Boring Draw!

All I can say about yesterday's game, is summed up perfectly by the headline, it was a boring draw. It shouldn't have been a boring draw, we missed two sitters and had a stonewall penalty turned down, but in the end a draw was all we could manage. Things had started badly for us as the ever present Mike Smith got injured in the warm-up and his place was taken by Chris Ramsay, which was the only change from our last match 10 days ago. This meant top scorer Kevin Kelbie continued on the wing, a mis-selection if ever there was one. Eleven minutes into the game and the home team took the lead and I'm afraid this one was down to Dwayne Nelson, which was a pity as he had just made a wonder save with his foot.

The ball not for the first time this season wasn't cleared properly and when former United player Aaron Callaghan played it back in Nelson stood rooted to his goal line and Cooling had the simple task of side footing the ball into the net. This was simply the keepers ball, but he stayed on his line and we were punished as a result. Kelbie switched inside almost immediately as we now had to change tactics and go for an equaliser. This we managed after 25 minutes and it was the much maligned Gary Muir who got on the end of a Kelbie pass to level the scores.

Gavin Taggart had to come off almost immediately with Noel Anderson replacing him. United had probably their best spell in the game at this time and only referee Crangle knows why we didn't get a penalty when Sparky was cleaned as he attempted to chase a through ball. Albert Watson somehow managed to put a free header from a Muir corner over the bar, a chance gone begging. Shortly afterwards Kelbie broke clear and when it looked like the best option was to shoot he passed the ball to Andy Smith. Smith controlled the ball and then hit it straight at the near post with the whole of the goal gaping, a dreadful miss. United paid a heavy price for this lapse when against the run of play the hosts took a 2-1 lead.

There seemed little danger when Nelson threw the ball to Ramsay to carry it out of defence, but he allowed himself to be caught in possession. United did however manage to rectify the situation, but instead of hoofing the ball up-field, Albert passed to Ramsay once more and he repeated the process, but on this occasion the home team scored through McCann. This goal was down to what can best be described as 'arsing' about in defence, instead of doing the simple thing and clearing their lines and it's been an accident waiting to happen in our last half a dozen games, hopefully we have learned the lesson now.

Sparky didn't appear for the 2nd half and Cushley came on as a sub, which left us with two wingers. This gave us fans some hope, but it was false hope as we rarely attempted to play football, just kept launching the ball into their half and hoping to get something out of it. Kelbie drove a free kick straight to Matthews and as if not to be outdone, Cushley drove one against the defensive wall, while the so called ace free-taker Gary Muir, looked on. United did manage to claw a goal back midway through the half, when Kelbie burst down the wing before forcing Matthews into a top class save at the expense of a corner.

Gary Muir took the corner on the left with his right foot and Ramsay headed it back across goal where the alert Kelbie hooked the ball into the net. United did strive for the winner and Albert missed with another free header from a Muir corner. Noel Anderson was pressing forward at every opportunity and he set Muir up with a neat pass but when it looked like he must score, he failed to find the target. He almost atoned for this miss when he forced Matthews to save when he cut in from the left but no United forward could react in time and the home team managed to clear.

Nelson earned his keep in the 2nd half with two good stops when the United defence went asleep and not to be outdone the home team missed a sitter also. With 5 minutes remaining United suffered a blow when top scorer Kelbie went off with a recurrence of his shoulder injury. Paul McNeill came on in Kelbie's place and United will have an anxious wait to see if their talisman is available for the cup semi-final next Saturday. Despite referee Crangle finding 5 minutes of stoppage time, the game petered out to a tame draw, which in the end was a fair result. The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for the result of the Ports/Scum, game which means we're at home to the Scum on Tuesday night.

Nelson (7), Ramsay (5), Colligan (7), Alb Watson (7), Archie (6), Muir (7), Taggart (6)(Sub: Anderson 7), Aid Watson (7), Kelbie (7)(Sub: McNeill 6), A. Smith (6), Sparky (6)(Sub: Cushley 6)

Man of the match: Gary Muir