(H)Ard Task!

United go to Dixon Park Ballyclare to take on newly-promoted Ards in the Dankse premiership, tomorrow night, kick-off 19-45. We apologise for the pun in our title, in truth we couldn't resist it, we are less than sane. But readers of this column know that already, we attend the vast majority of matches when United are playing, never mind the opposition and not paying no never mind to what match is on the TV, so we must be mad, but we don't personally think so. As far as we know we haven't any injury worries but in an interview with the Ballymena Times reporter Stephen Alexander, Spike hinted that we could have some niggling injuries, hope you appreciate the 'plug' Stephen? If we have a clean bill of health we expect Spike to play the same starting line-up as last Saturday, in spite of the performance of Neal Lowry, who had to be substituted at halftime, he believes in picking the same team as won last time.

We had some fierce battles with Ards in the past and after 3 straight league defeats, they returned to winning ways in midweek and will want to build on that result and put one over on the Sky Blues, as they did many times in the past. But if we give a professional performance, as we have done in our last two premiership games, victory will surely be ours. We seem to have got the balance of the team right, Mario up front ably supported by Ally and hopefully Lowry. Thommo, Jenks and Alan D starting to gel in midfield and a back four of Tony, Marky, Johnny and Steely, ably backed by Dwayne in goals. But this is no time to rest on our laurels, we need the same conscious effort as we have shown in our last two matches tomorrow night, or we will end with egg on our faces. I'm sure the local Ballyclarians will welcome us with open arms as usual (joke), but we need to be prepared for that and use their negativity against us in our favour.

Ards have a least one player in their ranks who has played for United, diminutive striker Paul McDowell and although Paul didn't exactly set the Showgrounds alight with his goals when a Sky Blue, he will be need to be watched closely by Marky and Johnny. There were rumours that speedy winger, William Bingham, who was on United's books last season and played in the Shield final, had signed for the nomadic Ards, but he's not listed on their player panel on the official web-site of the Dankse Premiership. That's not to say that he isn't an Ards player and will feature against us tomorrow night, for we know only too well the shortcomings of the IFA, sorry we meant NIFL, different name but bunglers nonetheless. Hows does the old song go, 'for we only know, there's going to be a match and Ballymena United will be there' and we will be there at Dixon Park Ballyclare, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those County Downers!

United Battle!

Its the battle of the United's in NIFL league cup tomorrow night at the Showgrounds kick-off 19-45 hrs. We were going to say admission charges were down to £7 and £5 concession, but according to the official United website, the lead in price is £8 and concessions start at £5. This is a match that United will be favourites to win and rightly so, but we need to give Ballymoney some respect and pick our strongest team and not our reserves. For Ballymoney this is a game they will expect to give a good account of their-selves and we got to respect that.

Spike and his team have seen it all before and they'll not treat Ballymoney lightly, but saying that we expect a few changes in our starting line-up. Liggie must be odds on to start, as is Gavin Taggart and Archie must be pushing for a recall. Maybe Spike and his henchmen will make one more selection and I'll not be surprised to see Stuarty Addis start in goal. As far as the Sky Blue Sports team is concerned, that is your lot Fergie any more and we would be facing embarrassment, we remember Kenny Shiels and a certain junior team who will remain nameless, its not that we can't remember their name, we don't want to tempt fate.

So take a piece of advice from us, pick your strongest team and tweak them a little, don't bring Jenks over, leave Mario in Dublin, where its not a bank holiday anyway and give Johnny and Dwayne a night off, but no more and impress upon the players that you want a professional performance from them. That's only what we the Sky Blue faithful will expect, the other half of our supporters sitting at home or in the pub, will leave you to fend for yourself and good riddance to them, we don't need part-time supporters.

A lifelong United fan told us only recently that he was thinking of changing tack or colours and supporting the Crues, we kept our silence, (only just, we might add), but we made a mental note to avoid him in future, but he is just one of our fickle fans and they are many and varied, singing your praises on Saturday and cutting your throat on Monday. That's what we are up against, but we'll keep the faith, so come on Sky Blues, let's send them back to the river Maine dejected, in short lets shag those mainliners!

About Time!

It really is about time we laid this Dungannon bogey to rest, we have had a bit of success against them last season early on, snatching an undeserved draw at the Showgrounds and beating them 3-1 in a Friday night game down at their ground. That game was especially poignant for Omar (hope you read his column last night), for he had a couple of Scottish friends (Peterhead supporters), over for that match and we won 3-1. But alas it was downhill from there, a 0-0 down at their ground was followed by a reverse in our last game of the season which we lost 2-1. Dungannon always try to play football and we are, for the most part, found wanting in that department, but they were signs last Saturday that we were trying to address that situation and that's only to be commended'

Now the news on Cush is not good, he is reported to be suffering a medial injury (in all fairness we don't know what that means), but it sounds serious and he could be out for a few weeks at least. No news about the forgotten man, Dave 'Cookie' Munster that signed on for another year and hasn't kicked a ball this term, as far as we know. Mark McCullagh was slated (unfairly we might add), by United's so called supporters for his performance last Saturday. Admittedly he wasn't good, but he was better than Archie was against Glenavon and if he's fit we expect Fergie to select him. If Fergie stands by his usual habits, we would expect only one change from his starting line-up of last Saturday, Dolan in place of the aforementioned Cush.

We at 'Sport think it should be Liggie, so obviously the hero of last Saturday, but Fergie is a creature of habit as we said and he brought on Dolan at Seaview in the 18 mins and he didn't let him down and we expect him to start with him tomorrow. Or we could be completely wrong, Fergie could maybe surprise us as he did last Saturday, but we don't think so, he is a manager that sticks by his players until they let him down. Neil Lowry, who has been away on trial more times than you can say 'Harryville Bridge', looks set to retain his place but in our humble opinion he needs a good kick up the jaxy to get him going or is he just lazy. Whoever Spike and 'three baldies' settle on tomorrow, they need to impress on them that we need that level of performance that we showed at the Crues last Saturday in every game. If we get that level of commitment, then we have a chance of laying this bogey to rest, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those chicken lovers!

Hatchet's Out!

This may seem a strange title considering we are playing the Crues tomorrow and they are rightly dubbed the 'hatchet men' because of their robust tactics, in short they're a dirty pack of scoundrels. The hatchets that we the Sky Blue Sport team are referring to, are the hatchets that a minority of our supporters are sticking in our managers back after last Saturday's reverse at the hands of Glenavon. It was not a pretty thing to watch admittedly, but let's get things into perspective, we only lost 3 points and it was our first match of the season. Omar says he's seen all before and the whole 'Sports team is inclined to agree with him, as soon as a team wins a trophy and they don't follow that up with good results, the hounds are baying for blood.

Maybe they'll see some at Seaview tomorrow as the Crues are famous for going in fiercely and they may come up against one of their former team-mates in the shape of Stephen McBride and they will not treat him with 'kid gloves', rather the opposite in fact. As far as we know United have no injury worries and Gavin after serving his one-game suspension should be in the panel as well as Cush and Dolan. If Cookie Munster is fit, will Glenn start him alongside Taylor or leave Archie, who had a nightmare last week, in. Likewise Glenn maybe feels he ought to beef up his midfield starting Gavin or Sparky and if he's not starting Cush, he could take a chance on Neil Gawley who looks to be a natural winger. But maybe he'll decide to give, Alan D, Thommo and Jenks another start in midfield with Ruddy and Gawley on the bench just in case its not going to plan.

Then we come to question of the front one, two or three, depending on Glenn's state of mind. Will it be Liggie upfront on his own, or in tandem with Dolan or will Cush be asked to support the striker or strikers as the case may be. When the fixtures came out we knew these two opening games were going to be tough and so we expect no favours from tomorrow's opponents. But if we truly believe in ourselves, we can do it and get something out of this match. Don't forget to read Omar's two latest diatribes, a must read for all Sky Blue fans. We hope we see a big turn-out of United fans tomorrow, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those paper tigers!

Happy Saturdays!

After the long summer break the Sky Blue Sport team are returning refreshed and raring to go for this the first match under the newly formed NIFL Don't anybody get excited here, we feel sure it'll be the same dross served up every match day as we have seen since the 1950's. We realise the Irish league has been going since 1890 something or is it even earlier, but Omar (as ancient as he is), can't remember much before the fifties. Nothing has changed on the information front, as for team news, we haven't clue, but would hazard a guess that Cush, who had to go off on Monday night at PSNI, would look extremely doubtful, but he is a quick healer nonetheless.

With Johnny Taylor returned to full fitness, it will be interested to see who Glenn picks as his partner, popular opinion seems to favour Archie, but Glenn could spring a surprise and include honey Munster, as he has signed on for another year. Tony Kane looks set to continue at rightback and Stephen McBride should make his debut in the leftback position. Popular opinion seems to favour us playing a 4,4,1,1 formation and the candidates for the midfield include, Gawley, Cush (if fit), Thompson, Jenks, Sparky, Lowry and Ally, so it is perm any 4 from 6 or 7. Alan D seems to have the striking role in behind Liggie sewn up, but Shane Dolan is a candidate also.

Anyone reading this will have noticed we didn't mention the player who was Sky Blue Sports outright player of the year, keeper Dwayne Nelson. We decided to leave the best for last and if our defence sorts itself out, he could be our talisman yet again, but he can't do it on his own, he needs everybody committed to the cause. That not only includes his team-mates, but more importantly, the Sky Blue supporters, they can play their part tomorrow and get behind Dwayne and the boys right from the word go. We know its going to be tough against Glenavon tomorrow, they hammered 14 goals past us in 4 meetings last season and they've really strengthened their team since, but we need to be United, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those Mourneviewers!