Poor Conversion!

No you haven't switched onto the wrong page, this is not a Rugby site, the poor conversion in question is United's conversion rates, compared to chances created. We're not talking about half chances here either, we're talking bare-faced 'look a gift horse in the mouth' chances. If United had taken half their chances today they would have been pushing Cliftonville (who lost to the Coleraine scum, what the fcuk is going on there), from fifth place, with a bit of a distance between us and the teams below us. As it is we're just in the top six by the 'skin of our teeth', one point ahead of Lisburn Distillery and no easy games on the horizon. Manager Walker gave Dwayne Nelson the keepers jersey, played a back four of, Sparky, Lee, Archie and Albert. A midfield of Mikey, Gazza, Taggart and Murray, with little and large, Cutch and Gibbo upfront.

Every time I see a referee and his two assistants have a howler, I think it's the worst I've seen and today was no exception. Referee Carvill began as he meant to continue with just a few minutes on the clock. United's Lee Colligan sprinted up the left wing and went for a 50/50 challenge with Glenavon's right back Brendan Shannon. Shannon obviously wanting to give himself the edge, came in with a two-footed tackle, which resulted in a player melee involving half a dozen players from both sides. Referee Carvill to the utter astonishment of the United team and supporters, cautioned both players and merely gave a throw-in to the home team, I just couldn't believe it. United carved out and missed a glorious chance soon afterwards, but Gibbo's weak shot was easily saved by home keeper Plummer.

As the home team stepped up the pace, Colligan allowed Molloy to dance past him and Nelson was relieved to see his shot just miss the target. At the other end Cutch failed to find the target shooting over from a good position after good work by Mikey. Nelson came to United's rescue when a Hamilton free kick was headed goalwards, making a good save from Miskimmon's header. Cutch failed to find the target again after another good opening, when a goal would have set United up very nicely. Gibbo then found himself in the clear, but his lob over Plummer also cleared the crossbar. United were undone in the 29th minute when Molloy, forced the ball over the line after Nelson's feeble punch from a Kyle Neill corner fell to him in a goalmouth scramble. Four minutes later Neill late tackled Sparky right in front of referee Carvill, who to my utter amazement allowed play to continue and in fact Sparky had to wait for treatment until home keeper Plummer punted the ball out of play.

Despite intensive treatment Sparky had to be helped off and still the referee and his two assistants took no action. Andy Smith replaced Sparky and it was later confirmed he had ligament damage and not a broken leg as at first feared. Referee Carvill's ineptitude and he was only ten yards at most away from the incident in clear visibility , was in complete contrast to the incident at Ballyskeagh when referee Weatherall sent off United's Nathan Hanly, in poor visibility from 22 yards away, for a 50/50 tackle, Then as if to add insult to injury (if that's possible) he cautioned Gavin Taggart for a high challenge, when he and his Glenavon counterpart both had their feet up high. United's Eamon Murray was having a poor game against his former club and I for one thought he could've been switched from left to right to see if he could get any momentum going, but it wasn't done.

2nd half
United took the field with no further changes, but they switched Murray to the right and then we began to carve open the home defence. Andy Smith was late tackled right in front of the home dug-out and referee Carvill cautioned a home player, after a discussion with his linesman. After some delightful play between Mikey and Murray, Cutch took the ball round Plummer but somehow missed the target. United had their 'tails up' at this stage and the ball fell to Taggart on the edge of the box, but he shot straight at the keeper who made a fairly routine save. Murray then had a chance to shoot from the edge of the box but failed to find the target. Referee Carvill warned home keeper Plummer about time-wasting and thereafter ignored it as the home keeper continued to eke out every second. After a nice move up the right Mikey found Taggart, but he blasted the ball wide, surely time for a change I thought but Roy Walker obviously thought different. Glenavon manager Marty Quinn brought on Tony Grant in place of Miskimmon and he missed a sitter almost immediately failing to get his head to a cross, a wee warning for the United defence.

That was in the 69th minute and a minute later Cutch produced a piece of brilliance, to carve open the home defence. Collecting the ball just over the halfway-line the wee man weaved his way through a hesitant home defence, before chipping the ball over Plummer to level the scores. Surely this was the time to bring on a sub, either to counteract the threat of Grant or go all out for the win with a fresh pair of legs, but no such action was taken. Albert who had been a 'tower of strength' all day was finally caught out in the 80th minute, when Stewart, who had came on as a sub in the first half, chased down a seemingly lost cause and squared the ball to the unmarked Grant, who steadied himself before giving the home team the lead. United tried in vain to lift themselves and surely a fresh pair of legs were needed, but none came. The linesman at our end of the ground, who, let's face it had a real 'stinker', flagged for offside when the home team had a player inside the six-yard box, a real travesty.

As Albert attempted to clear his lines, Gary Hamilton, went in over the 'top' and was lucky to escape with a caution. The final 'nail in the coffin' was administered by Grant in the 90th minute when United were caught on the counter attack and Grant got his head to a cross from fellow sub Costello. Full credit to Glenavon who had used their final two subs to perfection and although I can't condone their rough house tactics, they were aided and abetted by inept refereeing and if you're getting away with it, good luck to you is all I can say. As for United they have to find some way to up their conversion rate or a top six finish will elude them and they desperately need to find a good reliable keeper. Marty Quinn later said on the radio that Gary Hamilton was a fine example for players to look up to. I wondered if this was the same Gary Hamilton who got so drunk at an awards dinner two years ago, that even though he was to be crowned 'footballer of the year', the sober Glenn Ferguson got the award instead, yes a fine example Marty!

Nelson (6), Sparky (6)(Sub: A. Smith 6,), Colligan (7), Albert (8), Archie (6), Mikey (8), Taggart (6), Gazza (8), Murray (7), Gibbo (6), Cutch (8)

Man of the match: Albert Watson