later George Stewart came off injured with Noel Anderson taking his place, but still no change at the back. Surgenor was performing heroics in goals but the defence finally cracked when Coates headed a deep cross powerfully into the net. The United manager finally awoke from his slumbers taking off Kelbie and bringing on Archie at the back and in turn releasing the exhausted Lockhart into an overworked midfield. A short time later Cushley came on for the exhausted Lockhart and United despite being two men short, began to exert some pressure of their own. Andy Smith was harshly cautioned by the referee for a hard but fair tackle while Coates was allowed to get away with persistent fouling. With time ticking away the referee sunk to even lower depths when he gave the visitors a penalty for a blatant dive. For once justice was served as Donnelly's effort cleared the crossbar. As the final whistle went United fans surged towards the tunnel to cheer their team, jeer the opposition and barrack the referee and linesman, but at the end of the day it was another defeat and it was after all self inflicted. We have a few discipline problems and we need to sort them out sooner rather than later, or things aren't going to get any better!


O'Neill, (6), M.Smith (8), Colligan (6), Alb. Watson (7), Surgenor (8), Geo. Stewart (7) (Sub: Anderson 6,) Carson (7), Aid Watson (6), Lockhart (6), (Sub: Cushley 6, A. Smith (7) Kelbie (5) (Sub: A.Stewart 7),

Man of the match: Mark Surgenor