While a club that hasn't won a major trophy in two decades can't simply dismiss cup semi-final defeats out of hand, three points from Saturday's league fixture could prove much more beneficial if United can finish in a lucrative top six position when the league 'splits' in March.

A 2-0 win took United to the rarefied heights of sixth spot – a remarkable feat given that the Sky Blues had zero points from their opening four Carling Premiership games.

If Ballymena flopped in the midweek County Antrim Shield semi-final, they more than made up for it with a dogged display laced with quality at key moments.

"Why did we win the game? We weren't shrinking violets. We played with no degree of fear, we stood up to them and didn't cow down to them. We competed for every ball and I genuinely believed we thoroughly deserved the win," said manager Roy Walker.

Michael Smith has proved one of the pivotal figures in the Walker era and the full-back topped off an excellent display in an unaccustomed wide right position with his first goal for the club.

The goal itself owed much to the tenacity of David Cushley who left right-back Jamie Marks for dead and his low cross took a touch off Colin Coates to leave a tap-in for Smith, who had done what any wide player is taught to do, by following up at the back post.

"Michael has a football brain," said Walker.

"You very rarely find him in a wrong position. It doesn't really matter where you play Michael – he's perceptive, he's aware of what is going on around him and he gives himself every opportunity."

Smith, who arrived from Ballyclare Comrades last January, said: "I'm an attacking full-back – going forward is just in my nature. The boss pushed me forward because of my passing and he told me to make sure I kept the ball more.

"They were difficult conditions for both teams and we had to play the ball on the ground – if it was played in the air it just skipped off the surface straight through to the keeper.

"The boss had given us a target at the start of the month of how many points we wanted in the league and we've achieved that so we're on a good run of form," added Michael.

Having scored while playing into the teeth of a gale blowing towards the Fisherwick end in the first half, United were in a strong position with the elements in their favour in the second period and Andy Smith almost snapped the Crusaders crossbar with a left-foot piledriver.

But the outcome was put beyond any doubt on 64 minutes when Andy Smith's shot from the left hand corner of the penalty area deflected into the path of Lee Colligan and when the full-back miscontrolled the ball, it ricocheted kindly into the path of Cushley who drilled a shot under Chris Keenan with his less-favoured right foot.