Blue Moon!

I'm sure I saw a Blue Moon as I made my way from the Oval grounds last night, fresh from the Sky Blues dramatic victory at a cold and 90% empty Oval last night. It really has proved a happy hunting ground for us over the last few seasons, if you count the County Antrim Shield win against the IFA, we've won seven of the last eight encounters. While we didn't have the drama of a penalty shoot-out last night, we did witness a goal worthy of the admission price. We at 'Sport have consoled ourselves when we've seen attendances at matches dwindling during the last few seasons, that if we have a winning team the fans will attend, last night proved that theory to be so much flannel. I didn't count the number of fans we had at the match but I would be surprised if we had a hundred, on this turn-out we don't deserve a winning team and we're going to add to this demise when we take ourselves off for three weeks in Spain, we will become like the fickle United fans, sure its the trendy thing to do.

As expected Glenn said same again and the only change in the squad was Jimmy Mac getting a place on the bench, instead of the suspended Gavin. The home team was missing several players and had their reserve goalie in and he almost presented the Sky Blues with an early goal in the 3rd minute, when he fumbled a Thommo shot but recovered to divert Thommo's follow up for a corner. We started brightly with Cush on the left and Ally on the right and we always looked likely to score. In a rare Glens attack the linesman at the City end where we were defending, gave us a scare by failing to flag Waterworth offside, but he shot over. Referee Alan Black was admonishing our players who were questioning the linesman's sight. But in 18 mins he pointed to the spot when Captain Jenks was fouled by Callaher when he about to shoot. Up stepped Ally to convert the penalty and give us a deserved lead but we failed to add to this despite having good possession.

The home team were awarded a penalty in the 31 minute when it was alleged Chrissy had pushed Murray, but it seemed to me, to be 'six on the one hand and half a dozen on the other', but Alan pointed to the spot and booked Chrissy for good measure. Up stepped Waterworth to send Dwayne the wrong way but his powerfully struck penalty hit the post and out for a throw-in to United, justice was done in my opinion. Two mins later, a home defender tripped Cush when he was on a run which took him past four defenders, but no yellow card. In a move obviously thought out on the training ground, Kane passed the ball to Dolan, but he couldn't find a United player. At the other end, in a spell of pressure from the home side, Ross Black headed a Waterworth effort off the line, job done.

Referee Black impounded his incompetence near halftime when Dolan was viciously scythed down in what should've have been a red card, only a yellow and after both players received treatment, Dolan was allowed to remain on pitch, instead of going to the sidelines as is usual when the physio has to come on to treat players. From the free-kick, Dolan was involved in the play and I wondered idly, if he had scored, would the goal have counted, when he shouldn't been on the pitch, but maybe its at the referee's digression, or maybe not. Luckily for Black his incompetence passed mainly unnoticed, we who know him, expect nothing else, but last night he had one of his better games, but who can forget that Coleraine game when he was going to send a scum player off and changed his mind and sent a United player off instead, fortunately they were no such instances last night.

2nd half
United were under the cosh from the restart and Dwayne had to make a point-blank save from Waterworth and it was obvious that a change would have to made. Spike made his change in 60 mins but I expected Sparky to come on to give us a tackler in midfield, but it was play-maker and hero of last Saturday Alan D, who came on to replace Cush. The home team were buzzing at this stage and a goal seemed imminent and when Waterworth burst through our beleaguered defence, Dwayne managed to push him wide but mistimed his dive and pulled him down. Referee Black only booked Dwayne, but that was par for the course, he had a let a Glens player escape with a yellow for 'leg-Break' tackle on Dolan near halftime. Jason Hill coolly slotted home the penalty to tie the score at one apiece. Referee Black's incompetence came to the fore again when he stopped play when Ross Black went down with a leg injury and later on didn't stop play when a home player went down with a head injury.

This incident nearly lead to a goal from the home side, when the United players hesitated, but play was waved on and Cookie had to come to our rescue with a last ditch clearance. With 15 mins remaining, Duffin replaced Dolan and we started to get inroads into the match. But we were under the cosh and I was wondering if we could hold out for a point. In a delightful move near the end, Duffin played a one-two with Ligget and his goal-bound shot was headed against the bar and Thommo couldn't get any purchase on his headed follow-up. A few mins earlier we had an incident where Duffin skinned his marker who could only touch the ball for a throw-in and when the players came in inevitable contact the linesman astounded the Sky Blues by alleging that Duffin had fouled, for Pete's sake, its a contact sport, not every contact is a foul.

I had started to make my way round and the 90 minutes were up and Tony Kane found space on the right touchline and stepped inside and from 30 yards unleashed a thunderbolt that was a beauty to see and it thundered into the net and Tony somersaulted in jubilation, it was a sight to see I can tell you. I haven't seen any video pictures of it yet, but I was there, like the rest of the true Sky Blue supporters and we were delirious. It was a goal out of the blue, as pure a strike as you are ever going to see and I feel privileged that I was there to see it, there had to be a blue moon shining down on us. We had gained another three points (32) and another three on Saturday against the Crues, who we have beaten already this season, will take us to 35 points, safe from relegation. The next target after that is 40 points, but sandwiched in between we have a match with the Scum, which will be Sky Blues Sport's team next match. We're away to sun this Friday, but we'll keep you up to date with all things Sky Blue in the meantime!

Dwayne (8), Kane (8), Cookie (7), Chrissy (7), Black (7), Ally (8), Thommo (7) Jenks (7), Cush (7)(Alan D 7,), Dolan (7)(Sub: Duffin 7,), Ligget(7)

Man of the match: Tony Kane

Alan Speaks!

During the Irish cup controversy last season when United were denied a place in the semi-finals of the cup, when the then Newry City protested that Alan Davidson was not properly registered and it was upheld by the IFA, the player was silent. He's not a shy person normally, not afraid to speak out, but he kept silent on that topic. But he was not silent yesterday, indeed he spoke the loudest in the way he only knows how, with a killer goal 2 mins from time which broke the hearts of Warrenpoint Town (or Newry City mark 2). United were decidedly lucky to be in the tie, they were outplayed, out-thought and disappointedly outfought by the Championship side and owe a huge debt of gratitude to their keeper Dwayne Nelson, who kept them in the tie with some incredible saves. There had been speculation on the forums this week, no doubt started by some scurrilous Coleraine scum supporters, that Dwayne wanted to change teams and go to the gas men. I say to them, keep it up, keep the rumours circulating, Dwayne gave you your answer yesterday, he's Sky Blue, through and through.

United manager Spike, as expected, included his two new strikers in his team and the one change from our line-out of last Friday, saw Peter Duffin drop to the bench in order to accommodate the incoming Gary Ligget, which necessitated in a change of formation to the more orthodox 4,4,2. Whether the United team found it hard to adjust to this new formation, or whether they were feeling the effects of last weekends trip to Rotterdam, I honestly don't know, but we were sluggish from the start and the visitors attacked relentlessly and could have taken the lead as early as the 5th minute, when Chrissy headed off the line to save our blushes. The visitors had well worked corner routine, taking it short getting it back to kick-taker and he crosses it. The United defenders dealt easily with this the first few times, nipping it in the bud, but as the match wore on, we kept missing more and more tackles and it was getting embarrassing seeing our team outfoxed so easily. The visitors were getting inroads to our backline, no doubt exploiting the lack of tacklers in the United midfield.

United could get nothing going upfront where the visitors had a well-oiled offside trap and they were a few close decisions, but as we were attacking the Farm Lodge end I really couldn't say if they were wrong. But it seemed to me the defenders only had to raise their hands and the linesman flagged. But United created chances, but they seemed to be shot shy, Cush had a shot from distance early on but he should have done better when released by Dolan, but inexplicably turned away from goal instead of getting the ball onto his more reliable left-foot and missed the target. Dwayne had already pulled two great saves to keep the match scoreless when we took the lead against the run of play. Thommo started the move and when it broke down Captain Jenks took over and sprinted up the middle, he looked odds-on to score but somehow the ball was cleared of the line. Thommo picked up the loose ball and fed Dolan and he found the net to give the Sky Blues a fortuitous lead in the 25 minute, surely now we would start to play with a bit of composure, but I was wrong.

Dwayne was keeping us in it and we were saying Spike needs to make a change because we were being over-run by the Town players and it looked like only a matter of time before they scored. As we approached halftime Chrissy went down with a head injury, but he was okay after treatment, what a relief for he was our best defender and Dwayne was our best player. Our new striker Ligget was having a quiet game and nothing would go for him, but he needs time to settle. Cush inadvertently set up a Town attack when his attempted back-pass was intercepted but Dwayne make an excellent save at the expense of a corner. Dwayne the shot-stopper was excellent, but his distribution was woeful. One incident springs to mind, when Dolan signalled for the ball down the centre and Dwayne put it out left where we had nobody, but his shot-stopping was superb and he kept us in the the lead at halftime, surely Spike would change things, we needed tacklers in midfield and someone to show a bit of urgency wouldn't be amiss.

2nd half
Thommo made way for Gavin, but he made no appreciable difference to our play we were just getting wave after wave of attacks from the visitors, thwarted by Dwayne. In one attack Dwayne was out of position, but he scrambled back and averted the danger. Spike made another substitution, taking off Ally, who was no means our worst player and bringing on Alan D. We started to get a few attacks going then, but we couldn't trouble Parr in the Town goal. Then 20 mins from time disaster struck, a Town player was allowed to waltz through our non-tackle defence and pass to the unmarked Johnston, who appeared to be offside, but no flag and he gave Nelson no chance to tie up the scores at one apiece. The goal had been coming and it was a reward for Town's attacking football and thoroughly deserved and it woke United up. Captain Jenks broke free and with only the keeper to beat managed to make him earn his keep. Spike played his last ace bringing on Duffin to replace Cush and suddenly we looked urgent.

We were talking about a replay, when the ball was played to Ligget on the right wing and he found Alan D on the edge of the box and he rifled a shot past Parr and into the bottom corner of the net, a goal worthy of winning any game. We were on our feet applauding this goal, with enjoyment, tinged with relief and I managed to spare a thought for the visitors who had battled so gamely, but to no avail. That goal came in the 88th minute and we held out for a memorable victory, not a deserved victory by any means, but a victory nonetheless. We were in the draw for the next round and when we came out the hat first, we knew we would be at home and waited with baited breath and with one voice said 'the Coleraine fecking scum', or words to that effect. It'll be a tough game, but they're all tough in this league and when the going gets tough, the tough get going, lookout you Coleraine scum, we're going to dump you out of the Irish cup, it's going to be a cold February for you!

Dwayne (9), Kane (6), Cookie (6), Chrissy (7), Black (6), Thommo (6)(Sub: Gavin 6,), Cush (6)(Sub: Duffin 7,), Jenks (6), Ally (6)(Sub: Alan D 8,), Ligget (6), Dolan (7)

Man of the match: Dwayne Nelson

Bad Duck!

For Shane Dolan's debut United manager Spike changed his formation and played a 4,4,2 instead the usual 4,3,3. as expected Chris Rodgers came in for the injured Archie, but Cookie was passed fit and Peter Duffin got a start wide on the right and Sparky was unlucky to be on the bench. When the ducks came to Ballymena earlier in the season they showed their ugly side and they did it again last night. But United, with the Cush upfront alongside Dolan, made sure they didn't get anything with their bad attitude. On Boxing Day against the Coleraine scum, United had missed a sitter early on and had paid the price. Last night they took the lead in 69 seconds, as Chrissy Rodgers got his head to an Ally near-post corner to beat the gangling Ducks keeper Alvin Rouse all ends up. What a start we thought, it was going to easy, but with referee Tim Marshall, making outlandish decisions this was never going to be easy. The ducks to their credit, when they weren't falling about and trying to bluff the referee, played some nice football, but the United defence and midfield stuck to their task and kept the chances to a minimum.

We already had two ducks players diving in the box and referee Tim took no action, but when United Captain Jenks won a powerful header right in front of the dugouts, a ducks player went down screaming and the referee was conned, booking the United Captain, a huge miscarriage of justice. The ducks player was unsurprisingly able to continue, his job done, the ref had fell for it. Two minutes before this the ducks had a chance, but Dwayne made a great save from Kee when he found himself in space. United picked themselves up after this and Duffin created an opening for Cush but he shot over the bar. Cush came within an inches of scoring United's second when he eluded his maker, went round Rouse and pushed the ball goalwards only to see a defender kick it of the line. But United weren't to be denied for long and when Ally found Dolan after a quick throw-in, the United débutante scored via a post with a right-foot shot, to leave the halftime score 2-0 in United's favour.

2nd half
We usually take time to get going after halftime and the ducks had made two substitutions but it was United who started the brighter. Duffin found Dolan with a great cross and he shot only to see Rouse save at the expense of a corner. When we took corner on the right, taken by Ally, the ball was half cleared and if fell to the alert Cush and he hammered it into the net to give United a 3-0 lead. I felt like pinching myself, was this really happening, could we be leading by three goals to nil against the form team of the Dankse Premiership, Sammy Patterson informed it was true. Spike took off Duffin and brought on King Billy, setting out his stall, not what we have we hold, we're going to go for more. Billy playing on the right wing down the home stand side was linking up well with the United midfield. From one cross Billy found Dolan, but his header was easily saved by Rouse. The Ducks created a few chances and Dwayne was relieved to see one effort clear the bar. Cush burst through the hesitant Ducks defence and when I expected him to shoot with his left, he tried to get on his right and it ran through to Rouse.

Rouse was a bit slow about picking the ball up and Cush harried him, but didn't touch him but Rouse claimed he was fouled but the referee and linesman didn't see anything, for there was nothing to see. Rouse threw the ball into touch and received treatment for his ghost injury but Cush wasn't fooled and he threw the ball not into the box but along the touchline and harassed Rouse again, the crowd loved it. With 20 minutes left, Ally who was instrumental in our 3 goals, went off to be replaced by Sparky and 7 minutes later the débutante Dolan went off to be replaced by Jimmy Mac. Thommo had a great run from midfield and was only denied by Rouse's last ditch save for a sensational goal. King Billy treated the fans to his sublime skills, when he made the ducks rightback dizzy, with his twists and turns. Tony Kane, whose distribution left a lot to be desired last night, tried with a long shot when he noticed Rouse off his line, but he missed the target with the keeper beaten. The ref blew his whistle and we had won our first league match since early November and we had beaten a team of cloggers then, roll on next Saturday!

Dwayne (8), Kane (7), Cookie (7), Chrissy (8), Black (7), Duffin (6)(Sub: King Billy 8,), Thommo (7), Jenks (6), Ally (8)(Sub: Sparky 7,), Dolan (8)(Sub: Jimmy Mac 7,), Cush (8)

Man of the match: Cush