April Showers!

After suffering in March, United started April in fine fettle winning our first 3 games and then the showers came on last Saturday when we lost for the 3rd time this season to fellow strugglers Glenavon. Tomorrow, we have a chance to halt this doom and gloom, temporarily at least, when we entertain Dungannon Swifts in our last game of the season. It would be true to say that we haven't got a particularly good record against the Swifts, but we hope that's all in the past. Swifts manager, Darren Murphy, needs no introduction to Sky Blue fans and we can be sure he'll have the Swifts playing football, not nancy, prancy football, but football with steel and we need to be prepared to battle. Unfortunately we, the Sky Blue Sport team, didn't get to last Saturday's match, but 'Rusty Ray' told us it was dire stuff, so we hope for a positive reaction from the boys tomorrow.

Spike sprang a surprise, bringing Peter Duffin on as a sub last Saturday, but Rusty Ray says even he couldn't raise the tempo of a sluggish Sky Blue team. What will our manager do with his playing panel tomorrow? Will he pick his best side leaving us in no doubt of what we can expect next season? Or will he start with the boys like Cookie Munster who seems to in line to play his last match in a Sky Blue shirt, or are we getting the wrong vibes. It'd be fair to say that Cookie has had an up and down season, he scored our goal in the Shield final, but he also played in some of our biggest hidings this season. We're not saying he was alone in playing crap in these matches, but he's an experienced defender and must shoulder a big percentage of the blame. Everybody in our playing panel has had an up and down season as well, none more so than our leading goal-scorer and talisman, David Cushley.

Some of Cushley's play this season has been a delight to watch, but on the other side of the coin, some of it was painful to watch, but he's never dull. The brightest spark in our team this year has been our goalkeeper, Dwayne Nelson, who was sensationally dropped after we shipped 8 goals at home against the eventual league Champions, Chickenville, which culminated in him missing the biggest match we have played in recent seasons, the County Antrim Shield final. But Dwayne came back from this reverse to win our 'man of the match' on numerous occasions, with some sterling performances when he was the only thing standing between us and certain defeat. But he couldn't do it all on his own and I'm sure he would want to end this season on a positive note, especially against his former club, the Swifts. We are not going to try and guess what tricks Glenn has got up his sleeves, we only hope he has some, so for the last time this season, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Tyrone bunnies!

Missing Again!

This has been an exceptional season for the Sky Blue Sports team, we're not referring to that long awaited trophy win and it was exceptional, we're referring to ourselves missing so many matches. It's happening again tomorrow, we won't have a presence at the match, Rusty Ray and twitter will keep us informed no doubt but we won't have a match report. Omar is forsaking the cause and going to watch Peterhead (his second favourite team), play Rangers at Ibrox (Judas), after swearing he never be inside Rangers ground, but they're exceptions to every rule, as he points out. But enough about us, the Sky Blues, fresh from their win over Lisburn Distillery, take on Gary Hamilton's Glenavon at the Showgrounds, the same Glenavon who trounced United 7-0 barley two months ago at Mourneview Park.

We hope the wounds from that debacle run deep and the real United step up to the plate and if we are to have any chance of reaching the fabled 51 points (51 points isn't possible, it's either 50 or 52 points). The manager pressed Johnny Taylor into service as an emergency rightback on Tuesday night and he was like 'a fish out of water' and had to be reminded to stick with Whites Jordan Hughes, not be covering central attackers. Luckily his class told in the end and he performed adequately but we expect Tony Kane to be restored to rightback and Johnny to come in at central defence. Thommo has served his suspension and will be in contention for a place in midfield where we were poor on Tuesday night. Alan D scored a goal but otherwise had a poor game and he was indebted to sub Neil Lowry for a surging run and pass to set up his goal, but we know from experience, Neil seldom has two games running where he is effective.

Mike Ruddy had is best game on Tuesday night and is starting to fulfil his potential and maybe he can give his 'nemesis', Stephen McBride, a run for the leftback slot next season, we'll see. Dwayne Nelson was supposed to sign a contract on Wednesday but we haven't heard any confirmation and he remains in limbo (not signed for next season), we think. That said he will be between the sticks for the remaining two matches of this season and must be streets ahead in the clubs 'player of the year' or we are monkeys uncles. Liggie and Dolan are starting to look like a partnership, its early days yet we know, but there were signs on Tuesday night of an understanding between them, but its a work in progress and will take time. Now for United's talisman Cush, he had a disappointing game on Tuesday, but if he's fully fit we would expect him to be back to his best and give the Sky Blues the cutting edge that was missing on Tuesday night, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those Mourneviewers!

White Light!

Some people believe in the after life (we're not expressing an opinion either way) and some believe that when we die we see a white light and we should go towards it and get to this other life. Tomorrow night the Whites of Lisburn Distillery are fighting for their very existence as a Premier league side and if they fail against the Sky Blues it would be hard to envisage them surviving to fight another day, they have to do battle in the 'white light' at Ballyskeagh. A look on the IFA website will tell you the home team have 3 players serving a suspension and United must do without Gary Thompson also suspended, but we have a ready made replacement in Ally who came off the bench last Saturday and contributed to United's two goals in the second half. Or maybe Spike will spring a surprise and start young Peter Duffin, he's had ample time to give the youngster a start but so far has resisted the temptation.

The news about United's Captain Jenks ankle ligament damage means he will miss United's last three games which includes tomorrows night encounter with the Whites, kick-off 19-45. There's a rumour doing the rounds about Linfield inquiring about United's top scorer Cush and if that is true we could lose our leading scorer two seasons running, we at 'Sport hope its only a rumour. Tomorrow's night game pits Liggie against his former team-mates for the first game since he transferred to United in the January transfer window, no doubt he can expect a rough reception. Cush has already played against his former team-mates and the other ex-Distillery man in our ranks is missing through suspension, as we alluded to earlier.

Of course our manager Spike spent his final years as a player in the Whites team and was assistant manager before taking up his present position. The Whites also have one or two ex-Ballymena men in their ranks, Dom Melly and Aaron Boyd spring to mind, so we may have a bit of needle in the game so we need a strong referee, alas we got Tim Marshall. The 'baby faced' official needs no introduction to United fans and we seen some of his ridiculous decisions or indecisions on many occasions this season, so we can expect no help from him. The boys have struck a rich vein of form as of late and we need to keep winning, for winning can become a habit as we know from last season. For our last away match this season we need the crowd behind us, but the majority of our fans have given up, it's now up to the die-hards, so come on United, let's shag them and show them to the 'white light'!

Last Visit!

A lot of United's fans are talking about United's 'last visit' to DC Suffolk Road grounds, fresh from their Shield success, but shying away from the vital fact, that this could be our last visit to West Belfast for a season at least. DC may escape automatic relegation(the Whites look favourites for that), but if they remain in 11th position in the Premier league table, they could face a play-off with Carrick Rangers and as the 'gers have picked up of late, that could prove a bridge too far for Packy and his boys. For tomorrow's game DC are missing three players through suspension and three players are a huge gap on any teams resources, never mind a team that are in the doldrums of the Irish Premiership table and fighting for survival.

United go into this game on the back of a great win over Portadown, admittedly Ports were saving themselves for the cup semi-final and had mainly a reserve team out, but still our boys had to be professional and put them to the sword. We have an outside chance of pipping Ports for seventh place, but we cannot afford any slip-ups and a win is vital for us tomorrow. We assume we have a fully fit squad to pick from, but we need to be at our best in order to get full points tomorrow. If we play like last time we were up there, we will rightly fail, but if we show a bit of application and fight, there's no reason we can't triumph. A number of our players have to impress the manger to be kept on, times running short for some of them, so come on United, let's shag those Suffolk lambs!

Easter Bonnet!

The big Easter bunny has been and gone, if you didn't get an Easter egg or lots of goodies, then you'd better come along to the Showgrounds, Ballymena and be miserable with the rest of us. One of the Sky Blue Sport's team has a genuine excuse to miss this fixture, the rest of us are just a little envious of him. United without a win since mid January are the league's chopping boys and the visit of Portadown tomorrow fills us with dread, hot on the hells of a mauling by Premier league champions elect, Chickenville, on Saturday past. The match which kicks-off at 14-30 instead the usual 15-00, or better still a night game, looks like a banker bet for the free-scoring Ports forwards, against the third worst defence in the Premiership.

Dwayne Nelson, so often the hero in United's team this season and last Saturday was no exception, might have to miss this game because of injury, but as he is a quick healer and we'll not be surprised to see him play. Team Captain Alan Jenks, suspension completed, will be added to the panel no doubt and if Dwayne is fit, maybe Spike will make Captain Jenks his only change. If Jenks plays, we expect Thommo to make way for him, but Spike is full of surprises, but we don't think he will make wholesale changes in spite of the lack of fighting spirit displayed by the Sky Blues over the last half a dozen games. We need to be quick out of the blocks tomorrow if we are to have any chance of reaching that elusive target our manager has set us over the next 5 games.

If we don't get a win tomorrow, then we cannot reach the target, in fact we need to win all five games to amass more points than last years total, a tall order from a team brimming with confidence, never mind a team that have had all their allusions shattered. Portadown on the other hand missed out a top six berth by the skin of their teeth and may take their eye off the ball so to speak with an Irish cup semi-final against Glentoran coming up in 5 days time. But we can't depend on that, we have to be focused on our own destiny and we have to try and win the game, for its the only thing that makes sense. We have won our first trophy for 23 years and maybe if we can a sneak a win tomorrow, we can consolidate 8th place in the league and get a bit of confidence back, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Portadowners!