At Last!

It doesn't seem like four years since we last tasted victory against the Coleraine scum, but oh it is so sweet. For long periods in today's game I thought we were going to fail, we were not at the races. I used to know a man in my youth who owned a part-share in a greyhound and he told me they used to feed the hound with stodgy food before a race to make it run badly and then get a good price in a later race and make their money that way. It looked as if United had been fed stodgy found at lunchtime today, they were lethargic and we second to nearly every ball and its a miracle how they kept a clean sheet for so long, two-thirds of the match were gone we they conceded their first goal.

As expected, Spike made one change from the line-up that defeated Crusaders on Christmas Saturday, Stuart Addis for the injured Dwayne Nelson in goal. With five minutes gone Stuarty fell victim to a crude late  tackle from Steven 'one cap' Carson, which should have merited a red card. Referee Burns decided a yellow was sufficient and Stuarty had to receive extensive treatment on the field which I believe was diagnosed as a dislocated finger and bravely played on after five minutes of treatment. The Coleraine scum fans even booed  Addis when the match resumed, obviously sporting behaviour is alien to them. United faced a barrage of scum pressure and we weathered the storm and started to find space of our own.

Coleraine had to make a change of keeper, goalkeeping coach Greg Shannon replacing  usual custodian Wayne Drummond, a 'plunker' for a 'plunked' and when Ally sent a cross into the box, Greg stayed rooted to his line and the ball nestled in the corner of the net. That was near the end of normal time in the first half and in time added on (6 mins), United increased their lead with a superb goal from Captain Jenks, Cush gave him the pass and the Captain did the rest. To their credit the scum continued to force the pace in the 2nd half and it was no surprise when they reduced  the arrears when the United defence failed to clear their lines. But almost immediately United restored their 2 goal lead, when Captain Jenks was allowed time and space from an Ally corner and he shot into the net.

Back came the scum and ref Burns played his part by ignoring United's appeals for a foul and giving the scum a doubtful one and 'one cap' took it quickly and found Bradley and he beat JT and found the net to make the 3-2. They looked likely to get a draw, but Stuarty pulled off a tremendous save to deny a scum equaliser and despite 3 mins of stoppage time United held out for the victory. It was an ugly win, but in derby matches, any win, is a win, I don't care how they are achieved. That we were so cruelly robbed many times in the last four years goes without saying, but today we came good and gave our supporters something to cheer. We have consolidated our position, the next month is going to be crucial, but we have laid the platform, now all we have to do is deliver the goods!

Flash Back!

On Tuesday night at Seaview, when Cush missed that chance on the hour mark, the ball coming back off the post, my mind flashed back 23 years to a cold November night at Seaview. United were playing Portadown in the (Budweiser) League cup semi-final and another hero Sammy Smith was having an unbelievable game, netting two goals for United who were leading 2-1. From a delightful bit of play they carved another chance and it looked easier to score, but we missed it and the rest as they say is history. Ports scored a last gasp equaliser and United lost in a penalty shoot-out, how ironic that this year they lost by virtue of the referee giving a penalty for a dive and refusing to give one which was clear-cut.

I couldn't have known what was going to unfold in the next 10 or so mins, but the pessimist in me feared the worst. Sure hadn't we been here before and though the game went to extra-time, we looked like a beaten team. We weren't helped by our manager substitutions, first he took off Sparky, who had played his heart out and replaced him with a waster, Alan D, who never created anything. In the 2nd half, our Captain, Jenks, was beaten in the air every time and surely instead of getting a midfielder on, Spike had to get a forward on and Liggie was the man for the job. Liggie it was who scored the decisive goal, when United beat the hatchet-men way back in August 17, but the next substitution was almost as bizarre, he took off Ally (who admittedly was not setting the world alight) and brought on Mario.

Mario and Alan D never even threatened to get into the match, they came on with 20 mins of extra-time to go, with fresh legs and played at half pace. Paul Leeman, Crues veteran central defender dismissed Mario as if he was just a kid starting out, in short, he had him in his pocket. These two players should have given us the edge, but they contributed nothing, they might as well not have been playing, they were just space fillers. The rest of team and I include Dwayne in this, gave their all, but it wasn't good enough, but we are improving I think, but a major final will have to wait, at least until May. Its back to league action when United entertain the hatchet-men at the Showgrounds. The forecast looks to be for wet and windy weather and a chance of snow and I'm sure the pitch will have some soft spots.

Not that would hinder the Crues anyway, they don't play football, just hoof-ball, a big hump up to their target men, Owen and Cassels and sooner or later they'll get a chance. But when it wasn't working on Tuesday, Mister 'Ugly' (that's my pet name for Stephen Baxter), brought on his two 'divers', Heatley and McCutcheon and Heatley conned the ref into giving a penalty, so United need to be vigilant on two fronts on Saturday, try to cut out the big 'hoof'' and watch for those divers. Surely we can't have a referee that's so easily conned as was Newtownabbey official, Colin Burns, even Tim 'nice but dim' Marshall is more alert and that's saying something. But whoever the NIFL appoint, we'll just to have to accept, there's nothing we can do about it, we'll just have to score more than the Crues and we can do it!

Back Sliding!

After two matches, when we looked like a team going forward, last weeks reverse at Portadown  proved it had just been a flash in the pan. In truth the writing was on the wall at the home game with the Ducks in the previous week, but fans were saying we won ugly, not my choice of words, I'd say we stole the points. With midfielder Thommo serving a suspension our manager needed to restore Ally to the team but he went with a defensive midfielder instead. Never mind the sending-off, we 'missed' three or four chances which would have given us at least a share of the spoils and we went back to what might have been.

We play Glenavon  next in what used to be eagerly awaited fixture for us, but now after last Saturday's reverse I sense a mood of foreboding in the camp. Not that its any surprise given our form there of late, but beside from that, we surrendered our unbeaten tag, to a very poor Ports side last week and that won't have gone unnoticed at Mourneview Park. No doubt Gary and the boys are sharpening up their game to beat our offside trap, which floundered so badly last week. The one bright thing on our horizon will be the inclusion of first-choice keeper Dwayne Nelson, due to Stuarty's suspension for his sending-off.

Dwayne hasn't figured on the first team, since Tipton of Linfield was allowed to dispossess him and score but it's great to see him back between sticks. Surely Spike will select Ally as well and Thommo, who has served his one-game ban. Maybe with a bit of luck we can get back to playing football, instead of standing around waiting for something to happen. The weather promises to be challenging, with 30mph winds forecast, but good teams can play in any conditions, but where does that leave United and Glenavon. No doubt come a quarter to five on Saturday we will have a clearer picture, methinks.

There's no respite for United , the very next week they have a 'double header' against Crusaders to look forward to, a semi-final of the league cup on next Tuesday at Seaview and a league match on Christmas Saturday at the Showgrounds. If that's not enough to whet the appetite of Sky Blue fans, we go to the Coleraine scum on Boxing Day on our last match in 2013. So you see a busy programme lies ahead of the Sky Blues and they need to start the ball rolling with a win on Saturday at Mourneview against Glenavon, who are going through a lean spell themselves, so we need to get going, COSB!

Clean Sheet!

As I was making my way to the car park on Saturday after our victory over the Mallards I fell into conversation with a fellow Sky Blue fan (I'd like to tell you his name, but I don't know it), as I do at most home games. We both gave our opinions on the game and we were in agreement saying, it wasn't an enjoyable game, but my fellow supporter chimed in, at least we got a clean sheet. I have been thinking of that conversation since and I think it sums up my feelings about last Saturday's game, we got a 2-0 win and a clean sheet. If you had said to me before the game, 'would you settle for a 2-0 victory and a clean sheet', my answer would been yes, but in truth I was a bit disappointed.

A lot of football men talk about winning 'ugly' and United it could be said won ugly on Saturday, but the phrase has never stuck well with me. I admit I'm a perfectionist, I want to see us show a bit of class and a bit of football, in short I want to be entertained. I freely admit that there are times when a team has got to dig in and grind out results and we have done that a few times this season. But we were on a three match unbeaten run, we had already thrashed our opponents  less than seven weeks ago in the League cup and we had a decent crowd in attendance. That was not the time for grinding out a result, that was the time to entertain and maybe give some of our fickle fans a reason to come back to the fold.

Ally Teggart being unavailable meant we had to shuffle things a bit, but our management team had known he wasn't going to play for a couple of days before the match, so that's a lame excuse. But what did they do, they promoted a striker, Mario Dolan, to play in Ally's place and we suffered as a result of this, no pace in the team. I have to say on Mario's behalf that he acquitted himself quite well in his unaccustomed role, but he was guilty of a glaring miss with a header near the end of the first-half, but he did score our insurance goal, or got in the way of a Cush corner. Cush, had not one of his better games, his corners were of the highest standard, but his play was not what we have grown to expect of him.

Similarly, Gary Thompson was not his usual self and Tony K and Sparky were left to keep the engine room running. JT, in defence was not up to his usual standard, but the word on the grapevine is ,'he was taking it easy'. Such claptrap I've never heard in all my born days, he seems to have gone off form and he best get sorted sooner rather than later for our next three fixtures will pit JT against the best strikers in our league and he better be ready for them. Captain Jenks had a good game and led the line superbly and Archie looked assured at leftback. Cookie Munster played the second half with a suspected broken toe, so he may be doubtful for the next match away to Portadown.

Marky looks steadier at rightback, but I'm always waiting for him to get caught out, I haven't learned to trust him yet, but he's growing on me. The same could be said for Stuarty Addis, he's playing better than he did when he first graced a Sky Blue jersey and he took a serious knock to the head on Saturday by the Mallards forward Leckey, but he carried on as normal, more power to him. We face a tough task this week when we take on 5th placed Portadown, but hopefully we'll rise to the occasion, come on Sky Blues. Remember to read the second instalment of the Norman Clarke interview, next Tuesday, 10 December, the Ballymena Boy gives freely of his opinions and it makes for superb reading!