Barefaced Robbery!

The Sky Blues came back from the dead at Warden Street yesterday as they broke Lisburn Distillery's hearts with an incredible fightback from 3-0 down to draw 3-3. United manager Spike amazed me with his team selection playing four defenders and six midfielders, not a striker in sight and only one on the bench. In an interview on the radio after the match first team coach Lee Docherty, alluded to this strange line-up, saying that we had struggled to exert any pressure on opposition defenders of late. What does he expect, playing the lightweight Jimmy Mac upfront against Coleraine was folly in the extreme and we left three strikers kicking their heels in the stand yesterday, surely they would have been better employed in the starting line-up. When we lined up to kick-off I remarked who's going to play up front and nobody, but nobody, had any clue. As it was we played Jenks upfront, but he was like a 'fish out of water', although Lee said he thought he done well, I must've been viewing a different match.

As expected Tony Kane came back in to rightback in a back four of Archie, Cookie and Black and was the only one who emerged with any credit of this motley crew. The rest of the team with Sparky in place of our leading goalscorer Jamie and Ally replacing Jimmy Mac, was the same as that which succumbed to the Coleraine scum on Boxing Day. We started badly and throughout the first half we were second best, we couldn't pass, we couldn't tackle and it was only a matter of time when the Whites would take the lead. Every-time we tried to find Jenks upfront he was in the wrong position, or easily robbed by the Whites defenders. Referee Davey Malcolm was at his most incompetent when early on in the match Sparky was elbowed but Davey ignored it, but booked Tony Kane for drawing his attention to it. At this stage some of the Whites tackles were questionable and 4 mins later Smith was booked for a bad foul. Ligget and Halliday were having a field day with our two powder-puff central defenders and I was getting nervous.

Ross Black, who was the pick of our defenders on Boxing Day had a nightmare, giving the ball away every time it came to him. Somehow we had clung on to nearly the end of the half, but when Archie failed to clear the ball and injured himself in the process, Ligget was set free and he found the impressive Jordan Hughes and he buried the ball in the net to give the visitors a deserved lead in the 37 mins. Archie had to go off from what seems to be a hamstring injury, with Rodgers taking his place and two mins later Cookie was injured after a clash with Halliday, that should've resulted in a least a booking, but Malcolm ignored United's protests. Cookie was able to continue although he didn't look fully fit and this I think had a bearing on what was to transpire minutes later. The 4th official indicated that there would be one minute of additional time this half and when United were attacking they lost possession and Cookie got caught out and tried to play Ligget offside but Rodgers played him on and he cut in and drilled a low shot under Dwayne's body to give his team a deserved 2-0 lead at halftime.

2nd half
At the interval Cookie came out to try and run his injury off, but to no avail and I could see him shaking his head and he was duly replaced by young Peter Duffin. I admit I was disappointed in this substitution, for I wanted to see either King Billy or Jimmy Mac come on, to see if they could get us a foothold in the match. Disaster struck in 49th minute when Sparky, who had went in to defence when Duffin came on, was fouled by Ligget but ignored by the ref, and Jordan Hughes scored his second goal and the visitors third with a powerful left-foot shot. I thought we are dead and buried now but we got a lifeline from an unlikely source 3 mins later. Jenks was found on the right wing and played the ball back to Duffin and told him to pass to Gavin who was about 25 yards from goal. Duffin done what he was told and Gavin struck a half volley into the corner of the net to give his side some hope. We were rampant now and Gavin was our hero and when Duffin got the ball again and Cush was in the clear we started get excited, but his pass went astray much to the dismay of Cush.

Ally then missed a golden opportunity when he was well placed but disaster struck in the 66 mins when Gavin our hero became the villain, when he was adjudged to have kicked out at Ryan McCann and was promptly red carded by Malcolm. I thought this was harsh, surely a booking would have done and I thought that McCann had kicked out at Gavin first, but Malcolm hadn't seen it or chose to ignore it. Ligget missed a glorious chance to bury us when he burst through our defence eluded Dwayne who had come tearing from his goal and missed the the target, a dreadful miss. Two minutes later the visitors also had a man sent off, when Aaron Traynor attempted to head-butt of all people Tony Kane, he must be nuts or something. Seven minutes later we reduced the leeway when Cush had a header saved by Brennan in the visitors goal, a shot from the rebound cleared off the line and when he was found again in the six-yard box he gleefully slammed the ball into the net. Five minutes later Thommo missed a real sitter when after a challenge by Cush on Brennan, he missed an open goal, I thought then that we had blown our chance.

Cush was being manhandled by Smith, who had already been booked and twice appealed to the linesman but to avail and just for good measure Malcolm booked him. Despite blatant time-wasting by the Whites, Malcolm only added 3 mins at the end of the 90. When United got a corner in the 93rd mins it was all or nothing and Dwayne ignored the advice from the bench and came up for it. Ally, who had taken over the corner kicking duties from Cush, delivered a ball straight onto Dwayne's head and he was only denied by a last gasp save from Brennan at the expense of another corner. Ally put the ball in virtually the same place again but this time Jenks shot and Sparky got a touch to tie the match at 3-3. I and all Sky Blue fans went wild at this turn of events, it was like winning the Shield all over again, a wonderful feeling, but oh we had left it late and we had committed barefaced robbery and the Whites players were left spread-eagled on the ground. This was a match we needed to win and we had chances to win it, but we only got a point and in truth we didn't deserve a point, but we have got to start somewhere and this could be the springboard, I and all the crew at Sky Blue Sport fervently hope so! A happy new year to all our readers,COSB!


Dwayne (8), Kane (7), Archie (5)(Sub: Rodgers 6,), Cookie (5)(Sub: Duffin 7,), Black (4), Thommo (5), Gavin (6), Sparky (7), Jenks (6), Ally (6), Cush (7)


Man of match: Dwayne Nelson

Ballymena Casuals!

United suffered their sixth defeat in a row, the euphoria of their County Antrim Shield win was finally dissipated with this lack-lustre performance against their derby rivals, the Coleraine scum. It's hard to find words to describe this debacle played out before a sizeable crowd, easily the biggest gate of the season, but its little consolation to this United team or should I say divided team. The manager is not devoid of criticism, what possessed him to start with the lightweight Jimmy Mac upfront I'll never know, he never put a foot right. I'm not saying Elvis could've done any better, but he might have given Oglivy, the scum defender a lot more to do than Jimmy Mac did. The manager also decided to restore two of his outfield players to his line-up, Gavin and Thommo and only two them were a success. As touted in Sky Blue Sports, Dwayne got the keepers jersey and except for one boob, he was our best player.

Having said that, it wouldn't be hard to be our best player, they were to a man outclassed, out-thought and disappointingly, outfought. Its a long time since I felt ashamed to say I'm a Sky Blue through and through, but that display yesterday made have a rethink about my loyalties, I don't owe any loyalty to this team of slackers on their abject performance yesterday. If there's any regular readers of my column, they know I've been saying for years that we fall down on the basics, we can't defend set-pieces. Throw-ins, corners and free-kicks are our undoing and worse than that we don't tackle. On the offensive side, we can't take throw-ins, our corners are 'wee buns' for the opposing defence and/or keeper and our free-kicks are a joke and we can't pass, its a hit and hope ball every-time. In the absence of the suspended Kane, Rodgers got the rightback slot in a back-four of Cookie, Archie and Black. Black was the only man that emerged with any credit in defence apart from Dwayne.

In a midfield of Thommo, Jenks and Gavin, only Gavin emerged with any credit and in a forward three of Jamie, Jimmy Mac and Cush, no-one emerged with any credit. Sky Blue Sport had urged Spike to forgo his favoured 4,3,3 formation, but he ignored our request and we paid the price. Cush on the right never got going and Jamie on the left was more interested in fighting than playing football. That said, Jamie had a great chance to set the match really going when he found himself in the clear with barley 20 seconds on the clock, but he shot across the face of goal, instead of picking his spot or trying to find a telling pass or unforgivingly making the keeper work. I know it was early on, but there's no excuse for players these days, they get plenty of time to warm-up before the match and get their shooting boots on. In days gone by I couldn't see Jimmy Martin or Paul Malone miss that sort of opening, but they were class acts.

United were well in the game, but the scum were starting get inroads to the United rearguard which wasn't helped by Archie losing possession on at least two occasions when he should've cleared. The linesman at the Fisherwick end, a Ballymoney bus driver it transpires, missed three scum players blatantly offside but on this occasion United survived. Jimmy Mac was struggling and balls played up to him were bread and butter for the scum defence. Ross black and Jamie almost fashioned something out of nothing, but Cullen in the scum goal, fisted Black's cross away to safety. Five minutes before halftime disaster struck when after about five minutes of concerted pressure, when United couldn't clear their lines, the scum scored through Scullion who bent the ball round Nelson. The goal looked to be coming, for United had everybody back, not a good ploy, but no tacklers, just chasing shadows. I couldn't wait for halftime, surely Spike had got to take Jimmy Mac off, Elvis on and get Cush onto the left and instil some pride in our team.

2nd half
Jimmy Mac made way for Elvis in the 2nd half, but our players attitude hadn't changed, they were to a man 'hiding'. This was epitomised when we got throw-ins, nobody moved, they were like statues. I had just said to Sammy, only one team looks like scoring when my prophesy rang true. From a scum corner, Oglivy was unmarked and Dwayne made a good save from his header, but unfortunately he spilled the ball and Curtis Allen forced it over the line, to make the score 2-0. I empathised with Dwayne, he had got no back-up from his players and where was the marking that allowed Oglivy a free header, they were all to a man, hiding. Worse was to follow when Lowry of the scum, took a leaf out of his manger Oran Kearney's book and took a dive in United's box and to my disbelief referee Crangle pointed to the spot. Dwayne came to our rescue with a good save from Allen's spot-kick and justice was done. Dwayne made a couple of saves to keep us in the match and I thought surely this would lift our players, but it didn't, they we dead.

We forced our first corner after about an hours play, but it was easily cleared by the scum defence, we had nothing. Cush tried a shot from about 30 yards, high, wide and handsome, but he was only a shadow of himself. On one run down the right he hesitated and lost the ball, instead of taking his man on, definitely not Cushlike, not our talisman on this occasion. Spike rang the changes, Jamie making way for Lowry, who flattered to deceive and Gavin our best outfield player making way for Sparky. But there was to be no fairytale ending for this disjointed United team and on this showing a name change looks imminent,instead of United, they are divided, better to change the name to Ballymena Casuals for they are casual in their attitude to their long suffering fans, in short they couldn't care less about what we are suffering, it's only a game to them, for us unfortunately, it's a way of life!

Dwayne (7), Rodgers (5), Cookie (5), Archie (5), Black (6), Thommo (5), Jenks (5), Gavin (6)(Sub: Sparky 6,), Jamie (5)(Sub: Lowry 5,), Jimmy Mac (4)(Sub: Elvis 6,) Cush (5)

Man of the match; Dwayne Nelson

Shot Shy!

United manager Spike Ferguson made five changes to his team of last Saturday's reverse at D C. Out went Ross Black, replaced by Vaulsey, Cookie Munster replaced by Rodgers, King Billy replaced by Ally, Elvis replaced by Jimmy Mac and Captain Jenks came in for the injured Thommo, our bench was made of the four dropped players and Jamie. Chris Rodgers was obviously picked to 'man mark' Ports danger man, Kevin Braniff and in the first half it worked perfectly, but good players only need a sniff of a chance and so proved in the 2nd half. United, who had their ballboys carrying out the County Antrim Shield before kick-off, started like a steamroller and Cush skinned his marker and found Jimmy Mac with a gem of a cross and with the goal at his mercy, the young man shot straight at Ports keeper Miskelly and captain Jenks follow-up went over the bar. United continued to press and from a corner partially cleared Tony Kane delivered a right-foot cross and Chris Rodgers headed his first goal in a Sky Blue jersey off the underside of the bar.

The Ports nearly levelled the scores when Braniff easily beat Archie to get his head to a high ball and Murray did likewise to Rodgers but Addis pulled a mighty save at the expense of a corner. At the other end Cush found Alan D but his powder-puff shot was wee buns for Ports keeper Miskelly. Referee Carville had already booked Mouncey of Ports for a bad foul and soon Tony Kane followed him into the book for a cynical foul. The referee booked five players from each side in the entire match, but I didn't think it was an extremely physical game, just two teams asking no quarter, a typical Irish league game. After another scintillating run by Cush, Jimmy Mac missed a free header, I think he actually hit the ball with his shoulder, a chance gone begging. Alan D who had been the victim of a punch in the chest early in the match, was on the receiving end of some questionable tackles, but appeals to the referee went unheeded. Jimmy Mac just failed to get on the of another cross-cum-shot from the busy Cush, yet another gilt-edged chance gone begging.

Not to outdone, Ally Teggart got himself some room, but shot straight at Miskelly who saved easily. I was already voicing my concern that these missed chances would return to haunt us, pessimistic I know, but I am a United fan after all. In a scramble in the Ports box we couldn't find a man with a cool head and a steady foot to supply the finishing touch. Alan D finally talked himself into a booking, when after he was impeded and nothing given, the ref punished United for the very same thing and Alan foolish pointed this out to the ref. I don't know if officials are cheating or just incompetent, take the linesman at the Fisherwick end, he missed 3 blatant offsides in the first half and signalled for a throw-in several times, when the ball wasn't over the touch line. But I consoled myself that he would be the same for both sides and miss several offsides in the 2nd half, I was completely wrong as it turned out.

2nd half
Sky Blue Sport in our preview had said we need to either mark Kevin Braniff or better still cut off the supply to him. Spike chose the former, for we have tendency to let crosses come into the box and we usually end conceding goals from this benevolence and so it proved once again yesterday. Cush had switched wings for some reason and Ally's covering is not the best and we were undone down our left flank and McNeil found Braniff in a bit of space and he rifled a beauty of a shot into the top corner with Addis clutching at air. In the build-up to the move, Sparky got injured in the centre-circle but unlike last week at D C, the referee allowed play to continue on, instead calling a halt, I think he got it right, but it seems as though it doesn't work for us, only against us. Jimmy Mac was flagged for offside two mins later but he was onside when the ball was played and he timed his run to perfection, but the incompetent official (or cheat), flagged him anyway. United players were angry at this and I could see them losing their discipline and it proved their undoing.

Cush vented his frustration when he blocked an attempted clearance from Redman of Portadown, it wasn't a bad foul, but Redman was writhing on the ground as if he had been hit with a steamroller. The ref consulted his linesman and Cush was booked, a harsh booking and Redman, job done, was miraculously healed, that pain-killing spray must be powerful stuff, or was that touch of the female physio. Worse was to follow from United's point of view, when not for the first time this season, they failed to deal properly with a long free kick and rightback Casement found Braniff and the Ports took the lead. The missed chances in the first half had come back to haunt us with a vengeance and when Rodgers went down injured we had to make a substitution and just for good measure we made two, with Cookie replacing Rodgers and Jamie D replacing Cush of all people. Cush was our one bright spark in a match that had lost all its sparkle for us and when he went off we lost all chance to create something positive.

The only reason I can think of that he was subbed, is if in Spike's opinion he was in danger of getting sent-off, for he was clearly frustrated. Six minutes later Jimmy Mac made way for Elvis but it was too little too late and the United forwards were shot shy, seemingly wanting to walk the ball in. Ports had the ball in the net for a third time but it was ruled out for offside. Murray should've been sent-off for a punch on Cookie as the two tangled, but the ref just booked the two of them. Alan D seemed to not want to shoot first time but he did have a hard luck with one bender, just going wide of the target. The referee added four minutes onto the ninety but United could not find a telling pass to unlock the Ports defence and they had suffered their fourth league defeat in a row. On summing up I think the manager made a mistake disrupting the team by too many changes, Vaulsey for Black didn't really work and Rodgers for Cookie either. Ally for Billy left us with too many left-footed players on the team and Jimmy Mac, missed two absolute sitters. I'm not saying that Elvis would have scored them, but he was denied that opportunity.

Addis (6), Kane (6), Archie (5), Rodgers (6)(Sub: Cookie 6,), Vaulsey (6), Ally (5), Jenks (5), Alan D (5), Cush (8)(Sub: Jamie (6), Sparky (6), Jimmy Mac (5)(Sub: Elvis 6),

Man of the match; Cush

Donkey's Cart!

There is saying that after the lord mayor's show, comes the donkey's cart sweeping up the debris left behind. After the County Antrim Shield winning performances which was near faultless, the Sky Blues were away off form yesterday when they succumbed to D C at Suffolk road. True they had what seemed to be a perfectly good goal disallowed and for the 2nd time in a week, the referee (Hetherington) was the focal point for discussion after the match. He not only denied United a perfectly good goal when Cush out-jumped Connolly in the D C goal and headed into the net, but early on he called a halt to play when United were mounting an attack with 3 on 1 ascendency, when Shane Dolan lay down in the United box clutching his head. As it turned out there was nothing wrong with him and the referee had been duped, no head injury, no bleeding cut, just an attempt, a successful attempt, to hold up play. There was no score at this juncture and if United could have a fashioned a score at this stage it might have made for a different result, goals not only win matches, they give teams a boost.

As expected Spike started the same team as he selected for duty on Tuesday night and he made only one change to his squad, Ally in for the unlucky Dwayne. United were sluggish from the start and they struggled on the bumpy Suffolk road pitch. Thommo and Alan D were fringe players, dominated by former Sky Blue Conor Downey. Some of the D C tackling was robust to say the least and referee Hetherington aided and abetted them but not flourishing a yellow card sooner. Sparky was the pick of our midfielders, but he couldn't do it on his own and King Billy had a disappointing match as did Cush and Elvis. In a spell of DC pressure, Cush came to his sides rescue when he hoofed the ball out of defence despite an attempted late tackle by Dolan. Dolan lay writhing on the ground and I for one thought, 'slap up you' you were trying to foul Cush and you got what you deserved. Meanwhile the ball was being worked up right flank and Thommo and Cush were streaming up in support and we had a 3 on 1 supremacy and the referee chose this moment to call play to a halt, we couldn't believe it, we were in the last quarter of the field of play and he blew up, no doubt he'll add insult to injury and phone Spike up this week and tell he got it wrong, lol.

But lets not take anything away from D C, they were the far better team and you could see that it would only be a matter of time before they scored. The United players seemed unable to hold the ball, whereas the D C forwards and Miskimmon in particular were mastering the conditions very well. When Miskimmon beat Cookie on the edge of our box, he fed Dolan and from 12 yards he gave Addis no chance and the home team the lead. There followed a spell of D C pressure and Addis had to react sharply to palm an effort away from sub McAllister who had come on just after their goal. Throughout the remainder of the half we were treated to a 'master class' in feigning injury by the home team and chief culprit was Miskimmon and he fooled the ref time and time again, holding up play and eating away precious minutes. United almost conjured up an equaliser they hardly deserved, when a Kane free-kick struck the outside of the post with Connolly beaten. That sums up our luck I thought, a foot to the right and we be level, undeserved I know, but when do you ever get what you deserve in football, very seldom IMO.

2nd half
Spike made one change at the start of the 2nd half, taking off Thommo and bringing on Captain Jenks, but truth be told he could've taken off any of his midfield two (Sparky being the exception), or any of his forwards, nobody but nobody was having a good game. In fact as the game wore on it was the home team that looked more likely to score. Elvis, who I admit I have a soft spot for, was having a stinker and after one pass that he made a complete mess of, he was substituted with Jimmy Mac coming on. I was surprised by this move, I personally thought that Jamie should have come on as he is able to hold the ball up better, IMO. But Spike knows best and who am I to argue with him, he has done it all and he has just won us our first trophy for 23 years, the man is a legend. We couldn't get anything going in attack, we'd string three passes together and then hump the ball with a hit and hope pass which was bread and butter to the home defence. D C on the other hand continued on their merry way and I thought they scored when a shot thundered off the crossbar with Addis beaten but the ref said it didn't cross the line, a lucky let-off.

We made our final substitution, Ally for Alan D and it made no appreciable difference and in fact D C nearly increased their lead when McAllister had a shot finger-tipped over by Addis. In an United attack started by Kane Sparky was blatantly pushed by Downey but the ref gave a corner and the linesman who had an uninterrupted view of the incident agreed with him. Worse was to follow when Cush beat Connolly to a high ball, launched by Ross Black and headed the ball into the net. At first I thought the ref had pointed to the centre, but then I noticed he was giving a foul on the keeper and I suspect the Linesman had made the decision for him. No matter who made the decision it still stands and our bench was up in arms and rightly so, for the 2nd time in a week we were cheated by a referee making the wrong decision, who knows in the long run these two points that we could have had, might make the difference on a top six place or down among the also-rans. The ref made no allowance for the time-wasting tactics of the home team and blew up and United had lost their 3rd league game in a row and came down to earth with a bump!

Addis (7), Kane (6), Cookie (5), Archie (6), Black (6), King Billy (5), Thommo (5)(Sub: Jenks 6,), Alan D (5)(Sub: Ally 5,), Sparky (6), Cush (6), Elvis (5)(Sub: Jimmy Mac 5,)

Man of the match: Stuarty Addis