Come Uppance!

United and their supporters went in to this Irn Bru quarter-final against the IFA, brimming with confidence and came out it a battered and broken team. It took Linfield just 20 mins to pierce United's rearguard and from then on it was one-way traffic. The IFA scored 5 goals in the first half and missed two sitters into the bargain and gave a quite scintillating performance in front of the smallest Linfield crowd I've ever seen for a competitive match. Lucky for United they were content to soak up what little pressure we gave them in the 2nd half and only scored one further goal and spare our blushes. Manager Spike ignored the advice given him in our preview and named an unchanged team with Jamie in for the suspended Cush. No doubt the fat controller had singled out Cush as a man who could wreck all his carefully laid plans and when Cush wasn't playing he was able to play the attack minded Johnny Black.

I was going surmise that DJ had a word with his friends at IFA headquarters to make sure Cush had picked up the number of yellow cards, that made him unavailable, but maybe that's too far fetched, lol. The first goal came from a corner that bears all the hallmarks of the 'bad old days' of the last few seasons. The ball fell in the six-yard box and the United defenders and keeper Dwayne stood idly by as Peter Thompson stopped to head it in. I think it was going in anyway but Thompson made sure. Ten minutes later the United midfield failed to close down Black and he scored with a left-foot shot that eluded Dwayne's outstretched arms. United couldn't get going themselves for the IFA had a well oiled offside trap and the lightweight Jimmy Mac was well marshalled by former player Albert Watson. Cookie nearly sold the ranch when his header back to Dwayne fell woefully short, but the chance was missed.

The linesman at the Fisherwick end where the IFA were attacking first half had already missed two offsides when Mark McAllister, who was at least 5 yards offside, passed to Carville in front of goal with no Sky Blue's players within five yards, but the linesman's flag stayed down, we were truly mugged then. Two minutes later McCaul added number 4 and you could see the United heads were down and we had no Captain Jenks to lift us. Jamie was finding life difficult and after refusing to chase down a ball, manager Spike took him off and brought Elvis on, a wrong move I thought when Jimmy Mac was a virtual passenger. The United midfield so dominant at Dung was not performing and Thommo had a match I'm sure he'll wish to forget. As if to rub salt in the wounds the referee was handing out cards 'willy nilly' to our players (no doubt under orders from his bosses) and letting the IFA away with several bookable offences. United conceded another goal before halftime when McCaul headed home despite the attentions of Ally.

2nd half
The IFA made a substitution at halftime taking off Murphy and bringing on Armstrong but United couldn't make any impression but we looked sounder with Elvis up front, although he's not match fit yet. With 58 mins gone manager Spike brought off Ross Black and brought on Mike Ruddy, no doubt with Saturday's opponents in mind and 6 mins later, Jimmy Mac came off and Neil Lowry came on. United only created a one clear-cut opening, when Lowry went on a run and fed Ally, but Ally hit the ball straight at former United keeper Blaney's body and the chance was lost. Alan D had a couple of long-range shots and Gavin got up to bring the best out of Blaney, which the keeper seemed to carry over the line, but unsurprisingly the linesman at that end (the Fisherwick end), wasn't up with play. That stung the IFA and they broke up field and Archie, who had been playing Thompson well, let him cross and Gary Browne volleyed the sixth goal.

It was remarkable how the IFA didn't rely on the offside trap the 2nd half, no doubt they knew the linesman was an onion and not to be trusted. United played out the remainder of the half without incident and Spike has to earn his money in the next few days getting the confidence back up for the task that lies ahead. We had said that we needed a draw and three wins from this set of 4 games, but we got a draw, two wins and a defeat, but have a County Antrim Shield final to look forward to. As the IFA are our opponents we might be filled with trepidation but hopefully we might get at least two our players back before then, Taylor and Cush and they will make a vast difference. The next four matches will be crucial as we play the Crues, Chickenville and the IFA in the league and the IFA in the Shield final. We need to dig in and keep our shape, now is not the time for panicking, now is the time for cool heads and hopefully we can put this freak result behind us!

Dwayne (6), Kane (6), Black (6) (Sub: Ruddy 6,), Cookie (5), Archie (6), Thommo (4), Gavin (7), Alan D (5), Ally (6), Jamie (5)(Sub: Elvis 6,), Jimmy Mac (4)(Sub: Lowry 6)

Man of the match: Gavin Taggart