Oval Mugging!

For the second game running referee Steven Weatherall was a controversial figure and he eventually led to United's downfall and elimination from this years Irish cup. United had started with two changes to the eleven that started their last game. Transfer listed Nathan Hanly, serving a one game suspension was replaced by Lee Colligan and Captain Gazza, also missing through suspension, was replaced by Ryan Berry. This time though Sparky did start in central midfield and played there for his entire time on the field. United were caught cold as the Glens were quickly out of the blocks, in fact just 3 minutes were on the clock, when Glens veteran Paul Leeman rose unchallenged to head goalwards and when the ball was partially cleared the United defenders stood and watched as Leeman hammered the ball into the net.

United seemed to have weathered the home teams onslaught but were caught cold when a Glens player squared the ball for Waterworth to power a header into the net. I have to say we looked dead and buried at this stage, as we could hardly string two passes together and when we did we were, bundled off the ball by the home team, while referee Weatherall looked on, ignoring at least two deliberate elbows in the process. United finally got a lifeline in the 28th minute when Eamon Murray out-sprinted the home defence, before nut-megging home keeper Elliott Morris. The keeper tried to claim he stopped the ball on the goal-line, but the linesman disagreed (at least he was willing to make a decision) and the goal stood. Morris continued to protest and flaunted Weatherall's authority by holding onto the match ball even after the referee had indicated he should return it.

This goal lifted the entire United team and we began to put pressure on the home defence. After a delightful move down the left-wing, Lee Colligan found Andy Smith with a nice pass and even though Andy was fouled he kept his feet. Would he have got a penalty if he had went down, somehow I doubt it, he might even have been booked for diving. The ball was partially cleared to Sparky, who did go down under a strong challenge and referee Weatherall surprisingly gave us a free kick about 25 yards from goal. The referee obviously thought there was little danger, but the wee Cutch had other ideas and he hit a beauty into the top corner with Glens keeper Morris, grasping at thin air. That goal came 3 minutes before halftime and suddenly United were right back in it and as the Glens attempted to step up the pace Nelson made a good stop.

2nd half
Five minuted into the 2nd half Walker took off Berry and brought on George Young and he almost broke the deadlock with his first touch. United were on the attack and a Cutch shot struck George and referee Weatherall adjudged it to be a deliberate handball, the mind boggles. The referee suddenly remembered he had yellow cards when cautioning a Glens player for a bad foul and then booked three United men for their first offences while allowing the home team to get away with 'murder' again. With an hour on the clock Waterworth burst through our defence and looked destined to score, before Nelson dived bravely at his feet, while the Glens player appeared to 'deliberately' trod on the United keepers hand. The upshot was that Dwayne had to come off with Ryan Brown taking his place.

Then we witnessed one of those strange cameos that the Irish league is so famous for or 'infamous' for. As Brown came onto the pitch with his gloves and his towel referee Weatherall signalled for play to start and the keeper had to pick up the ball from a throw-in with only one glove on and his towel lying in the penalty box, why oh why do we pay them (referees), £160 a game, when they can't even get the simple things right. Five minutes later Sparky made way for Gibbo, who has allegedly made a pre-contract agreement with Glentoran. If this is the case and his half-hearted attitude seemed to confirm this, wouldn't it have been better to keep Sparky on or bring on possibly Mo McDowell, who might not be the best alternative, but would give you 100% effort for the cause.

United did manage a couple of chances, first a Cutch shot, appeared to be cleared by Gibbo, when if he'd left it alone it might've hit the target. Then Albert rose unchallenged at a corner, headed downwards but Morris made a good stop on the goal-line. But the biggest talking point came deep into injury time, when George Young chased a seemingly lost cause, found Colligan and his cross found Gibbo with the goal at his mercy but he glanced the ball wide of the posts. This supposed 'deliberate' miss brought the wrath of some United fans and they began to boo Gibbo and if I had thought he had deliberately missed it, I'd have booed him also I must say.

Extra time.
Five minutes into stoppage time the United defence was unlocked once more and when Brown spilled a fierce shot, Waterworth, looking very much offside drilled the rebound into the net. United looked dead on their feet and having used all their subs unfortunately they had to carry on. During this first period of extra time, Glens sub Jason Hill, went in 'over the top' on United's Denver Gage, conveniently not seen by the referee and then as if to add insult to injury, Waterworth threw the ball for a goal-kick (a totally unsporting gesture), instead of back to our keeper. United manager Roy Walker could be seen shouting at the referee but I'm reminded of the old saying 'that there's none as blind as them who don't want to see', when Weatherall is strutting his stuff.

We did manage one late chance and only Lee Colligan knows how he managed to scoop the ball over the bar from inside the six-yard box, but it would probably have been ruled out for some supposed infringement by this incompetent official. In a final throw of the dice substitute keeper Ryan Brown went up when we won a free kick and despite causing panic in the home defence we couldn't find the vital touch that would take us to the penalty shoot-out. A season that had looked so promising a few weeks ago has now gone 'tits-up', there's only one thing for it now, we'll just have to win the league!

Nelson (8)(Sub: Brown 7,), Mikey (8), Archie (7), Albert (6), Denver (7), Murray (8), Berry (6)(Sub: Young 7,), Sparky (6)(Sub: Gibbo 4,),Colligan (7),Andy (6), Cutch (7)

Man of the match: Dwayne Nelson