Deceived Again!

There's an old saying that some people only flatter to deceive, this to me almost perfectly sums up the Sky Blues. Having deservedly got back on level terms at the Showgrounds yesterday with Caff's first goal in a 'man of the match' performance, they then imploded by allowing the visitors to snatch an undeserved victory. I say undeserved, but at the end of the day all you can ask of your team is to take the majority of the chances that come their way and this the visitors did, United on the other hand frittered away at least half a dozen easy chances and got what their benevolence deserved, sweet F.A.. In the absence of the suspended Albert Watson, Denver and Archie, got the central defensive nod, while Gazza replaced Taggart in midfield and Rory got the nod on the left with Murray on the bench.

United are generally slow out of the blocks, but not so yesterday as in a changed ploy they had chosen to attack the Fisherwick end first and forced a corner immediately. Caff, seemed to change tactics and drove over a powerful corner, but the only people interested in attacking it were Glens defenders. Denver came to United's rescue two mins later when, after being duped by Burrows, he recovered to block the strikers shot. The Glens took the lead in the 13th minute, when Burrows who looked offside got a cross in which Denver could only lay back to him and then when the ball appeared to cross the by-line, before being crossed (linesman still not awake), Waterworth somehow got in at the near post when keeper Brown failed to leave his line.

United were then denied by the crossbar when big Denver got his head to a Caff corner and from the rebound Cutch could only manage a 'powder puff' shot with only the keeper to beat. United were denied a cast iron penalty when referee Courtenay, failed to see Glens Jason Hill deliberately handle the ball and then somehow neither he nor his linesman saw the same player going in 'over the top' on United player Ryan Berry. At the other end keeper Brown saved well when Burrows again was allowed to continue by the sleeping linesman, but Brown redeemed himself with a good stop. Carson was then denied by a combination of Nixon's hand and Morris's body with a shot from a tight angle and his appeals for a penalty fell on referee Courtenay's deaf ears. The visitors doubled their lead when United's most consistent player Mikey, committed a major gaffe. In attempting to stop the ball going for a corner he foolishly drove it across his own goalmouth and Nixon's header was dispatched by Waterworth to make the score 2-0.

Despite these two setbacks United continued to strive for an equaliser but couldn't find a telling pass to unlock the visitors defence. With time running out in the first half United won a corner on the right and Gazza's header appeared to be handled on the line, but luckily Sparky was on hand to reduce the leeway to 2-1. There was just time to take the centre before referee Courtenay blew his whistle for halftime and united were deservedly cheered off while it was hoped that the linesman at the Warden street end would continue with his slumbers in the second half.

2nd half
Gazza, always the scapegoat, made way for Murray in the 2nd half as United strove to get back on level terms. They missed a glorious chance to level things when Archie screwed his shot wide after Denver had won a header form a Caff corner. Cutch missed another good chance when he shot straight at the keeper, when it looked easier to score. United looked vulnerable at the back where keeper Brown is reluctant to leave his area and therefore defenders are under pressure to clear the ball and the Glens attempted to exploit this weakness with constant long balls over the top. With 62 mins on the clock, Rory made way for McAreavey and he added some 'beef' to our midfield and came close with a free kick which ballooned off the Glens defensive wall. Cutch was then denied by an acrobatic save by Morris, after good work by Caff and Murray.

After a good passage of play when Berry fed the ball to Mikey and his cross was teed up for Sparky, United's utility man somehow failed to find the target, a bad miss. Ryan Berry then made way for local boy Mo as United continued to probe for the equaliser. Justice was finally done when Caff's free kick took a slight deflection on it's way into the net to bring the home crowd to their feet. This goal however instead of giving United a lift, seemed to have the opposite effect and they allowed the visitors to take up the cudgel. After some pressure, when the United defence spurned several chances to clear the ball and Ryan Brown failed to come for a couple of easy clean-ups, Glens stole the points from a set-piece. Denver failed to clear the ball properly and from the resultant throw-in the United defence dithered and sub Steele drove the ball into the net to wrap up the points.

Yet again United had failed at home in a game they should've got something out of and when I think about the programme notes for our last two games (chairman today, manager the week before), admonishing fans for their derogatory comments, I think somehow their energies would be better deployed trying to find why we are so crap at home. We have the most loyal, no let's rephrase that we are the most loyal, long suffering supporters in the six counties and for first our manager and then the chairman to degrade us in such a manner is way beyond the pale. Surely they'd be better employed in trying to keep our best players at the Showgrounds and finding out why we appear to be uninterested at times especially at home, in short you do your jobs and you'll get no complaints from us!

Brown (5), Mikey (5), Colligan (6), Archie (6), Denver (6), Berry (6)(Sub: Mo 6,), Caff (8), Gazza (6)(Sub: Murray 6,), Rory (7)(Sub: McAreavey 7,), Cutch (5), Sparky (7)