Tedium United!

I haven't got much to say about this boring scoreless draw at Shamrock Park yesterday, we were too tedious for words. In contrast to last weeks fighting draw against the Glens, this one was a damp squib. In the absence of the suspended Cush, Spike resisted calls to start young Peter Duffin and instead opted for Thommo. When we were in the running to sign Thommo in the summer I wondered idly where he was going to play? We already had 3 central midfielders in Jenks, Gavin and Sparky and we had put feelers out for Alan D, who eventually signed. Thommo wasn't a winger and we needed another winger, not a central midfielder. Thommo has been tried on the wing and found wanting, so I reckon it was foolhardy of Spike to select him in a wide position yesterday, you could see he was a 'fish out of water', he didn't know where to position himself when we lost the ball and his marker on the Ports side, Ross Redman, had the freedom of the park and when he got the ball, he tried to cut inside, instead of hugging the touchline like a natural winger would.

What a contrast the Ports had in winger Patton, who gave McCullagh a torrid time and when he switched wings late in the 2nd half, we were indebted to a last ditch tackle from Archie, robbing him of a certain score. Spike has said players must adopt to the system, not the system being changed to suit them, well I have news for Spike, the system stinks and its definitely not working. We hadn't a real shot on target yesterday until about 15 mins to go and it fell to Jenks who just hit it and the Ports keeper Miskelly blocked it. I couldn't help thinking that if Jenks had placed his shot we would have stole the points, it would have been an injustice I know but that's football. We nearly stole it in injury time when Kane tried an audacious chip which clipped the crossbar with Miskelly beaten all ends up. Liggie was left to plough a lone furrow up front and Ports had two or three defenders marking him every time the ball was played in his direction.

The first half was a nondescript affair, the home team looked lively and referee Carville let a Ports player away with a late tackle on United keeper Dwayne Nelson, when he punched the ball away following a corner. Two mins later he had no hesitation in booking Kane for a foul in midfield, a bad foul, but not vicious. In contrast when Ally was fouled about 25 yards from the Ports goal, no yellow was flourished, meaning its okay to stop an attack by whatever means but don't foul anybody in midfield. United had claims for a penalty turned down, when a Ports defender seemed to handle in the box, but referee Carville gave the free to the home team, but I don't know why, who knows what goes on in a ref's mind, I certainly don't anyway. The twin centre-half combination of Cookie and Shaun Maher nullified the threat of Braniff and Murray in the main, but Murray found room on the right and swivelled and shot but Dwayne was equal to it. The referee brought the first half to a close and I contemplated going for a drink, but I had to drive home and kept my thirst in check.

2nd half
The 2nd half was no better than the first, but the home team did make some inroads into our defence and mainly through Patton on the left wing. I don't know whether its a ploy used by our coaches, but our fullbacks seem to give wingers too much space and we almost paid the ultimate price for this benevolence at the start of this half. Patton skipped past McCullagh and found Braniff, but Dwayne saved well and minutes later a Patton pass was deflected to set McNeil up, but with the goal at his mercy, his shot struck the bar, a lucky let-off. The Ports forced several corners and it looked like only a matter of time before they scored, but the United defence held firm. I could see Liggie was getting tired and he made way for Alan D with 20 mins left and Jenks moved up front. I was dumbfounded by this substitution, I had hoped to see Spike bring on Duffin or even Jimmy Mac, but instead he subbed a striker for a midfielder, talk about negative tactics.

The home team seem to tire after this and we started to get inroads into their defence and Thommo had one run where he cut into their box, but delayed his shot and the chance was lost. Ally then found a bit of space and his cross fell to Jenks and his lash hit the keeper and another chance went begging. The Ports had only made two subs and we only had made one, but still the 4th official held up 3 mins of added time. The home team almost stole the points when first a Patton shot hit the post and then Archie made a last ditch tackle to rob Patton of what looked to be a certain score. United had one last chance to commit barefaced robbery, but Kane's audacious chip clipped the crossbar with Miskelly beaten. The ref blew his whistle finally and we had not been beaten but the fans had been bored silly, call this entertainment, it's tedium, I nearly regretted not sitting at home and watching the rugby, but I did say nearly, we haven't stooped to that level just yet, but we are getting close!

Dwayne (8), McCullagh (6), Archie (7), Cookie (7), Maher (7), Thommo (5), Jenks (5), Sparky (6), Kane (7), Ally (6), Liggie (6)(Sub: Alan D 6,)

Man of the match: Dwayne Nelson