Category: NAFL 1B

United travelled to Napier Park to face promotion contenders Dunmurry Young Men, a month after our last fixture.

A slow start saw Dunmurry create some early chances but they flew over or Stefan Graham was equal to them.

United began to work their way into the game with Alex Burtney getting freedom to roam, while Johnny Stevenson found himself through on goal but was unable to get a shot away, or produce a cross.

The away side continued to look threatening, with a number of corners narrowly evading the vital final touch.

It was Dunmurry who did find the vital touch, when a corner from the left was flicked on at the near post and found it’s way in at the back post, much to United’s frustration.

A sentence to sum up the Blues luck.

A small switch in formation saw United up the ante even further but remained unable to find an equaliser with Alan Patterson and Ian McMullan unsuccessful with long range efforts.

Half time came and gone and United continued where they left off before the break. Despite long periods of possession with Ross Murray torturing his opponent, they couldn’t make their dominance count.

It could have been different, but the referee chose to wave away a foul just outside the box on Roy Shillady, and another inside the box on Alex Burtney, while also ignoring what should’ve been a second yellow for a Dunmurry defender.

Despite United looking the better team for the majority of the game, their lacklustre in front of goal proved fatal.

Dunmurry capitalised, and went two ahead when a crossfield pass found their winger who looked offside. Undeterred, his smashing left footed strike struck Stefan’s net with 10 minutes to go.

The home team added a third and fourth late on to bolster the scoreline.

An undeserved scoreline in a game that certainly didn’t deserve a 4 – 0 result.