Last Post!

Here it is at last, the milestone we have been weaving toward, game 33 and after this the two halves of our league will divide. For the teams like ourselves that can't make in to the top half, there's virtually nothing left to play for. The automatic relegation slot appears to be between Glenavon and Carrick and though there is prize money for finishing higher up the league table, we can't be arsed. We are going have two matches at home, Glenavon and Carrick and three matches away to the three D's, Dung, D.C. and Distillery, not much incentive for travelling to 3 run down stadia, with no atmosphere. We at 'Sport think we need a change of format, despite the IFA insistence, this league 'split' is just not working, give us back the old sixteen team league any day, you know it makes sense.

United go into the match against Glentoran with confidence at a low ebb following the continuing saga of the Irish cup eligibility rule and to make matters worse they have a few injuries worries. Cookie, Ally and Alan D are rated doubtful, Johnny Taylor cannot play as Glentoran is his parent club and Tony Kane must serve a one game ban for his lunatic sending-off last week. Our defence could have three changes and if Ally is not fit, then Jamie D will probably be promoted. Rory Carson, who had a poor game last week will maybe get a reprieve, but the manager will no doubt look to him for some inspiration. Rory seems to like playing at the Oval, but a word of caution, the referee is none other than 'wrangle' Crangle and Rory had best watch his step.

That leaves 'little and large' Cutch and Elvis, to develop their partnership in peace. There's really nothing at stake tomorrow for both teams, the Glens look rooted to sixth spot and United's faint hopes of catching D.C. are disappearing fast. A seven point gap doesn't seem much, but the D.C. seem to have the knack of beating the lesser teams so it doesn't augur well for the high hopes of our manager. But if Cutch continues in his goalscoring vein, anything is possible and if just somebody could contribute one or two (Elvis take note), it would go a long way to defining our season. It's a family fun day at the Oval tomorrow, let's hope we are the ones smiling at the end of the 90 minutes, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those eastern sheep!

Cup Final!

United entertain Dungannon Swifts tomorrow in what could an Irish cup final rehearsal, if we are still in the cup and if we both win through, then we will meet in the final. No doubt the Dungannon 'hordes' will descend on the Showgrounds tomorrow in their hundreds and they will no doubt have a larger crowd in the final, they may even equal the fans from Portadown at Windsor when United played them in the semi-final two seasons ago. Enough of the levity, we hope Spike and the boys have got United all fired up for this one, which is the last but one match before the split and another six-pointer. The bulk of the team are more or less guaranteed their places for the semi-final, but there are a few places up for grabs.

It's not known whether Rodgers, who limped off in last Saturday's game is fit, but if he isn't Tony Kane will surely get the nod. Captain Jenks should be able to continue his blossoming partnership with Alan D, but hopefully he'll avoid the late tackles and try and stay on the pitch for ninety minutes this time. Rory Carson needs to keep performing as well as he has been lately, but he has a tendency to go out of games and needs to keep focused. Ally falls into this category too and it'd be fair to say he's not back to the scintillating form he showed earlier in the season. United will be looking for Cutch and Alan D to deliver the goods and although Dungannon will be no pushover, we still should take the three points.

ON-loan Johnny Taylor, who committed himself to United by signing a pre-season contract last week, has been a revelation at central defence and has steadied our ship and is bringing the best out of Cookie Munster as well. Ross Black and Rodgers/Kane in the back four are also responding well to the new general in our defence and we hope he continues to instil us with confidence for the rest of this season and beyond. That only leaves the 'enigma' that is Jay 'Elvis' Costello, who continues to flatter only to deceive. He'll lay the defender for dead and hit his cross harmlessly wide or fox the keeper completely only to miss the simplest of tap-ins. But he is an entertainer and football is a mite boring and he lifts the spirits and he obviously enjoys playing, he's always smiling and that can't be bad. This is the last home match before the Irish cup final, we want to win it to keep the confidence up, so come Sky Blues, let's shag those chicken farmers!

Plain Bread!

After the excitement of the Irish cup and the furore that surrounded it, of the Alan Davidson registration, Spike and his team are back to plain bread. The Irish cup semi-final against Linfield is three weeks away and United must get back to their basic points gathering against Lisburn Distillery at the Showgrounds tomorrow. As Lisburn are 8 points behind us it's another 'six pointer' due to the fact a win would take us 11 points ahead of them, whereas a defeat would narrow the gap to only 5 and we don't want that. We think that Jenks must serve a one game ban, though the Carling Premiership web site doesn't state that, but we don't want to get dragged over the coals two weeks running.

In the absence of Jenks, Gavin could slot in very nicely although Tony Kane did his prospects no harm with a cultured second-half performance last Saturday. Ally, who Spike singled out in his meeting with the fans, 'as the most talented member of the team', is still not back to his best, but he has three games to get it right. Conor Downey is another player hoping to catch the manager eye no doubt with an Irish cup semi-final coming up in 3 weeks time. Archie falls into the same boat and now we have real competition for places, which we didn't have under Roy Walker. We at 'Sport are just little bit concerned at our lack of goalkeeper cover, if Dwayne picks up an injury then we are going to be left with an inexperienced keeper.

But maybe Spike and the two baldies have an ace up the sleeve, which they haven't told us about, but we doubt that. Two former Sky Blues in the Lisburn ranks, David Cushley and Aaron Callaghan need no introduction to United fans and they'll be out to embarrass us on our home patch. But we feel that United should have more fire-power in their team although striker Ligget will need to be watched. Rory Carson, who was less than impressive against Newry City last week, could be the star of the show, if he turns on the style. We are in a good position, we are nearly mathematically safe, but we can't afford any slip-ups, so come Sky Blues, let's shag those city dwellers!

Another City!

Ballymena will attempt to add another city scalp to their Irish cup portfolio, when they take on Newry City having already accounted for Lisburn's representative in the first round. We have been drawn away from home 'again', surprise ,surprise, but this is nothing new for us, but we nevertheless expect a thoroughly professional performance from our lads. Manager Spike and his backroom staff will have the boys up for it and hopefully Wes Lamont has given Dwayne a lesson in coming out for the ball with his knees up, for we're sure he will be subjected to some pressure from the Newry players and referee Andy Hunter 'possibly' won't give him much protection.

As far we know the team will be on the usual lines and we expect, barring injuries, we will start with the same team for the third week running. Former manager Roy Walker, whether by choice or by bad luck, rarely started with the same personnel 2 matches running, but Spike and the boys seemed to have steadied the ship. Giving our injury list, Kane, Sparky and Downey, we are down to the bare bones and our subs bench will make interested reading. There's a rumour doing the rounds that the I.F.A. have failed to register Alan Davidson and he's not eligible for tomorrow's game and that would be a blow to United, who released two players to get him.

Spike, in his meeting with the fans last night backed up his inclusion of Elvis in the starting line-up, despite those glaring misses at Seaview, which could've cost us dearly. He also intimated that he would have no qualms about bringing young players into the team, by saying if they were good enough, they were old enough. The Sport's team read that as meaning we could expect some more youngsters getting their chance between now and the end of the season. Our record against Newry at the Marshes is nothing to write home about, they're generally low scoring encounters, with one goal either way deciding the outcome. Let's hope that one goal is in United's favour at the end of 90 minutes, we know it's gong to tough, but come on United, let's shag those Down sheep!