Ham Shank!

United were hit by a 'ham shank' with 8 minutes to go in a match where they deserved at least a share of the points. Reds substitute Joe Gormely hit a sweet left-foot shot from 20 yards leaving Dwayne Nelson in the Ballymena goal no chance and secured 3 points for his team. Spike sprung a surprise with his selection, dropping Carson and Ally for Jenks and Baker, in an attack minded 4,3,3 formation. Referee, Mark Courtney, the 'ham shank' referee, obviously brought no cards with him, for despite several cynical fouls, from the visitors no action was taken by the referee and in fact he blatantly ignored one foul which should have resulted in a sending off.

United's first chance came from a free kick from 30 yards, Tony Kane beat the red 'wall' but not the keeper John Connelly, who tipped it over for a corner. Nelson saved easily from Boyce and then tipped a shot from Caldwell round the post. The linesman at the Fisherwick end was giving cause for concern, not raising his flag for obvious offsides and missing one or two in the process. Jordan Baker missed a glorious chance when he intercepted a short back-pass, but shot wide of the target without testing the keeper, a bad miss. Conor Downey was getting caught in possession and United fans were imploring him to pass, instead of holding on and losing possession.

In an ironic twist of fate, a Downey challenge in midfield, when got his head to the ball in a tussle with Barry Johnston, saw Elvis clean through and when he was pulled down on the edge of the box, I was amazed that Courtney didn't even give the foul, but that would meant sending off the offending player and the referee was determined in not using his cards. That later spread to the 4th official when his electronic board stopped working, he was obviously not going to outdone, by the ham shank. United came within a whisker of taking the lead at the break when Taylor glancing header from a Cutch corner hit the inside of the post and although Jenks rebound seemed to cross the line referee Courtney said no goal and the chance was lost.

2nd half
In the first half it had been United in the ascendency, in the 2nd the Reds stepped up a gear and I hoped Spike would take action to change things sooner rather than later. Nelson saved well from an O'Carroll shot and Reds Tommy Breslin withdrew O'Carroll almost immediately and brought on leading scorer Chris Scannell, what an ace to have up your sleeve. Gavin Taggart, not renowned for his attacking ability, got to the byline and his cross was headed for a corner by a visiting defender with United's attackers standing idly by. I couldn't help thinking that if Spike was still playing he would have been on the end of the cross. United top scorer and the leagues top scorer, Cutch was having a disappointing match, giving the ball away and not taking up his usual good positions. With United being over-run in midfield it was obvious changes would have to be made, but I was surprised to see Baker making way for Sparky when it was obvious that Downey was struggling. Kane made a magnificent tackle to rob Caldwell in the box, although the Reds cheat dived beautifully.

In the best United move in the 2nd half Gavin fed Elvis and he pulled a tremendous save from Connelly who parried it to Cutch, who faced with an open goal tried to hit a spectacular volley, when surely he had time to pick his spot, in any event he hit the shot high and wide. In another incident, Cutch received the ball and instead of trying to angle for a shot, he passed, I couldn't believe it, maybe I thought he's keeping his options open for next season. The linesman at the Fisherwick end gave a goal-kick when it was obvious to everyone in the home stand that it was a corner and the normally impassive Spike was livid, remonstrating with the linesman, the referee and the 4th official, to no avail.

After Downey lost the ball twice in succession, Spike finally substituted him, bringing on Ally and I don't remember him getting a touch. The visitors had made another telling sub just before, with Gormely coming on for Boyce and he broke United hearts when he found a bit of space when the United defence lost their composure and drilled a shot beyond the reach of Nelson. Try as they might United could not get back on terms and Spike gave a run-out to young Davidson in place of Elvis, who stole the 'man of the match' plaudits for me. Gormely nearly doubled his teams tally in time added on but the crossbar came to United's rescue, after he had slipped Taylor. After the Irish cup next week, United will be on the road for two games away to Carrick and Distillery, as they say the 'nitty gritty' will start then!

Nelson (7), Kane (7), Black (7), Cookie (7), Taylor (7), Downey (5)(Sub: Ally 5,), Gavin (7), Jenks (6), Baker (6)(Sub: Sparky 6,), Elvis (8)(Sub: Davidson 6,), Cutch (5)

Man of the match: Elvis