Ally Ally!

Six days ago Sky Blue Sport said it was time for Baker and Ally (Teggart), to assert themselves in a Sky Blue jersey and last night although it was a night Baker will want to forget, Ally on the other hand did rise to the occasion. From his corner on the left Archie got the decisive nod on the ball to give United a one goal lead in the first half and from his pinpoint free-kick on the right, in the second period, Boydie sneaked at the far post to score the clincher. The United manager made two changes to his starting line-up of last Saturday, Archie for the suspended Denver and Rodgers in place of Watson.This was not a convincing performance from United, but they got the victory and are in the next round where they face a tricky tie away to Dergview who beat D.C. The United manger still persisted on playing Conor Downey in right midfield, although he's prominently left-footed, which is bad enough, but worse than that, he still doesn't look fit.

Chris Rodgers had one of them matches where he was good (at times extremely good) and bad (extremely bad). Whether its a matter of concentration he lacks, I do hope he gets it sorted out sooner rather than later, we need him to be at the top of his game. Dicky Vauls, bidding to tie down the leftback slot, made one terrible mistake last night but lucky it didn't come to anything and Curtis Woods done his case no harm with an accomplished display at rightback, Archie had a good game. In midfield Ally and Sparky stole the plaudits closely followed by team Captain Jenks, while upfront Cutch looked as though he had packed too much cheese and Baker was like a man lost. It was almost a relief when Baker picked up an injury and didn't come out for the second half, with Boydie taking his place.

Keeper Drummond is beginning to look like the find of the season and though he is a wee bit reluctant to leave his line, he nevertheless is a vast improvement on his predecessors in the job. United were the nearly men for a lot of this match, despite good football the final pass 'nearly' got through and for a change the two goals they scored came from set-pieces. We scored the first when Archie stole in unmarked at the near post to glance his header into the six-yard box from which it appeared to get a deflection on its way into the net. Despite United's total domination of the left flank, they couldn't unlock the home defence and Rodgers was giving concern the way he was in and out. Halftime was reached with United leading by that one-goal margin and we were left hoping for a change of personnel on the resumption.

2nd Half
Baker didn't come out for the second period, with Boydie taking his place and it gave our forwards the purpose it'd been lacking in the first period. Boydie looked to have won a penalty when he was impeded in the box, but referee Carville overruled the linesman and gave a goal-kick. As the Bangor boys begun to tire Downey was to have more of a influence on the game and one pass to Woods should brought a better outcome than the resultant corner which a Bangor defender just managed to divert past the post. When United won a free-kick about 20 yards from goal on the right it seemed like a perfect opportunity for the absent Tony Kane, but Ally took it anyway and he found the unmarked Boydie and the striker just done enough to score with a downward header.

Despite numerous opportunities United couldn't add to their tally and Cutch should have done better when a rare Downey cross found him unmarked but he headed into the keeper's arms. Downey went off to be replaced by Elvis Costello and I thought its a golden chance to make a name for yourself Elvis, but he just wasn't interested and the one chance he had, he frittered away. Rodgers, playing excellent this half picked up an injury and he was replaced by Cookie Munster and then as luck would have it Archie got an elbow to his face, missed by referee Carville and had to go off from treatment, although he was able to continue but he looked a bit woozy to say the least. Despite the 3 minutes of added time Bangor couldn't conjure up a goal and United had chalked up a 2-0 victory. Suffice to say it was not impressive and we need to lift our game for Saturday's trip to Seaview, but it is a victory nonetheless, we must be happy about that!

Drummond (7), Woods (7), Vauls (6), Archie (7), Rodgers (6)(Sub: Cookie,6,), Downey (5)(Sub: Elvis, 4,), Sparky (7), Jenks (6), Ally (7), Cutch (5), Baker (4)(Sub: Boydie,7,)

Man of the match: Ally Teggart