Just Enough!

I was getting dogs abuse from Sammy Patterson last night about my headline for this game and Omar sniped in as well, but I think it sums up the match perfectly. The Coleraine scum did all the attacking, we soaked up the pressure and then hit them on the break. Fergie will no doubt say his plan worked perfectly, but it was nervy to watch. As expected Fergie made just the one change from his starting line-up from last Saturday, Stuarty Addis to replace the injured  Dwayne in goals. Not to be outdone, Oran 'the diving bird' Kearney, named his goalkeeping coach in nets for the scum and I want to personally thank for his kindness to us, for Greg's shortcomings as a keeper were evident to be seen in United first goal.

The referee, Colin Biased Burns was soon called in action and he got it wrong when he only booked Stephen 'one cap' Carson, for an horrendous foul on United keeper Stuarty Addis, dislocating Stuarty's  finger in the process. Have we gone back to the bad old days when keepers were considered 'easy meet' by forwards and the like and away from protecting them. I believe if a keeper has his hand on the ball and a player charges in and fouls him, it should be a red card, end of story. The ref had to stop the match for 6 minutes until Stuarty could have treatment, including a doctor trying to to get his finger relocated. If we had  a replacement keeper we would surely have had him on, but we are down to the bare bones as far as keepers are concerned and anyway like most managers Spike doesn't name a sub keeper in his panel.

After treatment Stuarty, was able to carry on and its true to say he wasn't up to his usual standard, but he showed tremendous courage and I have nothing but admiration for him. The Coleraine scum, as Omar alluded to in his column last night, booed Stuarty as the match continued, there's no other word for them but scum. The home team stepped up the pressure, alike to a pride of lions when they sense a kill, but their ineptitude in front of goal came to our rescue as they missed three or four chances. United could get nothing going up front, Cush was labouring on the heavy surface but he did manage to get one shot in, but it didn't trouble Greg, whom I know from experience doesn't cover his angles well.

The referee was even more biased than he had been at at Seaview in the League cup semi, in one incident when Thommo was unceremoniously dumped as he attempted to send Ally away about 30 yards from the scum goal, the ref merely gave the foul, no card and two minutes later when Thommo fouled a scum player at halfway, the yellow card was flourished immediately. Bradley seemed to impede Addis as the keeper jumped for a high ball, but Burns is of the opinion that keepers are easy meat and he allowed the striker to carry on, his header seemed to be destined for the net, but JT was able to clear. United were under the cosh at this stage, but they were indebted to their midfield three, Thommo, Sparky and the outstanding Gavin Taggart for mopping up.

Bradley nearly broke the deadlock when he forced his way past Cookie and Tony K but his powerful shot cleared the bar. United in a spell of pressure won a free on the left on the edge of the box and Tony Kane's shot was scrambled away for a corner with Greg Shannon in no-mans land. United gradually were getting more and more into the game and they took the lead when an Ally cross was missed by everybody including Greg and rolled into the net to give United the lead. The United supporters were in raptures, myself included and we had a supporter on the field but he was quickly shepherded back to the fold. Coleraine stepped up the pressure and JT got himself into a tangle and Bradley seemed to foul him, nothing given and JT repeated the favour and promptly got booked.

The ref added on 6 mins of injury time and we seemed about to crack any minute, but from a scum attack Thommo's clearance was picked up by Cush and despite the attentions of a scum defender, Cush managed to shield the ball and release Captain Jenks with a delightful pass and the big Scotsman took it in his stride and beat Greg with a right-foot shot into the corner of the net to make the score 2-0 to the Sky Blues. To say I was delighted by this turn of events was to put it mildly, I was in wonderland. I was wondered how we had survived when we under so much pressure and wondering how we were leading two nil and wondering if this was to be the day we finally beat this scum team after over four years of trying. Sammy Patterson went down to have word with Greg Shannon, as the former United keeper was making his way off for his halftime cuppa, merited I think.

2nd half
United took the field with no changes and the same pattern emerged with the scum doing all the attacking, aided and abetted with a biased referee and United holding on to their two goal cushion. Bradley missed a glorious chance when he cut in from the right but missed the target. United were trying to counter-attack, but they were continually being thwarted with the ref Burns and his biased tactics. Two incidents stand out, Cush was getting in position to challenge for the ball, when a scum defender blatantly pushed him in full view of the ref and Burns ignored it and later on when Thommo was fouled he waved play on as we had possession only to penalise us two seconds later when the lino flagged for offside.

Surely he had to give us the free kick for the foul on Thommo as we got no advantage, but he gave the scum the free kick instead. Bradley was shrugging off JT and I thought the United bench would have spotted this and switched JT and Cookie, but they didn't and we paid the price. From another run along the right-side of penalty box, Bradley's cross was only half cleared by Cookie and Tommoms shot through a ruck of players with Stuarty unsighted, to reduce the leeway to 2-1 in United's favour. We are up against now I thought but immediately we went down the other end and Ally was put through but Greg seemed to get a hand on him as he went past, but there was no chance of Burns signalled for a penalty. The scum defence made hash of the clearance and McIlmoyle fouled Thommo on the by-line.

From the resultant free we won a corner and the ball fell kindly to Captain Jenks from Ally's delivery and he had time to chest it down and find the net, past the statuesque Greg in the scum goal to restore United's two goal cushion. That goal came in 70 mins and I thought the United bench would react and bring on defender, Mike Ruddy for Cush, who seemed to be out of puff. Some idiot in the United section of the crow let off a flare, there's wiser people locked up in my opinion. The ref took another hand in proceedings as Gavin was fouled going forward, totally ignored by the ref, who blew for an innocuous challenge on a scum player instead. One cap took the free quickly and Bradley sold JT a dummy and beat Stuarty at his near post to make the score 3-2 in United's favour. Finally the United manager Spike, acted with a double substitution, bring off Cush and Sparky and bring on Lowry and of all people, Alan D.

Alan D was no sooner on the field when he tried to set off a run and was fouled first by a high foot which nearly decapitated him and then when that didn't stop him, he was broke in two, Mister Burns saw nothing wrong with this and Alan D retaliated and promptly got booked. Captain Jenks missed a great chance to complete his hat-trick when he failed to find the net, Greg just getting his fingertips to his goal-bound shot and then stood back in amazement as the ref gave a goal-kick. The scum spurned a good chance to get on even terms when Heggarty blasted over.  At last Ruddy replaced Ally, but with our Captain struggling with the heavy pitch tasking its toll, I thought he should have come off, but what do I know.

With the game petering out, three minutes were added to the ninety and United were trying to play possession football, but when the ball came to Lowry he unleashed a glorious shot which thundered off the scum crossbar with Greg looking on as if saying 'where did that come from'? It would have made a fitting end to the match but Mister Burns would have none of it and from a poor clearance by Greg, Captain Jenks was just off target with a 35 yard shot. Still Burns kept his whistle dry in spite of nearly 5 mins elapsing but the scum were finished, they had no more to give and the ref finally blew his whistle and the celebrations began. We applauded our players off, but it has to said the scum players played well too, but they had no luck, that's the difference this season, our star is in the ascendency, long may it continue to be so, 'four and twenty blackbirds were baked a pie', etc..etc..!

Addis (8), Kane (7), Archie (8), JT (7), Cookie (8), Thommo (7), Gavin (8), Sparky (7)(Sub: Alan D 7,), Ally (8) (Sub: Ruddy 7,), Jenks (8), Cush (7)(Sub: Lowry 7,)

Man of the match: Gavin

Paper Tigers!

The unbeaten Crues came to town, strutting their stuff and left like 'paper tigers', when United lowered their colours and inflicted their first defeat in all competitions since August 17. It was only fitting that United should be the team to spoil the hatchet men's record, for it was after a defeat by United at Seaview on August 17, that the team from Tigers Bay went on unbeaten run of 24 games. Whereas on Tuesday night United suffered at the hands of an incompetent referee (Colin Burns), they were indebted to a competent one (Mervyn Smyth),  yesterday, who allowed an advantage for a foul on Ally, which led to United's goal.

That it was only one goal is down to benevolent finishing by United as they missed the target about six times in the match, I can only recall Crues missing two chances and one them fell to the poisoned dwarf, but he headed wide. United made only one change from their line-up on Tuesday night, Cookie Munster coming in for Marky McCullagh. The first real opening fell to the hatchet men, when McCutcheon fired a free wide, unlike on Tuesday night when he set up Crues 2nd goal when his free came off the crossbar and Caddell headed in. This was was high and wide, no doubt he didn't like the 'real' grass, too much give in it for a wee dwarf.

With 15 mins gone, Morrow tried his luck with a free-kick, but the ball hit the side-netting but I think Dwayne had it covered. Then it was United's turn with a free kick, but Tony K shot was too high with O'Neill scrambling, a chance lost. Thommo tested Ogers, with a snap, shot which the keeper gathered at the second attempt. Ogers is a nickname for O'Neill but considering his antics at the end of the game on Tuesday, I think Ogre is a better name for him and I'm going to call that in future. Cush fired a chance wide and the paltry crowd of Crues supporters called him a wanker, they would soon regret those words.  Coates played a ball back to Ogre with his thigh and the ref nearly blew for an infringement, but it was no back-pass as long as the ball is hit above the knee, Sammy Patterson informed me.

From a loose punch by Ogre, Captain Jenks should have done better, but his curler went wide but United's best chance fell to Cookie, when Archie crossed and Jenks nodded down, but Cookie's volley was saved by Ogre who recovered to thwart the inrushing Sparky and Cush. Gavin was booked by the referee when the dwarf made a meal of  a simple foul and he didn't have to receive treatment, when he saw Gavin booked he got up right away, bluffer, I have no time for them in my book. United continued to play football and it looked a lost cause as Ally took on three Crues platers on the touchline and despite being fouled in the process, the ref allowed advantage and he found Thommo in space.

Thommo lined up a shot, but it was off-target and the impressive Cush spun and delivered a shot which beat the Ogre all ends up to give United the lead and score his 11th goal of this season in the process. That goal came in the 43rd minute and United were in front and they were to stay in front in the rest of the match. Despite two added mins of time Crues had no fresh ideas of how to break down this solid United rearguard where Archie was in commanding form and looking to break at every opportunity. Crues for their part just kept hoofing the ball up to Owens and Caddell but they well marshalled by JT and Cookie and the only concern for United was Tony K, instead of clearing the ball, he gave it away with a slack passes, but we survived to halftime.

2nd half
The Crues upped the pace in the second half, but United had a plan and they stuck to it manfully. They allowed the Crues to have space in their own half while getting their tackles in when the ball was hoofed up to the Crues forwards. Crues created an opening ten mins into the 2nd period, when McMaster found the dwarf in space, but his header was wide, heading was never his strong point. Dwayne seemed to injure himself as he stretched for a high ball and he received extensive treatment and thereafter struggled to kick the ball, so much so in  the latter stages of the match, the goal-kicks were taken by Tony K. In this spell of cat and mouse Gavin and Sparky showed their worth to the team by getting in tackles and hitting probing balls up to their forwards.

But United were getting nothing going up front and Spike decided to change this by bringing on Neal Lowry for Thommo and moving Jenks back to midfield. This was the kick-start we needed and Lowry's pace was soon evident when he went past McClean (one of three former United players in the Crues line-up) and angled a cross which just eluded the United forwards. Moments later, he set Cush away down the left and with Coates in attendance Cush beat Ogre with a crisp left-foot  shot only to miss the target by a foot or so, maybe Ogre got his angles right for once. Then with 10 mins of normal time remaining, Neal sped along the right, (I think McClean was away for his dinner) and delivered a cross which Cush of all people dragged wide with the goal and Ogre, at his mercy.

Some of United's players were struggling to keep up with two matches in four days and with 5 mins remaining Sparky went off to be replaced by Alan D and I for one was not actually delighted to see Alan D come on, the  better ploy in my opinion would have been Mike Ruddy, but I'm not the manager. Cush was knackered having run the whole day and he was replaced at the stroke of 90 mins with Mario. The ref added 4 mins of stoppage time and Davy King informed us that the scum were losing 2-0 and we couldn't make top six, but it'll come I think. There was an incident involving Mario and the Crues defence, when the ball seemed to go for a corner, the lino flagged for a corner and them changed his mind and awarded a goal-kick, Mario couldn't believe it and neither could I.

United forced another a corner on the left but they wasted it by trying to run down the clock, I haven't time for those tactics either. Despite the ref adding on more time, United held out to record a merited victory and move up a place in the league in the process, 7th now. The Crues had taken the dwarf off in 85 mins and he came off to a chorus off boos and I was one of those doing the booing. Someone on the forum said the other night we weren't showing the dwarf the respect he deserved, But in my humble opinion, we didn't 'sack' Cutch, he chose to go and now in my book he is a turncoat and I have no time for him, just as I have no time for Nathan Hanley, and Gibbo, these players decided for themselves and as far as I'm concerned, they have burned their bridges for all time!

Dwayne (8), Tony K (7), Archie (8), Cookie (8), JT (8), Gavin (8), Sparky (8) (Sub: Alan D 7,), Thommo (8) (Sub: Lowry 8,), Ally (8), Jenks (8), Cush (8) (Sub: Mario 7,)

Man of the match: Gavin Taggart

More Hearbreak!

United suffered more heartbreak at Seaview last night when a match they had dominated, was cruelly snatched away from them by an incompetent referee. Picture the scene, the Crues are losing 3-2 and trying everything to break down the United defence and substitute Heatley  (whom United had tried to sign at the start of 2012 season), takes a blatant dive (he later admitted that there was no contact) and referee Burns gave a penalty. That for me was the turning point, the referee was biased in the extreme, but in truth I had expected nothing else, I'm too long watching Irish league football to expect a good strong referee and Burns didn't come into either category.

Manger Spike made two changes to his starting line-up of last Saturday, as expected Cookie was unfit and Dolan dropped down to the bench. Ally came for Dolan and Gavin Taggart got the nod in place of Munster and this meant re-jigging the United defence, with Tony K moving to rightback and Marky moving to central defence. The first half belonged to United as they scored 3 goals to the Crues one and what three goals from United's talisman, Cush. The first came about in 23 mins when Cush got on the end of a cross, from Sparky I think and gave no chance for O'Neill in the Crues goal with a crisp header to give United a deserved lead. Omar, says it was reminiscent of a header Cush scored in his first spell at United, from a Stephen Lowry cross against Lisburn Distillery, memories.

Cush was still taking the corners and one in particular was laughable as it sailed over everybody and landed at the opposite corner flag. But Sammy Patterson said he didn't care who took them as Cush was in dominant form and 4 mins later he met a Thommo pass and slammed the ball into the net, giving O'Neill no chance again to leave United leading  2-0. The old saying that you are at your most vulnerable when you have just scored bore true for United, when Dwayne (my man of the match on Saturday), misjudged a Caddell shot which struck the inside of the post before nestling in the net to make the score 2-1.  The Crues starting to up the pressure, but United held firm and with halftime approaching they went further ahead, when Cush beat O'Neill in a race for Jenks a pass, dinked the ball past the keeper and then slammed a left-foot into the unguarded net to give United a 3-1 cushion at halftime.

2nd half
The Crues made two subs at halftime, Heately and McCuthcheon and United were forced to change as well, Marky being replaced with Mike Ruddy. United were subjected to relentless pressure during the first 15 mins of this half but held firm, but struggled to get any possession. But in a breakaway, Sparky found Cutch and he rounded the keeper, only to see his shot strike post and rebound to safety, the same post that Caddell's shot had hit when scoring the Crues goal, ironic or what. Caddell was finally booked by referee Burns, but how he got away with numerous fouls in the first half beggars belief, but I expected nothing else. The Crues won a a doubtful free-kick on 65 mins and McCutcheon's free came off the crossbar and Caddell was on hand to score his second of the night and reduce the leeway to 3-2.

Four mins later Heatley took his 'dive' and despite our Captain remonstrating at Dwayne to dive to his right, he dived to his left, the wrong way and the ball ended up in other side of his goal to make the score 3-3. Sky Blue Sport in its preview of this game was calling for Dwayne to be retained, but acknowledging that Spike usually picks his second string keeper on these occasions, would in hindsight, Addis have been the better choice, for he is a penalty stopping keeper, sadly we'll never know. Mike Ruddy should have done better when he latched on to a pass but he shot hurriedly and not on target. Leeman had a chance form a corner, but his header struck a post and was cleared and Ally missed a sitter, blasting the ball wide with time ticking away. The ref blew his whistle for the ninety mins and we were subjected to 15 mins each way extra-time.

The match was over as far as United were concerned halfway through the first period of extra time, when JT was defending and he decided to back-pass to Dwayne. Dwayne under pressure, chose to try to find JT, instead of trying to clear the ball, but only succeeded in giving away an unnecessary corner. From this corner JT was the recipient of a Coates elbow, bur referee Burns saw nothing and Owens rose unmarked to break Sky Blue hearts with the clinching goal from a header to make the score 4-3 in Crues favour. Almost immediately Spike acted, but I was disappointed to see Sparky going off to be replaced by Alan D of all people, surely Liggie had to be the answer or Dolan, but no, Fergie elects for a dinky ball playing waster and we went out the game from this moment on.

Two mins later he took off our penalty king Ally off and brought on Dolan and I have to ask myself was he resigning himself to defeat. If we got a break and scored a goal to take the game to penalties, surely Ally needed to stay on and the only the only other sub to be made was Addis for Dwayne, if not, then Liggie, but no Fergie brought Dolan on and I don't remember a worthwhile contribution from him. The linesman at the City end where United were defending in the first-half of extra time missed a blatant offside and Dwayne made an excellent stop to keep United in the game, contrast that to normal time, when he flagged for two offsides when there wasn't anybody offside.

In the 2nd period of extra-time, United tried to summon strength to mount attacks but the tiredness and the unnatural surface was starting to take effect, there's no give in a plastic pitch, its like running on concrete. Still its the same for both teams and the Crues are more used to playing on it and they were trying to play out time. O'Neill in the Crues goal was warned at least two times to get a move on, but the ref took no action and didn't add extra time at the end of 120 mins, just the requisite one minute, adding insult to injury. O'Neill was beaten by Cush again and he was about to pull the trigger when he was hacked down and O'Neill recovered the ball and to the astonishment of United fans ,Burns waved play on. He finally blew his whistle and the dream had ended and it was probably a nightmare scenario in the end, but we gave it our best shot and there's no doubt about it, we are improving, but it'll take time, I hope its worth all the heartache and frustration when it happens, roll on the Irish cup!

Dwayne (6), Tony (7), Archie (7), JT (7), Marky (7)(Sub: Ruddy 7,), Sparky (7)(Sub: Alan D 5,), Taggart (7), Thommo (7), Cush (8), Jenks (7), Ally (7)(Sub:Mario (5)

Man of the match: with out a doubt, Cush!

Some Comfort!

United missed the chance to get into sixth place in the Dankse Premiership, when they could only draw with Glenavon at windswept Mourneview Park yesterday. In the circumstances, a draw was more than we deserved, for in the second half, despite having the wind mainly on our backs, we only created one chance. United showing two changes from the side so narrowly beaten by that other half of Craigavon, Portadown, last week elected to play against the breeze in the first half, at least I think we did, the home team centred in the first half and we centred in the second half.

As expected Dwayne made his first appearance since being injured in that infamous scuffle with Tipton of Linfield, that the referee on that day saw nothing wrong with, but that's another story. Thommo, having served his one game ban returned and Gavin Taggart dropped down to the bench and there was no place for Ally in the starting X1. United started brightly and it was 10 minutes into the game before Glenavon threatened, McGrory shooting over when well placed. Player manager Gary Hamilton was at his 'diving' best, but credit to the referee Tim Marshall, he wasn't overly impressed by Gary's histrionics.

At the other end after an impressive bit of play, Cush looked to be fouled in the box, but Tim waved play on, obviously he felt that Cush had made a meal  out of it. Hamilton then was fouled by Thommo near the halfway line and appeared to get up and aim a kick at Thommo, Tim, took no action. Gareth McKeown's long throw-ins were causing us trouble, but we dealt capably with them, due to a mixture of skill and good luck. There were a few heart-stopping moments, as we were trying to play the ball out, but we managed to get away with it.

A McKeown drive was deflected over the bar and then from a corner Hamilton got a head wound from one of his own players, as Sparky headed off the line. In a nice bit of build-up play, the ball came out to Thommo, but from 20 yards he blasted  his shot over the bar. Referee Tim Marshall earlier in the game had refused Archie treatment when he injured his knee and insisted he move into touch and our physio had to come the long way round to treat him. Surely he could of used a bit of common sense and let the physio come across the pitch, he could add time-on at the end of the half. JT was in the wars and he had to go off to get treatment and we were down to ten men at least two times in the first half, but we survived.

2nd half
I thought surely we'd up the pace in the second half and we seem to come out with more purpose, but we seemed determined to walk the ball into the net, instead of shooting. The reliable JT, missed a tackle and Dwayne saved his blushes by making a good save from Martin. At the other end how the home team's number six was allowed to stay on the field, beggars belief, after he rugby-tackled Captain Jenks when he was the last defender, Tim merely booked him. From the resultant free-kick, Cush drove the ball harmlessly wide. It was a feature of the day, how pathetic were all of our free-kicks and corners and the sooner Ally is restored to the team the better.

With an hour gone Ally looked set to come on, but it took another 5 mins before he did come on to replace Mario. Two mins later, Neill who had already been booked, was adjudged to have fouled Cush, who had moved to the right to accommodate Ally and Tim flourished the yellow card, immediately followed by the red and the hosts were down to ten men. From the resultant free-kick, taken by Tony K, despite a free header we got nothing. At this juncture the home team stepped up the pace and from a long-throw, Marshall headed over and mins later, Dwayne tipped over a free-kick from McKeown which had goal written all over it.

Cookie seemed to be in trouble and he was replaced by Neil Lowry with 8 mins to go and from one of his crosses the ball came out to Cush and we all held our breath, but he drove it harmlessly wide, a great chance gone begging. We did force another corner on the right and I expected Ally to take it, but Cush took it and it was hopeless in the extreme. With 2 mins remaining Cush went off to be replaced with Liggie and I don't remember Liggie getting a touch as the match petered out to a scoreless draw. With a double header against the Crues coming up the United management need to work on the taking of corners and trying to instil some pride into their team, its either that or bust!

Dwayne (8), Marky (8), Archie (8), Cookie (7) (Sub: Lowry 6,), JT (7), Sparky (6), Tony K (6), Thommo (6), Mario (6) (Sub: Ally 6,), Jenks (6), Cush (6) (Sub: Liggie 6,)

Man of the match: Dwayne Nelson

Rough Justice!

The result of yesterday's match hinged on whether United keeper, Stuart Addis, sent off by the referee for impeding Martin Murray of Portadown, deserved no more than a yellow card, if that in fact. A similar incident happened in United's match against Linfield at Windsor Park in mid-September and the linesman in that case was adamant that no contact was made by our keeper, but the referee still gave a penalty and our Captain was sent off for protesting. I don't know whether the linesman in this incident disagreed or agreed with the decision, but Addis was adamant that he didn't pull Murray down and I'm inclined to agree with him.

There's been a couple of incidents this season when the opposing keepers pulled a United player down and no action was taken (rather than a yellow card), against them. Just last Saturday, Alvin Rouse, the Ducks keeper, pulled down United's Captain and then saved the resultant spot-kick. But this time Stuarty was dismissed and Sparky had to go into goal and his first task was to pick the ball out the back of the net when 'diver' Murray scored. That proved to be the only goal of the game and from then on, there was only one team in the match, the Sky Blues, except  for 5 mins after this sending-off the much vaunted Ports strikers didn't trouble United.

United had made one change from their line-up of last Saturday, Gavin Taggart for the suspended Thommo. That meant no place for Ally, who is our penalty king and corner kick taker and boy did we miss him yesterday. Marky, at rightback was struggling with the pace of Ports wide man Barton, but when he got to grips with him, he nullified that threat and had a stormer of game to boot. United forced 6 corners in the first 15 mins, all taking by Cush and they were diabolical, but from a typical bad one we came within inches of scoring. This corner looked to be easy for the Ports defence, but they messed it up and Sparky's overhead kick came off the the upright with the Ports defence at sixes and sevens.

We were pressing and we had already got caught on the break and our offside trap was not working and Ports exploited this with a swift move that saw Murray home in on goal with only Addis to beat. Addis came out to try to drive Murray away from goal, Murray made sure he tripped on the keeper and United had covering players so it was no guarantee that he would have scored, but the ref flourished the red card. Murray sent Sparky the wrong way from the resultant penalty and we were under the cosh for about five mins after that and Sparky made a good save and then punched a corner over the bar and this gave his defenders confidence by his assured display. This handicap (10 men), meant Captain Jenks had to return to midfield, leaving Mario to battle alone up front.

Cush tried to get up to help  him but he was needed in midfield most of the time, but he did get one snap shot off but it went wide. The few United  supporters in the meagre crowd were encouraged by the teams fighting display and with a degree of composure they could've had something to cheer their hearts if the United forwards had taken their time to unlock the hesitant Ports defence. As it was they promised to deceive, created openings only to lose the ball at the last minute, by a stray pass or taking the wrong option. I must say a word here about Cookie Munster, rumoured to be playing with pain-killing injections the result of a broken toe, he was magnificent and a tower of strength in our beleaguered defence.

2n half
United continued to battle on and its fair to say they were the best team and but couldn't unlock the Ports defence sufficiently to get a clear-cut chance. But they stuck to their task manfully and JT came into his own, mopping up and distributing the ball to his forwards, a real class act. From a through ball Mario looked to be fouled by a Ports defender but struggled gamely on but Miskelly in the Ports goal made a magnificent stop to the strikers shot. The United fans were calling for fresh legs (subs), to be introduced and with 15 mins to go Fergie finally acted, taking off Gavin and bringing on Neil Lowry. Lowry has a pace to burn and I thought he should have been on earlier, but the manager thought different.

Neil started to run at the Ports defence and forced a corner and Cush took it perfect this time, but Miskelly was equal to Captain Jenks header. With 9 mins left, Mario went off to be replaced by MM and the Ports announcer got confused by saying that he was a Ports sub and then correcting himself. United continued to probe and Captain Jenks felt the full force of a Cush shot when he got in the way of it. Then it was Neil Lowry's turn to blast over when the ball came out to him with the goal at his mercy and Captain Jenks could only turn another good Cush corner into the side-netting. In a last throw of the dice Cookie Munster went off to be replaced by Liggie and this looked a positive move, but it necessitated Captain Jenks moving to central defence and we lost his thrust in midfield.

Maybe Cookie was starting to feel the pinch of his injury and his age, suffice to say he'll not see 35 again unless its on the door of a house, but if on the other hand it was tactical, then it failed miserably for we went out the game at this point. Ports were content to spoil the game and play it out to a finish and I suppose you could say they won 'ugly'. It was a fascinating match, but not an enjoyable one, the ref, whoever he was (I never seen him before), spoiled it by sending Addis off, but we had our chances and didn't take them, a bit more composure and we could at least got a share of the spoils. But we're not there yet as a team, but we are getting better and by a strange coincidence we play Glenavon next week, two matches in a row in the 'lost' city of Craigavon. We need a strong ref for that one and a fair one, if there is such a thing!

Addis (7), Marky  (8), Archie (7), Cookie (8) (Sub: Liggie 6,), JT (8), Gavin (7), (Sub: Lowry 6,), Tony K (7), Sparky (8), Cush (7), Jenks (7), Mario (8) (Sub: MM 6,)

Man of the match: Sparky

Took Them!

It may seem a funny headline this week as Ballymena recording three league wins in a row, but a few weeks ago we were bemoaning missed chances, now we're taking them. By an ironic twist of fate, the opposition are missing loads of chances and if they (Ballyinmallard), had taken even half of them I could be reporting on a different scenario, but its goals that count. United's benevolence in front of goal continued in one vein, when we got a penalty and normal penalty-taker Ally was not in our side, why was the kick handed to Cush, who struggled the whole day, that was the second penalty we missed this season, but luckily it didn't come back to haunt us. In the absence of Ally, whom I saw skipping up the steps of the home stand before kick-off, but we are told he hadn't been able to train because of flu symptoms, Mario got a rare start and he acquitted himself well on our left flank.

United spurned a great chance to take an early lead, when Captain Jenks found Tony K in space, but Tony went for the spectacular half volley, which was 'high, wide and not so handsome' instead of taking his time and picking his spot. In a way that summed up the rest of the half for us, when we would make delightful passes and when we needed something positive, like a shot or a killer pass, Cush, Thommo and Tony K, would try 'fancy flicks' which were bread and butter to the Ducks defence. The Ducks on the other hand were trying a direct route to goal and United had a lucky let-off on 27 mins,when Leckey was allowed to cut in and his left-foot shot struck the post with Addis beaten. Just moments earlier, Marky McCullagh had to head a probing cross for a corner and from the corner how Leckey escaped the referee Davey's notebook beggars belief, when he head-butted Addis as he clutched the ball out of space.

Sammy Patterson and me were talking about Ally being absent and the corner-kick taking would fall to Cush in Ally's absence. We needn't have worried, David took at least five corners and only one of them he bleanged wide and it was with his weaker right-foot and he got the penalty on target, Sammy expected him to hit over the bar in the direction of Farm Lodge. But he was struggling in the normal facets of his game, but to his credit he continued to try, that's why he is our talisman. From a corner on the right, Mario 'missed' with a free header, heading wide from David's pinpoint cross and in time added on, JT 'missed' with a volley following a Tony K free-kick, but I think he had time to make sure, but he was the judge and he made the decision. Halftime was reached scoreless and in truth we had no complaints, we were playing too much football to my mind, we needed to get in among them to my way of thinking, but what do I know.

2nd half
United showed greater purpose in the 2nd half but gave the ball away cheaply at the kick-off, who comes up with these ploys at the kick-off I wonder, or do the players make up on the spot. The Ducks squandered an excellent chance when they got a lucky break from a sliced clearance and McManus raced clear, but blazed wildly over the bar. Moments later Leckey out-foxed JT, but he missed the target also. This woke United up from their slumbers and after a spell of concerted pressure, Archie's telling cross was misjudged by Rouse in the Ducks goal and as Jenks challenged the ball fell to Sparky and he rifled it into the net to give the Sky Blues the lead on the hour mark. The Sky Blues started to play now and when Jenks chased a short back-pass and was brought down by Rouse the game looked over. I was amazed to see Rouse still on the field, surely he should have been sent-off it was a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but referee Davey bottled it. Not to be outdone, United bottled it too. In the absence of regular penalty king, Ally, I was surprised to see Cush (who was way below form), selected to take the penalty.

The Captain is the boss on the field and he has the last say, but in this case he didn't assert his authority or was he not allowed to. Anyway David stepped up to take the kick and Rouse dived to his left and made a great save, but I couldn't help thinking that we'd been mugged, by the ref for not doing his job and our Captain or manager, by not nominating the right man for the job. In my humble opinion if Captain Jenks wasn't up for it, the task should have fallen to vice-Captain Archie, who was playing superbly. The Ducks started to think they could save this match but luckily from a corner, twice taken on the right, when everybody thought it should be taken from the left, Cush found Mario lurking in the six-yard area and I think he just got in the way of the ball, I honestly don't know which part of his body it hit, but it ended up in the net to give us a fortuitous 2-0 lead, a lead that we hardly deserved but that's football. The Ducks threw everything into attack and we were under the cosh for the remainder of the half.

Fergie started to ring the changes, Alan D for Thommo when were under the cosh, I thought was foolhardy and Alan D, bless him, repaid Spike's faith in him by wasting a free-kick striking the ball from fully 35 yards past the post, a waste of an opportunity to get some respite and dare I say it, a waste of space. Alan D came on in the 84 mins and Lowry came on a minute later to replace Cush, who got warm applause from the United faithful. How the Ducks failed to make a match of it I'll never know for despite having the United defence split asunder and four of their men waiting on a cross they wasted the opportunity with a scuffed shot. Deep in stoppage time JT had to chance to relieve the pressure somewhat by getting the ball into touch, but he compounded a miserable day for him, by giving the ball away and therefore increasing the pressure on our beleaguered defence. Two of our defenders stepped up to the plate at this time and throughout out the match, Archie and my man of the match, Cookie Munster, who it was later confirmed had played on with a broken toe sustained in the first half.

The Ducks pressure looked like bearing some fruit at last but luckily substitute Sheridan headed wide from a good position. United had the last meaningful say in the match, when Neil Lowry took off like a greyhound,leaving two Ducks players in his wake and from his deep cross Tony K could only head past the post. Finally referee Davey blew his whistle and United had picked up another three points, we weren't impressive, but we got the job done. We finally 'bucked the trend' of losing to teams we should be able to beat with our last three wins, but its going to get tougher from now on in and we will need to dig deep to continue this run starting with a trip to Shamrock Park to play Portadown, who incidentally we have beat in our last three meetings, that's one trend I hope we don't buck. Then it's Glenavon after that who have skelped us a few times of late, but I'm getting ahead myself, lets savour the victory, whether we deserved or not and spare a thought for our dear friends down the A26, ha, ha, slap it up the Coleraine scum, I say and come on Sky Blues!

Addis (7), Marky (7), Archie (8), Cookie (8), JT (6), Thommo (6)(Sub: Alan D 6,), Sparky (7), Tony K (6), Cush (7)(Sub: Lowry 7,), Jenks (7), Mario (7)

Man of the match: Cookie Munster