Cliftonville 0
Ballymena United 1
League (NIFL Premiership)

Match Report

A gutsy Ballymena United put their recent losing form behind them as Andy Scott's second half goal took them to a fine 1-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude on Saturday afternoon.

With Ben Kennedy and Johnny McMurray both suspended and Kym Nelson and Sean Brown unavailable after injuries sustained in Tuesday night's Shield defeat, Jim Ervin was forced to shuffle his pack for the trip to North Belfast. Donal Rocks and Stephen O'Donnell both returned to the starting XI at the back, whilst higher up the pitch Alex Gawne and Ethan Devine got starts.

The opening half at Solitude wasn't a particularly enthralling one and whilst the hosts dictated the majority of the play, by and large a resolute United were able to keep them quiet in front of goal. In saying that, the first effort on goal in the game came Ballymena's way seven minutes in, when Conor Pepper could only clear as far as a hardworking Devine, whose strong strike from outside the box was held onto by David Odumosu.

For all of Cliftonville's possession, by the half hour mark they had been resorted to virtually nothing in an extremely quiet game, but as more questions were posed to the away side from wide areas, two crosses in as many minutes almost yielded an opening goal. First, when Ballymena were caught out on the edge of their own box, a delivery from Taylor Steven was primed for Arran Pettifer free in the box, but when all he needed was a touch, he couldn't get one. Less than a minute later an even better chance passed Jim Magilton's side by as Luke Conlan's cross from the touchline found Rory Hale, though he could only head wide at point blank range.

In the final five or so minutes of the half the Reds continued to push but again were coming up short, with their best chance a free kick in a great position for Hale which deflected over off Josh Carson, as a well drilled visiting side may still have been offering little up top, but were more than content with their half's work.

Cliftonville resumed play on the front foot again for the second half and inside six minutes of the restart Sean O'Neill was called into his first real testing save of the day, as he denied Joe Gormley with his feet at a tight angle. Five minutes later Hale could only fire over on the half volley from just outside the box, but as the encounter continued to tick along towards the seventieth minute, United sprung into attacking action in a ten minute surge.

Donal Rocks had been tireless down the right as usual and when he saw a cross cleared out to Carson, who was growing in influence, his well struck touch and volley was goal bound but for a super save from Odumosu. Not long after Andy Scott tested the home 'keeper after good play from Devine, though his shot was easily saved, but a minute later on seventy minutes, the stopper couldn't deny Scott a second time as the Braidmen moved ahead. Really good work from Scott and Gawne brought United forward and after the former had taken a couple in red players out with quick feet he slid the ball to Andrew Scott, who cut inside and picked out the bottom corner from twenty yards with a delightful low, fizzing finish.

The away side weren't done there in this creative spell and when Scott did well again to get in down the left and fire a ball across for Calvin McCurry, he tried to lift Odumosu but could only find his gloves.

Following that flurry of chances, the final ten minutes saw expectedly Cliftonville the stronger of the two, but again United were steadfast to a man. It looked set to be 1-1 when Rory Donnelly got a shot off in the box, but he was prevented not once, but twice, by a truly sensational O'Neill double save. With Colin Coates and Caolan Loughran thrown on late on to add more bricks to the wall, the United fans in the away thought they'd saw three points disappear on the eighty-nine minutes when Gormley bundled the ball home, but after some delay, the lines woman's flag was raised for offside, much to the delight of those who'd travelled.

In four added minutes Steven drove straight at O'Neill before another heart in mouth moment saw Donnelly get up at the back post and head wide by inches, but Ballymena saw out a mountain of late pressure in a titanic effort to get back to winning ways with a fantastic performance across the board.

Match report written by Philip McPeake (www.ballymenaunitedfc.com)