Just Enough!

United done just enough to come away with three points from their home fixture with a disappointing Donegal Celtic. I would safely say that we witnessed the most disappointing crowd of D.C. supporters in the history of this fixture, I doubt there was thirty travelling, fayre paying, fans, I'm not counting the 'freebies' that get in claiming some link with the team, aka Institute. I wouldn't fault their fans for not travelling to the Showgrounds, for despite some pressure with the winds at their back in the first half, the closest they come was United keeper Wayne Drummond tipped a header over the bar and towards the end of the half the young keeper made a hash of a routine catch from a corner and was indebted to Curtis Woods for a saving header.

United manager Roy Walker, who has given himself to 31 December, to turn the Sky Blues season round, rang the changes from his starting line-up of last Saturday, with five changes. Cookie Munster replaced Watson, Chris Rodgers replaced Archie and Curtis Woods replaced the misfiring Tony Kane in the back four. The only defender to keep his place was Dicky Vauls, but he had a stinker to-day and it would be hard to see him not getting dropped for next week. The other two changes were Downey for Sparky and Aaron Boyd for Eamon Murray, who didn't even make the bench. United I assumed lost the toss (I was in just before the kick-off), why else would you face the prospect willingly of playing against a gale force wind.

United goalkeeper Wayne Drummond was struggling to clear his lines and the visitors kept United penned in their half of the field for the majority of the first period, without causing too many problems. United top scorer Cutch, should have done better when he got on the end of a Curtis Woods cross after 12 mins, but his fierce shot didn't trouble ex-United keeper Goosey Robinson. At the other end D.C. forced some corners but never looked like scoring and the United defence dealt capably with them for the most part. Cookie Munster got away with a risky move, when he tried to be too clever and he 'fluked' a pass to Vauls which was a risky move. United broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when Downey's through ball caught the D.C. defenders napping and Cutch sped goalwards.

A D.C. defender caught up with the 'ace marksman' (21 goals in 21 games before to-day), but the 'wee' man turned his man before beating Goosey with a crisp shot at his left post, for his 22nd goal in his 22nd match and nudge United in front and receive the adulations of his team-mates and fans alike. United should have increased their lead two mins later when Jenks fed Ally, but despite having the goal at his mercy Ally pulled his effort wide. United almost paid the ultimate penalty for that glaring miss, when their keeper just managed to get his fingertips to a header from Ryan Henderson. In the 43rd minute Ally made up for his earlier miss when he wriggled his way to the by-line before crossing for Aaron Boyd to tap in to make it 2-0. United had a scare when Drummond made a 'hash' of a routine catch or at least a punch and then in the dying minutes of the half, Vauls with all the time in world, set up D.C. striker Henderson, but luckily he shot wide.

2nd half
United didn't come out the second half and they chose to soak up the pressure from the visitors, who got caught continually offside. In a rare move out of defence Baker tried his luck with a near-post shot but Goosey was equal to it at the expense of a corner. Vauls was really struggling this half and it was obvious something would have to to done before he committed a real clanger. The United manager sent on Archie and that seemed to stop that although United continued to struggle with the wind at their back. Ally saw a shot brilliantly tipped over by Goosey, the admission fee was worth that just to see a competent keeper going about his work, Tommy Wright take note. For readers of this column who didn't know, the first act of Tommy Wright when he took over the United manager's job, was to release Goosey and we have been paying for that ever since.

Aaron Boyd was the next to be substituted with Sparky taking his place and United seemed content to play out the remainder of the match soaking up the pressure. For the most part the visitors seemed to be content also, although their manager was 'livid' when one of his player was cautioned for a clumsy foul on Jordan Baker. Referee, Ross Dunlop, who had a good game told the manager in no uncertain terms just to keep his comments to himself. Despite the now familiar three minutes of added time, D.C. posed no threat to the United rearguard and the Sky Blues ran out deserved, but unconvincing winners with a score 2-0. This was a victory, but an away match at Windsor next week, followed by a trip to Mourneview Park, where Marty Quinn has just resigned, will no doubt pose sterner tests and we'll not mention the Irn Bru semi-final on 13 December, a really vast improvement will be needed!

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

Man of the match: Cutch