Chilly Thriller!

United fresh from their surrender of the County Antrim Shield on Wednesday came out the wrong end in a seven goal thriller at a rain lashed and cold Showgrounds. United manager, Fergie, made 3 changes from his starting line-up of last Wednesday's encounter with the Crues, out went Archie, Thommo and MM and in came JT, Ruddy and Tony K. Ruddy moved to left back in place of Archie, Tony K to midfield in place of Thommo and JT took up his usual place at central defence, therefore releasing Captain Jenks to play upfront in place of MM. I was disappointed to see us playing without a recognised front man, but as it turned out we did okay, for the first half anyway.

United created two chance in the first minute, first Tony K shot wide and then Jenks had a shot saved by Morris in the Glens goal. At the other end Stuarty Addis, filling in for the injured Dwayne, reacted smartly to save from Richard Clarke at the second attempt. United could have and should've have taken the lead with 12 mins gone, when Cush found himself unmarked, but he shot directly at Morris with the goal at his mercy. I wondered is it going to be one those days for Cush, as two mins later he lost possession when in a good position and the rain continued to lash. I needn't have worried about Cush, for with 23 mins gone he neatly sidestepped his marker and released Ally down the inside-left channel.

Now I was immediately filled with trepidation, the number of times Ally has been 'clean through' with only the keeper to beat and messed up, are too numerous to mention. But this time it was different, this time it was on his favoured left peg and his angled shot beat Morris with aplomb to give United the lead. United looked to have doubled their advantage 11 mins later when Jenks got on the end of a flick from a Tony K free-kick and crashed a shot off the underside of bar. Jenks, JT and Cookie were adamant the ball had crossed the line before being cleared, but the linesman and referee were unimpressed. On a side note it's interesting to hear where the ref is from, Comber, right in the Glentoran catchment area, but I'm not saying he was biased or anything, he is above reproach.

Within 4 mins the Glens were level and questions need to be asked of the United defence, when form a free-kick out on the left, Glens winger Jordan Stewart, was allowed time to collect the ball, move away from goal and turn and shoot past a bemused Addis. All this time the United defenders stood idly by and watched and in added time the Glens came within inches of taking the lead from another free-kick, this time from Callaher, only for Addis to make a finger tip save at the expense of a corner. United had bossed the first half but the Glens when they got their goal courtesy of the benevolent United defence, had moved up a gear and we were in danger of getting left behind.

2nd half
Despite losing ground the United management team didn't change things at halftime and we conceded two goals in quick succession. The first came about about when Tony K was beaten in the air to a free-kick and O'Hanlon was allowed to run free and score from close range, yet another defensive clanger. That goal came in the 49 mins and 3 mins later. Marcus Kane, who taken the free-kick was allowed space and he took a pass from Clarke and beat Addis from 25 yards, was Addis too far off his line I wondered or was just a good shot. Fergie, like Rip Van Winkle before him. woke up and replaced Marky with Liggie, necessitating Tony K to revert to rightback and Jenks to midfield. This substitution nearly brought an instant reward as United stepped up the pressure.

Elliot Morris, the Glens keeper was wasting time and he was warned by referee Burns, but the ref took no action, but he's not biased, he is just bloody useless. He denied United a cast iron penalty for handball, saying that it was a thigh the ball had struck, them Glens players must have their thighs attached to their elbows as far as I can see. United reduced the deficit when Ally's cross-cum-shot was headed into the net by Liggie to make the 3-2 in the Glens favour. Its a well known fact you are at your most vulnerable when you have scored and so it proved for United. With the whole United defence claiming offside Jordan Stewart got on the end of a through ball and gave Addis no chance to put his team 4-2 in the lead. United were indebted to Addis when he blocked another Stewart effort and O'Hanlon shot past the post mins later.

Two mins later Glenn rung the changes, bringing on MM and Robbo and taking off Cush and Sparky and United were denied a penalty again by ref Burns. He had allowed the advantage to be played as MM was fouled near the 'D' and when a Glens played handled it in the box, he brought the play back to the original foul. Surely if he allowed the play to go on, anything that happens later has to stand up, I would have thought, because a penalty would been more of an advantage to us than a free-kick outside the box. As it was Tony K's free-kick was turned over for a corner by Elliot. Liggie missed an absolute sitter when he miskicked with the goal at his mercy and later on he run the ball out instead of crossing it. Then he missed the target from 12 yards, no wonder he hung his head in shame, he could've been a hero.

In a rare Glens break, Mark Miskimmon could be seen clearly scuffling with Cookie and Cookie later accused of him of spitting on him, a despicable offence, but referee Burns took no action. When the 90 mins was up I was surprised to learn the ref only added the requisite 3 mins in spite of persistent time wasting by the Glens. Two mins into this added time United got an another goal when Ally got on the end of an MM cross. There was barely time to start the game, not helped by a Glens player kicking the ball away, but yet again the ref took no action. As the match drew to a close, there were scuffles in the two benches and later on it seemed to kick-off down the tunnel, a sad end to quite enjoyable match that had started with a minutes silence as a tribute to Roy Coyle's granddaughter, who had died earlier in the week.

To Roy Coyle and his family circle we pass on our condolences, Roy played for us before moving to the Glens and Omar says he was a combative player who never asked quarter and didn't give any. United could do with a Roy Coyle now, or somebody to start and score goals would be an asset, we can't go on like this, a fair result today would have been 7-6 to us, our defence is porous but our forwards are atrocious, they can't score for love or money. There must be somebody somewhere in this country of ours, North or South who we can afford, who's going to put the ball in the onion bag, but I wouldn't say no to a good stopper/sweeper who's going to tighten up our defence either, but we need a goalscorer more, sooner, rather than later!

Addis (6), Marky (5)(Sub: Liggie 6,), Ruddy (6), Cookie (6), JT (6), Sparky (6),(Sub: Robbo 6,), Jenks (7), Tony K (6), Gavin (6), Cush (7)(Sub: MM 7,), Ally (8)

Man of the match: Ally