Crystal Gazing!

As we gaze into our crystal (hang on a minute), we just realised we were going to commit the biggest 'gaffe' of all time by uttering the immortal word, 'balls'! This is the unforgivable, this word despite being the name for the receptacle we love to see being booted around a football pitch, is really taboo in general parlance. Many phrases using the word ball or balls 'are' acceptable, but we men refuse to admit to gazing into or at any balls, at any time. Enough on the subject of balls, let's get down to the specifics of football as we know it. Tomorrow United make their first ever competitive journey to Crystal Park, Banbridge, to play the locals in the C.I.S. cup. This will not be an easy task and we need to field our strongest team in this knock-out competition, if we are to progress to the next stage.

This game will not be about style, it'll not be about skill, it'll be about whoever has the 'balls' (there's that word again), to go out and take the game by the 'scuff' of the neck and win it, a classic it will not be. That's not to say good football won't be possible, it just won't be the most important part of the programme. Tomorrow, from our point of view, is about winning, if we can achieve that early on, then there's no reason why we can't turn on the style, but the victory is of paramount importance. With that in mind we expect Roy to field his strongest starting eleven, which we think means no place for Gavin Taggart. His replacement last Saturday, Rory Carson, must surely get the nod tomorrow.

The rest of the team, barring injuries, almost picks itself, although there may be a case for bringing back Lee Colligan if fit, as Archie continues to struggle on the left flank. Mackers will hopefully at last get his place on the bench, which would give us more options if needed and also hopefully we've sorted out who's going to take any future penalties after last week's feeble efforts, but don't bank on it. Speaking of 'bank', we fervently hope that the good news about our season ticket sales bringing in much needed revenue of £20,000 (roughly a guaranteed £1,000 for every home league game), the board won't go overboard on the wage issue and keep within the proposed structure already in place. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Crystal gazers!