Fluffy Landing!

The league champions come to town tomorrow no doubt hoping for a repeat of the goal glut they inflicted on Kilmore Rec in the County Antrim shield on Wednesday past. We at 'Sport can tell the 'fat controller' and his overpaid stars, there will be no 'fluffy landing' for them at the Showgrounds tomorrow. We are on a roll, they have had a couple of easy passages lately and sandwiched in between a wee blip last week down at Newry, while the Sky Blues have had to battle for every precious point. That we believe will be the difference between the two teams tomorrow, the Blues will think, maybe even believe, they can take us tomorrow with consummate ease, we on the other hand know it will be a battle from start to finish.

United manager Roy Walker has been quiet on the likely make-up of his team, but barring injuries we expect United to start with their most cohesive unit. That will mean a place on the bench for Andy Smith, as United's strike-force of the terrible twins, Cutch and Gibbo, with 10 goals between them in all competitions will surely get the nod. The midfield four of, Mikey (Smith), Nathan, Gazza and Eamon, would be hard to displace, while we expect the fullbacks to be Sparky and Archie, which means Lee Colligan will have to wait to play his 90th game in a Sky Blue shirt. Then there's the two men who have been our 'man of the match' in our last 2 games, the veteran Albert and his young apprentice Denver. These two guys backed up by Dwayne in goals are the vital cogs in our defensive machine, another top class performance from them tomorrow and victory will surely be ours.

Linfield will of course have other ideas and we had hoped for a strong referee, but if that wasn't possible, then a fair one. The referee on this occasion is Antrim official Alan Black, who needs no introduction to United fans. We had two really bad experiences of him last season, but in his one and only game this season, we had little cause for complaint, so fingers crossed, maybe tomorrow he'll be as irrelevant, as referees should be. Tomorrow sees the first corporate dinner of this season and it should ensure a good turn out of 'home' fans, while the visitors could maybe partially fill our newly refurbished Warden Street stand, but filling the 2,200 seats is maybe beyond even Linfield. All in all it should augur well for a good atmosphere and with a bit of luck and a lot of skill the right result. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Donegal Road ewes!

Heroes Return!

Someone remarked to us the other week that we had loads of ex-players plying their trade with other Irish league clubs. This is of course true, but we're sure the same could be said of most clubs in this day and age, when players can move so freely between clubs. It's fairly prevalent in the Premier league, but even more so in the first division. Take tomorrow's opponents, first division club Ards, whom we meet in the C.I.S. cup. They have four former United players in their line-up and their manager, Justin McBride, is a former player also. It's fair to say, we believe, that the player most fondly remembered by United supporters will be midfielder Darren Lockhart. The big man was a star in our midfield during his spell here and when he decided this season that he wanted an easier passage, it was a disappointment to us all.

Of the rest the one to make the biggest impression, in our opinion, was goalkeeper Aaron Kerr, as neither Mark Picking nor Fitzy (Darren Fitzgerald), realised anywhere near their full potential in a United shirt. The term flattered to deceive is the one that springs to mind when considering, not only these two players, but many others who have donned the United jersey over the years. That's not to say that they will give us an easy passage tomorrow, far from it we imagine, in short they will be out to show that they still have something to offer and we'd best be on our guard, or things could get very embarrassing. With Andy Smith and Ryan Berry coming through a reserve game unscathed, both may make tomorrow's panel, but we still expect Roy to pick his strongest starting eleven.

This in turn should entail that Albert Watson plays his 31st league cup game in a United shirt, beating Nigel Boyd's long standing 30 game record in the process. In the previous round United accounted for Banbridge Town and manager Walker picked a strong team for that game and we expect nothing less from him tomorrow. Our four top marksmen, Cutch (5), Gibbo (4), Murray (4)and Hanly (3)will need to be on top of their form if we are to progress to the next round of this money-spinning competition. It's unlikely that Walker, barring injuries, will tamper too much with his selection, as the team almost picks itself, but he may want to tweak things just a wee bit. Whatever team he picks, they will have to do the business, Ards will see to that, so we need to be up for it from the start. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Scrabo Towerians!

Rory Crocked!

Rory Carson is the latest player to join the injured list at the Showgrounds and it seems it's quite serious as his injured knee requires a scan. Manager Roy Walker must be at his wits end as it seems as if just when he gets someone fit, somebody else gets injured. Ryan Brown has returned to training, but is still some time away from a return to full fitness, while Andy Smith will have his groin injury scanned this week. The United team will show little change from last week, when we overcame Donegal Celtic, as Gavin Taggart is suspended, but still injured at any rate. This game is the first of four in a row, which will go a long way to defining our season. At the moment we're in joint 4th, but a win tomorrow coupled by other results could see us jump to joint 3rd, so it's a vital game for us.

Portadown will want to try and upset our apple-cart, as our 'home form' has not been good to put it mildly, but surely Roy will have figured out the problem, whatever it is. Our defensive formation will need to be on their toes as the Ports forwards are not renowned for their niceties and are usually quite a handful and not adverse to 'roughing' the goalkeeper if the chance arises. At the other end the United forwards could have a field day as the Ports defence has been shipping a few goals and United's strike force of Murray, Cutch and Gibbo, should be too hot to handle. The game is there to be won, but have we the 'balls' to go out and win it? That as they say is the $64,000 question, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Apple Pickers!

Simples Plan!

United go into tomorrow's match against D.C. at Suffolk, in West Belfast, trying to limit the damage inflicted upon them in their last 3 games. Three games in which they only gained one point and a 'lucky' one at that. If Justice had been done (we know it rarely is in football), we would have got what we deserved in the three games, nothing. So it's even more important to get a point at worst tomorrow, as we have three home games in succession and with our unenviable home record. one win, one draw and 3 losses so far this season, there is no such thing as home comfort. Will our manager tweak our defensive formation a wee bit, as Denver and Archie have both struggled, lately or will he give them both another chance.

The midfield that performed so well against the Glens, appears to have lost it's touch and may also need a bit of a tweak, but in the absence of Berry and Taggart, the under-performing Hanly and Carson may keep their places. Team Captain Gazza, one of the few decent performers on Tuesday night, should surely retain his place, while Mo McDowell, showed enough in his subs appearance to merit a start. In the absence of Mackers, on-loan to Portstewart, our striking options are somewhat limited, but if Roy wants to tweak things, why not give Cutch a place on the bench and try Sparky and Gibbo to see if they can form a partnership. We have nothing to lose as the goals have dried up for the Cutch lately.

The last meeting between ourselves and D.C. resulted in a heavy defeat for us and proved the old saying 'that every cloud has a silver lining'. The 'silver lining' in this instance being us dropping,for the most part anyway, our attempts to play football out of defence, as on that occasion we were punished severely for it. Admittedly the thump it up and hope somebody gets it ploy, which so typifies our local game, isn't pretty to watch, but it's a lot less frustrating than watching your team being punished as they attempt to play football out of defence. Football is a simple game, take as few risks as possible, keep it tight at the back and never allow any crosses into the box if you can stop them. In attack one pass can be more telling than six, in other words the more shots you get on goal, the more goals you can score. Listen to the Meerkats, it's 'simples'! Come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Suffolk's and come on Norn Iron, lets shag those Azzurri!

White Knight!

Tomorrow night sees the return of the white knight, Tommy, never ever, Wright right. Our former manager, who promised us plenty but in the end 'scurried' off with his tail between his legs. He has revitalised the Whites it's fair to say, saving them from relegation last season when their situation looked impossible and then taking them into joint 4th this term with ourselves and Cliftonville. But we know Tommy of old, we know that when the 'chips' are down, he'll be found wanting again. That of course doesn't mean we can dismiss him and his team tomorrow night. On the contrary, he and the armada of ex-United players he has acquired, will be looking to lower our colours and no mistake. With that in mind United will need to be fully focused to the task in hand and will need to shrug off the lethargy which has crept into their last 2 performances.

Barring injuries, of which we know nothing, we expect the United line-up to be similar to Saturday past. Hopefully Carson will move back to wide right, Hanly will go inside and Gazza will at least warrant a place on the bench, if not a starting role. Surely when faced by arguably still one of the top strikers in the league, Spike Ferguson, it would only be sensible to have a stalwart like Gazza, at worst, waiting in the wings. Our strikers need to get back to scoring goals too, it's all very well playing in midfielders, but we need goals as well and that's a fact. Eamon Murray is hot at the moment, but he can't do it all on his own, so Cutch and Gibbo, it's time to stand up and be counted.

Our defence has gone back to the bad old ways and if they think they were punished for allowing two crosses to come in, in their last two games, all we can say is, you ain't seen nothing yet. Spike built his reputation on putting away crosses and he will relish playing against a benevolent defence like ours. Of course our new team coach may have sorted this particular malaise out, but somehow we doubt it, as it's been part and parcel of our make-up for too long. A win tomorrow night could see us into 4th place on our own, a false position we realise, but something to build on as we play our 11th game, only 22 games to go before the 'split'. A win of course would also set us up very nicely for our trip to Suffolk on Saturday, to face the D.C., hoping lightning doesn't strike twice. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those White Boys (Non-racist comment)!

Roaring Back!

Expect Rory Carson to come back into the United starting line-up tomorrow at the expense of Mo, as his industry was sadly missed at Coleraine last Saturday. United manager Roy Walker has hinted at other changes, which could mean a recall for team Captain Gazza after the inept display by our central defenders against Paul Brown last week. Tomorrow's opponents Dungannon Swifts, have a similar striker at their disposal in Timmy Adamson, who definitely needs no introduction to United defender Albert Watson. Adamson needs to be hit early and often, as he is a constant thorn in the flesh and he usually gets away with 'blue murder'. Tomorrow's referee, Keith Halliday will need to keep a close eye on Timmy's flailing elbows, but we can expect nothing from the incompetent Crangle who will be the 4th official.

Walker wouldn't be drawn on whether he would rest Gibbo after his poor performance against his former club, Coleraine, but we expect it all hinges on the fitness or otherwise, of the versatile Sparky. United's utility player was suffering from chest pains at Coleraine last week and even though he played the whole 90 minutes for the reserves on Tuesday night he may not be risked tomorrow, unless Walker is 100% sure of his fitness. With Mackers out of favour, it may mean a place on the bench for recent recruit Chris Dowie, who scored twice for the reserves in the same match. George Young and Lee Colligan also got a match under their belts and played a vital part in United's 2nd string's victory over Cliftonville Olympic.

On the downside, Ryan Berry picked up another injury, which may delay his return to first team action, while Andy Smith's return is still a couple of weeks away yet. We would have liked to have asked the United manager, the big question, which is. If Andy was fit, would he come into the reckoning for United's home game against Portadown in two weeks time, somehow we doubt it. But we digress, onto tomorrow's game and for once it's not us that's in the 'smelly stuff' but our opponents. Of course if they were to stay in that position and be relegated, we wouldn't shed a tear, as we know them for the bunch of lying, snivelling dogs that they are. If there's any justice in this world, which we doubt, three points will surely be ours come 16-50 tomorrow. Our new stand will hopefully be open and it'll surely show up the paltry support of our visitors, who will be lost in it's magnitude. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those boys from the 'green hills', in fact let's put them to the sword!