Rusty´s Report!

This is the match report promised in Bruce Balmer´s absence, we have edited some of it, mainly the spelling mistakes. It´s a bit raw, but straight from the heart and after all that´s all that matters.

1st half Coleraine were encamped in our half we tried to play offside and it didn't work´.

Coleraine player beat off-side and Nelson came well to edge of his box and dived at feet to save.

Another Coleraine player also beat the offside trap and hit the post while Paul Brown missed a sitter hitting the post from 6 yards out but was adjudged off-side anyway.

We had no idea just thumping the ball up field and Gibbo didn't win many headers

Scum had a corner' Nathan cleared, Murray did will to chase down and ran from his own half beating a couple of players but when he got to the box instead of shooting tried to pass to Cutch and ball went to fat Davey. That was our only chance in the 1st half.

2nd half

Mo didn't come out for the 2nd half (injured)Gazza replaced him and we started off 1st 5 mins as crap, as we were in 1st half. The scum were all over us but we came into it a bit and started playing football without really creating any clear cut chances.

Murray had the beating of his man, skinned a couple of players, cut inside passed to Cutch who passed to Nathan and from a tight angle he shot but fat Davey saved it.

From a long ball Nelson came out to punch when it was Archie´s ball and he got nowhere near so Archie headed and it bounced in the box. Archie then tried to head it back to Nelson who was in no mans land and with a Coleraine man pressing him Archie messed up his clearance and a scum player blasted the ball off the underside of the bar.

Coleraine scored from a big punt up field, when Paul Brown who won almost every header and had the beating of Denver all day, controlled the ball on edge of the box. Denver had plenty of chances to clear it but didn't although he pushed Brown wide but allowed him to cross ball from a tight angle and the ball went back post where Nelson let a weak header from Scullion roll right past him, 1 nil scum.

Murray beat couple of men fed the ball to Mike Smith who hit a low cross which Scum defender turned away for a corner. From another Murray pass ball fell to Gibbo on edge of box but shot was blocked

We huffed and puffed without creating any chances, had plenty of corners but never looked like scoring,no strikers on bench so Roy took off Archie and brought on Lee
and with 3 mins of injury time pushed Denver up but we never looked like scoring

Nelson (5), made couple of good saves but at fault for the goal and made another mistake, he cost us this game he´s not going to do

Mike Smith (7) had a good game kept Carson quiet and supported Murray well

Archie (6) messed up and hit his own bar some bad passes going forward

Watson (6) struggled against Paul Brown

Denver (5) terrible, worst I've seen him couldn't live with Brown never won a single header against him at fault for goal

Mo (6) tried hard but never really worked taken off injured

Murray (8) man of match switched at half time to right wing had beating of his man and made lots of great runs

Taggart (6) made a couple of good tackles stupid booking in 2nd half for kicking ball away

Nathan (6) tried hard but nothing came off, moved to left wing in 2nd half left Archie a bit exposed

Sub: Gazza (6)tried really hard and made some good tackles

Gibbo (5) did nothing, didn't win a single header.

Cutch (6), put in effort some good link play but starved of a decent service

Lee (6) on for bout 5 mins


The Black chappie was not as bad as usual, some strange decision as is his norm but no major talking points.


Thanks Rusty Ray for your report!

Heroes All!

Thirteen Sky Blue heroes defied one villain and a very poor football side at the Oval grounds in Belfast tonight. Yes United beat the league leaders (hitherto unbeaten I might add), despite one of the most biased displays of refereeing I've ever witnessed, by avowed Glens fan Davey Malcolm. Malcolm somehow managed to caution 7 United players and with a second yellow for Rory Carson for a missed tackle, which resulted in United playing for 35 minutes with ten men. Of course we have seen worse aka Alan Black at Coleraine last season, when after deciding to rightly caution a scum player for a high tackle on United player Noel Anderson, changed his mind and cautioned the United player for 'diving', despite the stud marks on his own thigh. I suppose at the end of the day they are really all a bit crap.

United manager Roy Walker stuck with his 4,4,2 formation but with two changes to his starting line-up and two positional changes. Sparky and Gazza dropped down to the bench, with Taggart and Gibbo taking their place. Murray reverted to the left-wing and Rory moved to the right, allowing Hanly to partner Taggart in central midfield. Glentoran, like many clubs in the Premier league, have in the absence of skilled players, reverted to long ball tactics, which for the most part was bread and butter for Albert and Denver. The home teams cause wasn't helped by an injury to striker Andy Waterworth, who appeared to twist his knee as he chased a through ball. Although Waterworth continued for a couple of minutes he had to be substituted after ten minutes. United players were blameless as the nearest player was five yards from Andy when he stumbled, but then again being blameless at the Oval counts for nothing when Malcolm is refereeing.

United deservedly took the lead after only 13 minutes, when Murray cut inside his marker (I use the term marker here in its loosest form as this man at no time ever threatened to mark anybody and his only obvious attribute is the ability to take a long throw-in), before beating home keeper Morris with a low shot from 30 yards. Soon after the Glens histrionics started when after Malcolm blew for an offside against the home team their player Callacher collided with Albert (Albert is as solid as a tank after all) and came off 2nd best and had to be stretchered off. The upshot was that Malcolm booked Albert (presumably for being on the pitch), when the United defender had done nothing wrong. Worse followed soon after when Carson put in a great tackle to win the ball and lo and behold Glens player Crawley went down like a 'sack of spuds'. Davey of course fell for it again booking not only Carson but Mike Smith who remonstrated that Carson had won the ball and made no contact with the 'cheating Glen-man'.

Murray was soon back on the offensive and Gibbo just failed to get on one of his many crosses. Gibbo was clearly elbowed by Glens defender Nixon but when he complained to Davey he cautioned him also. United were put under a bit of pressure at this stage but with some good blocks and some decisive tackles managed to weather the storm. During the 3 minutes of added time Carson came speeding down the left wing, nutmegged Glens rightback Mr Easy before delivering a gem of a cross into the six-yard box, which should've been put away, a real chance missed. Despite Davey managing to almost make 3 minutes last for almost 5 minutes United held out for a deserved interval lead.

2nd half
Ten minutes into the 2nd half and referee Malcolm played his trump card sending Carson off for a second booking when Glens player Black made a meal of an innocuous tackle. We worried that we would be under the cosh from then on, but we had forgotten that we were outplaying allegedly the 'best team' in the league and so we continued to do. With 60 minutes on the clock United won a rare free kick and despite a Glens player being allowed to stand a mere six yards away by his fellow player (sorry referee), Malcolm, Nathan Hanly curved it in perfectly for Gibbo to force the ball over the line to put United deservedly 2-0 ahead. That was almost the last action Gibbo saw as he was replaced by Sparky and after that we were content to soak up the pressure and try to hit them on the break.

I have to say at this juncture that everybody played their part, but Gavin Taggart especially revelled in the situation barking out orders and making last ditch tackles. Davey Malcolm was not happy at this turn of events and after Taggart was slow to release the ball after an alleged infringement, a Glens player clearly punched him resulting in a booking for both players, obviously raising your hands now is only worthy of a caution. The United defence was subjected to long ball after long ball and on the rare occasions when the ball got past our back four of Mike (Smith), Archie, Albert and Denver, there was the reliable Dwayne to mop it up. When the chance came to break Mike backed up Sparky, Murray and Cutch. With 20 minutes remaining Murray went off to a standing ovation with Gazza replacing him.

Nelson became the 6th United player to be booked when Malcolm booked him for time wasting, which is fine by me, but then where did he find 4 minutes of stoppage time when only 3 substitutions were made in the 2nd half, I suppose Davey just makes the rules up as he goes along. Dwayne generally makes one 'gaffe' a game and if he gets away with that he's generally unbeatable. His one gaffe tonight came in the 80th minute when a shot from thirty yards straight at him, somehow slipped from his grasp and into the net to reduce the leeway to 2-1. Strangely enough after that United held firm and although there were one or two close shaves, justice was in the end done. During the 4 minutes of added time we witnessed yet another of Davey's strange decisions. Cutch broke into the Glens box only to be clearly fouled, but Davey booked Cutch, obviously if you're fouled in the Glentoran box it's a bookable offence. Thankfully despite Davey forgetting what time it was, United ran out deserved winners by 2-1, all I can say is bring on the 'scum', unfortunately I'll miss it, but hey, that's life!

Nelson (7), M.Smith (8), Archie (8), Albert (9), Denver (9), Carson (8), Taggart (8), Hanly (8), Murray (9)(Sub: Gazza, 8), Gibbo (8)(Sub: Sparky, 8), Cutch (8)

Man of the match: Eamon Murray

Flat Beer!

I think this title aptly sums up United's display today. You know how it is, you open a bottle of beer and that first drink is oh so good, but after two gulps you realise it's gone flat, you may drink the remainder but in all honesty it should go down the plug hole. This was United's performance today, 3 goals up after only thirteen minutes and after that we wasted about thirteen more chances, we won quite easily, but it was not a professional job. Manager Roy Walker made only two changes to his starting line-up and four positional changes. Omitted were Gibbo and Taggart and in came Gazza and Rory Carson to form a new central midfield partnership, with Murray swapping wings (left to right) and Hanly going to the left. Sparky moved upfront with Cutch and Mike Smith reverted to his rightback slot.

United took only two minutes to get the scoring started when Cutch found Rory outside the area and his vicious right-foot shot ripped into the corner of the net. Three minutes later the score was doubled when Murray skipped past his marker, cut inside and his shot deflected over the keepers head into the net. Murray delivered a great cross two minutes later, but none of United's two strikers could take advantage. With thirteen minutes on the clock, Archie came from nowhere to curl a left-foot shot into the net for his second senior goal in a United shirt and put the Sky Blues 3-0 ahead. Surely now I thought with us in the ascendency we would go on and finish the home team off, making the 2nd half a formality.

But then I remembered this is the team who seem to like to give their opponents a glimmer of hope as they fritter away chance after chance. Our defence stood up to everything they threw at us, with keeper Dwayne Nelson in tip-top form, although he still hasn't learned to come for crosses with his feet up and allows opponents to challenge him, which as we well know can have fatal consequences. Murray, obviously more at home on the right skipped down the wing again and Sparky just failed to get to his driven cross. The home keeper made a good stop from another Murray shot after a Hanly corner had fell to him and then Gage's follow up just cleared the crossbar. Despite at least three more chances, United failed to add to their score and halftime was reached with United 3-0 ahead.

2nd half

Murray didn't come out for the 2nd period and Mo took his place on the right and despite creating at least another half dozen chances United couldn't add to their tally as they tended to over-elaborate when they got close to goal. Carson, who had gone off the boil a bit was replaced by the fit-again Lee Colligan, who moved to a wide left position, with Hanly moving into central-midfield. Mo was getting some very rough treatment from the home defence and when he won a free-kick about 30 yards from goal, United came up with a novel effort. Colligan chipped a left-foot cross into the area and Albert headed it goalwards, only for the keeper to make a last ditch save at the expense of a corner.

After committing the second of two fouls, neither of them bad, Lee Colligan became the first player to be booked, while the home team's number four got off with blue murder, or should I say Sky Blue murder. Luckily the home team were devoid of ideas and Dwayne dealt capably with their long range shots. Having said that I always knew they'd get one chance and it finally came about midway through the 2nd period. Gage and Albert got caught out of position and their number 10 got a free run on goal, but luckily for United Mike Smith got back to deflect his shot for a corner. Hanly was the third player to be replaced with Young taking his place. Mo was chopped down by the home number 4 once more and this time referee McFadden showed him a yellow card. United of course completely messed up with this free kick, Cutch who was badly out of touch today, blasting wide of the goal.

United frittered away several more chances, first when Cutch cut in from the right only to drive his shot into the side-netting and then when Gazza eluded a crude tackle down the left and our forwards stood and watched as his cross went for a throw-in. Cutch did manage to thread a ball to Sparky but he was adjudged to be offside, but I couldn't say for sure. With injury time approaching the home team's number four committed a bad foul on Young and referee McFadden had little alternative but to caution him once more, his second offence, which meant he was sent off. as if to even things up he then cautioned Albert for an innocuous foul as the match drew to a close. We had achieved the objective, we were through to the next round, but it could've been and should've been, a lot more convincing, a vast improvement will be needed, but at least we're still in the mix!

Nelson (7), M. Smith (7), Archie (8), Gage (7), Albert (7), Murray (8)(Sub: Mo 6,), Rory (8)(Sub: Colligan 6,), Gazza (7), Hanly (6)(Sub: Young 7,), Sparky (6), Cutch (5)

Man of the match: Rory Carson

Carson's Clincher!

Gibbo, who missed United's County Antrim shield defeat on Tuesday night at the hands of the 'hatchet men', made a welcome return to action today at the expense of local lad Mo McDowell. It was also encouraging to see the injured Rory Carson on the bench, after missing the previous three games. Gibbo foolishly went for a high ball he had no chance of reaching and referee Steven Weatherall, immediately flashed a yellow card for what can best be described as a clumsy challenge. The linesman at the Fisherwick end appeared to be on his game as he flagged for a couple of close offside decisions, but then normal service was resumed when he allowed a blatant offside to go unpunished.
The visitors were the hungrier side as they forced several corners, although none came to fruition.

Eamon Murray skipped past his marker down the left wing and his whipped left-foot cross was cleared at the expense of a corner. Not for the first time, we didn't capitalise with the corner and the chance went begging. In fact it was the visitors who came closest to breaking the deadlock in a first half dominated by heavy rain, when after Albert had attempted to play offside (Linesman blameless on this occasion), the situation was averted when Nelson rushed from his goal to make a good stop. United's close passing upfront was quite delicate, but the final pass seemed to go astray on every occasion. Cutch should've done better when the linesman's flag stayed down as he cut inside, but he shot tamely at the keeper.

United were in a wasteful mood today, as they continually gave up possession, with short free kicks and corners hit too long. The best corner in my book is one on the penalty spot, which if the keeper comes and misses, an open goal beckons. Ours are either to the back post (in fact they're mostly way beyond it), or 'wee buns' for the keeper. The short free kicks seemed to involve Archie, Albert and Taggart, none of whom are too happy on the ball and as a result the ball usually went back to Dwayne. We also found it difficult to clear our lines, but somehow survived to halftime.

2nd half

United were out at least 3 minutes early, which generally doesn't bode well, as it usually depicts a team who can't wait to get the game over. United were a bit more forceful this half and only the referee knows how he failed to award a penalty, when Cutch was flattened by visiting keeper Hillen. As if to add insult to injury, referee Weatherall awarded a free kick against the Cutch, a real miscarriage of justice. Midfielder Gavin Taggart, who's been playing really well recently, was having a real stinker today and couldn't do right for doing wrong. Fifteen minutes into the second period and United manager Roy Walker made one of the best substitutions he's ever likely to make, taking off the misfiring Taggart and bringing on Carson for his competitive home début.

What a transformation this brought about, suddenly there was a new purpose to our play and we began to exert some real pressure down both flanks. Mike Smith, who had been fairly quiet, burst onto a through pass and even though his cross was feeble, Cutch and Gibbo should've done better as the Newry defence was at sixes and sevens. Two minutes later, Mike after good interplay between Sparky and Carson sprinted to the byline before nailing a perfect cross to the unmarked Cutch. As Cutch rose gracefully to head into the empty net the home fans were on their feet, only to gaze on in astonishment when our top scorer headed wide. I was starting to wonder if it was going to be one of those days when the breakthrough finally came.

After good play down the right, first Cutch, then Hanley and Mike Smith all had shots blocked before the coolest player on the pitch, Rory Carson, drove the ball into the net for his first United goal. What a relief that was as the home fans stood and applauded, not a great goal but a vital one which lifted United into joint fifth, just 2 points behind Lisburn in 2nd place. That goal arrived in the 72nd minute and two minutes later referee Weatherall adjudged that Carson was fouled in the box and awarded a 'soft' penalty to United. Top scorer Cutch grabbed the ball, as is his right, but his weak shot was easily saved by visiting keeper Nathan Hillen, a bad miss.

Newry rung the changes, bringing on all three subs but United were content to stick with the players who were on the pitch. With fulltime approaching some neat interplay between Carson, Smith and Sparky opened up the Newry defence and when Carson broke onto a Gibbo pass, keeper Hillen tripped him inside the box. Referee Weatherall penalised the keeper this time but for some reason known only to himself, no automatic red card was flourished. Hanley elected to take this penalty but his effort was also saved by Hillen, who of course should've been in the dressing room by now instead of on the pitch. Despite the three added minutes, the visitors failed to punish us for our benevolence and we ran out easy winners in the end, but it should've been a lot easier. Former United all-time great, Jimmy Martin, whom Omar assures me only missed one penalty during a distinguished United career, could surely give the boys a few pointers on how they should be taken!

Nelson (7), Sparky (7), Archie (7), Albert (7), Gage (7), M. Smith (8), Taggart (5)(Sub: Carson 8,), Hanley (7), Murray (7), Gibbo (7), Cutch (6)

Man of the match: Mike Smith

Murray Mist!

It may seem strange that I've entitled my piece Murray Mist, admittedly Eamon Murray was by far our best player in last night's Shield quarter-final, but he also got and missed our best chance. It didn't seem to me to be a difficult chance either, one-on-one with the keeper, on his favourite right-foot and still he failed to hit the target, almost unforgivable. United were at that stage of a largely forgettable first half in the ascendency and I believe that a score then would've set us up for a victory. So I was wondering is there a 'mist' that comes over Eamon's eyes when he's about to shoot and that is why he screwed his shot wide, it would definitely explain a lot of things.

United showing one change from their starting line-up of Saturday past, with Sparky partnering Cutch in the absence of Gibbo, Mike Smith moving back to rightback and Mo coming in on the right-wing. The linesman at the Fisherwick end gave us a false sense of security when he flagged for a dubious looking offside in our favour, but on the down side two mins later he kept his flag down when there were two Crues players five yards offside, a diabolical decision which could've cost us dear, but tragedy was averted by a good tackle. Other than that, the most of the first half, like the entire match was a non-event. Nathan Hanley, who takes all our dead ball kicks at the moment, seems to have only one ploy, hitting the ball deep, which as far as I can see is a complete waste of time and so it proved tonight.

United did though carve out a good chance near the end of the first half, when Cutch fed Mo, who passed to Sparky and he in turn found the unmarked Murray, who with the goal at his mercy somehow screwed his shot wide. Then on the halftime whistle Cutch played Sparky in and his shot was blocked before falling to Mo and his follow-up was cleared for a corner, but there wasn't enough time to take it.

2nd half

What a different team the Crues were in the second-half as they stepped up the pace and United had no answer to it. We fans could see that it was just a matter of time before the visitors penetrated our defence, while our manager 'Rip van Roy' seemed oblivious to what was happening. Disaster finally struck with 60 minutes on the clock, when Gage, probably the pick of our defenders missed a tackle and as the pass came in the unmarked Rainey swept the ball into the net to put the visitors in front. This set-back at least woke Roy from his slumbers, taking off Mo and Taggart, with George Young and the untried Dowie taking their place. We immediately switched to a 4,3,3 formation, but with no height upfront it was 'wee buns' for the Crues defence.

Surely our manager must play his last card I thought and bring on Gazza and put him up front or at least throw Gage up there as we were resorting to thumping the ball up, in a hit and hope scenario. But alas it seemed that Roy was content to watch the Crues defence dominate our wee forward line as he refused to bring on his last sub, no doubt saving him for the penalty shoot-out. Hanley was denied by a superb save from Keenan and I just got the impression it wasn't going to be our night. We did create one more chance, when local boy George Young sprinted into the box but his shot struck the post, yet again a failure to hit the target.

Despite forcing several corners, all but one hit too wide, it was the visitors defence who claimed almost them all. Gage did get his head to the one that wasn't too wide, but his 'free header' failed to find the target and our best chance of a trophy (our manager's very words), had gone abegging and worst of all the players didn't look too despondent, or at least that was the impression I got!

Nelson (6), M.Smith (6), Archie (5), Albert (6), Gage (7), Mo (6)(Sub: Dowie 5,), Taggart (6)(Sub: Young 6,), Hanley (6), Murray (7), Sparky (6), Cutch (6)

Man of the match: Eamon Murray

Corner Boys!

United made only one change to their starting eleven of Tuesday night, with Eamon Murray replacing the injured Rory Carson. This move meant that Hanley moved to centre-midfield and Murray slotting into a wide left position. Gibbo and Hanley were making their home debuts and it was fitting that they were both involved when United opened the scoring after only 8 minutes. Handley swung over a corner from the right and Gibbo found his strike partner Cutch who in turn found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season with a firm header. What a change from United's last home game which ended in an inglorious defeat at the hands of Donegal Celtic as during the first half today they were a completely different prospect. Soon after Mike smith saw his left-foot shot just clear the crossbar after a one two with Gibbo.

United were in the ascendency in the first half and looked likely to add to their score, when the 'blight' of football reared it's ugly head. This was the disgraceful scene of a player feigning a serious injury in order to get another player cautioned. This is a deplorable action at the best of times but when it is practised by a former player it is even more galling. Gibbo and former United defender Kieran Donaghy met in a challenge for a fifty/fifty ball, only for the reds defender to roll about writhing in agony in order to get the Ballymena player booked. Referee Colin Burns, not the smartest joker in the pack, fell for it 'hook line and sinker' cautioning the United striker, while Donaghy didn't even have the decency to limp off, what a con artist.

United almost doubled their lead midway through the half when Archie was involved in a double one/two. First he exchanged passes with Murray and then raced onto a lay-off from Gibbo, before shooting with his right-foot and visiting keeper Connelly could only parry the defenders shot, before it was hooked to safety. I must confess I didn't know Archie even had a right-foot, never mind having the ability to shoot with it. The visitors came into the game a bit more as the half went on, aided and abetted by a linesman at the Fisherwick end who continually missed blatant offsides. The United defence was clinging on and keeper Dwayne Nelson kept them in the game with a finger tip save. Referee Burns drew the wrath of United fans when Murray was scythed down when clean through by the last man, surely a red card, but the inept official took no action, merely awarding the free kick. Hanley's effort ballooned miles over the bar, a terrible waste.


The visitors were revitalised after this lifeline and attacked the home defence with renewed vigour. A goal looked imminent but when it came, a minute before halftime, it wasn't without controversy. The linesman at the Fisherwick end, although for the umpteenth time not up with play, agreed with visiting forward Chris Scannell that home keeper Nelson had carried the ball over the goal-line and a corner was given. When the corner came in Arch villain, Kieran Donaghy, headed the ball across goal and his defensive partner Peter Hutton rose unchallenged to head the equaliser. Referee Burns found 2 minutes of added time and during this extra period the United defence were clinging on for dear life and we all breathed a sigh of relief at the halftime whistle.

2nd Half

United didn't come out for the 2nd period and should've been blown away during a ten minute spell when the visitors appeared to break the offside trap at will (was the linesman at the Farm Lodge end having a sleep now I wondered) and luckily for the United defence after Scannell had rounded keeper Nelson, he somehow missed the target. Nelson then made a good save at the feet of Reds forward, Garret but United were still under the cosh. United fans were calling for a change to be made, but manager Walker was oblivious to their pleas and stuck manfully to his guns. United had another let-off when a shot from new Reds boy, Barry Johnstone, beat Nelson but smacked the crossbar (I say new boy, but Johnstone is in his third spell at Solitude, so hardly qualifies as a new boy, now does he?).

United gradually began to get a foothold in the 2nd half and Cutch saw an effort blocked by the visiting defence after a nice pass from Murray. Gavin Taggart, who has come on leaps and bounds since his low against the D.C. was directing matters from midfield and Murray began to make even more probing runs at the visitor's defence. Finally Rip Van Walker awoke from his slumbers and took off Sparky and brought on Mo, with Mike Smith moving back to right-back. The Reds also rang the changes and I for one was glad to see the back of Stephen Garret, who in his Newry days was a constant 'thorn in the flesh' for the Sky Blues. A nice move up the left flank saw Murray chopped down inside the box, but referee Burns decided he had 'dived', but why would he as he was 'clean through' on goal, yet another diabolical decision.

With time running out it was obvious that whoever scored the next goal would take the points and United began to step up the pace with Mo and Murray both showing some wing wizardry. Mo was unceremoniously chopped down as he sped down the right flank, which brought the United fans to their feet in condemnation. United had one final chance to wrap up the points when Gage got his head to a Hanley corner but the ball flew past Connelly's right post, when surely hitting the target was of prime importance. Despite referee Burns finding three minutes of stoppage time, when only four substitutions were made, there was no further scoring and the spoils were shared. In the end probably a fair result, but with a little bit of luck and a strong referee (is there such a thing I ask you?), United could've taken all three!

Nelson (7), Sparky (6)(Sub: Mo (7), Archie (7), Albert (7), Gage (7), M. Smith (7), Taggart (8), Hanley (8), Murray (8), Cutch (8), Gibbo (7)

Man of the match: Nathan Handley