Gibbo Pain!

What a body blow, we've just heard that United striker Richard Gibson, who didn't scream, or try to get his assailant sent off (Andy Devlin and Tommy Wright, please take note), will be missing with a broken bone in his foot, for at least 6 weeks. Six weeks that will most definitely define our season and we are left with only one fully fit striker, Gary McCutcheon, as Andy Smith struggles with a hamstring injury which could flare up at any time. United in fact will play 8 games inside the next 6 weeks, surely too hectic a schedule for part-time clubs like ourselves. These are the times when the clubs with money behind them can really amass an unassailable lead, surely that can't be fair. But that's the hand we've been dealt and tomorrow's opponents Crusaders will no doubt pose a few fresh problems for us.

Manager Walker has promised to deliver something of a surprise with his selection for tomorrow's game and what that could be is anybody's guess. Does he have an ace up his sleeve, a player who can come on and change things drastically enough for the Sky Blues to take the points? We admit we are completely in the dark over this development, Mo and Berry are reportedly both struggling with injuries, while Rory is still a few weeks away from a return to full fitness. Maybe Roy has convinced the Yeti to don a United jersey, it's definitely cold enough for him, given the snow-showers which have been prevalent over the last two days. Rumours about a former United striker making a cameo appearance have been denied by the club, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The United defence, much maligned after the Solitude debacle (and rightly so)and which regained a bit of dignity last week at the Marshes, will need to be on it's toes when the 'hatchet men' come to town. Games between the two sides have been pretty close in the last couple of seasons, with just one goal separating them in their last two meetings, with the visitors winning both, something that United need to address tomorrow. Then as luck would have it, we'll meet again at the same venue in the C.I.S. cup next Saturday, December 4, don't try to tell us that there aren't too many fixtures in this wee league of ours. Hopefully our new Irish F.A. President, a man native to the Ballymena area, Jim Shaw, will look at things a bit more realistically and not before time. It's yet another corporate lunch tomorrow, so a good crowd is to be expected, let's hope we have something to celebrate come 5 o'clock. Let's get stuck into the hatchet men, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those toothless tigers!