AWOL Murray faces manager’s wrath

Walker was fuming after winger Murray missed his lift to Coleraine, leaving the manager to reshuffle his panel prior to kick-off in the match, which United lost 1-0.

“I will be speaking to Eamonn tonight (Tuesday) because what he did was unprofessional,” Walker told Times Sport.

“I got a text, not even a call, at four minutes to two saying something along the lines of ‘can’t make it - no lift’.

“Eamonn was supposed to be coming up with some of his team-mates but he wasn’t at the pick-up point at the designated time and they couldn’t make contact with him, so they assumed he had got a lift with his father.

“It caused a fair few rumblings in the dressing room - there is a code of conduct that has to be adhered to. We will take some form of disciplinary action against him but it’s only right that I speak to him first.

“Whether Eamonn would have started the game is perhaps a doubt, given the condition of the pitch, but the way the game panned out, he would certainly have been on at half-time, so we really felt his absence.

“It was just one of many disappointments from Saturday,” added Walker, whose side travel to Portadown this Saturday (3pm).

“We have tightened up a lot defensively since we played them and we showed that day that we could attack them - our problem that day, as it has been on too many occasions, was giving away goals.

Walker will give a number of first team fringe players some game time tonight (Tuesday) in a reserve team game at home to Portadown (7.45pm).

One player assured of his place for the trip to Shamrock Park, however, is goalkeeper Wayne Drummond, whose uncharacteristic error in the closing stages presented Coleraine’s Leon Knight with the only goal.

“He’s a good kid and a good keeper and he’ll play this Saturday - what he did was human error,” said Walker.

Seven Towers Supporters’ Club transport for Shamrock Park leaves Henry Street car park at 1.30pm, following a club meeting at 1pm.

Seven Towers members and non-members intending to travel to next week’s Irn Bru Cup quarter-final at Dergview are reminded that they must submit their name to either Davy McCaig 07849 162945 or David Brown 07743 185100.

Meanwhile, Ballymena United has been fined £250 in relation to behaviour of its supporters in last month’s home game against Coleraine.

However, the club was NOT guilty of any racist behaviour, which had been alleged by fourth official Paddy McFadden who had claimed that “monkey noises” had been made by United fans towards Coleraine striker Leon Knight.

After a two-hour hearing in front of the IFA’s Disciplinary Committee last week, the governing body found United guilty under Article 24 of its Disciplinary Code which relates to a club’s “liability for spectator conduct”.

Had the club or its supporters been found guilty of discrimination in any form, including racism, then action would have been taken under Article 21 and a minimum fine of £1250 would have been imposed.

Ballymena’s representatives informed the hearing that despite an internal investigation being carried out, no-one associated with the club was able to shed any light on Mr McFadden’s allegations, while a letter was also submitted by Coleraine in which Knight and manager Oran Kearney stressed that they had been unaware of any such noises during the game.