United draw little comfort from number of tied games

If someone had suggested that with just over a quarter of the 38-game Danske Bank Premiership marathon completed, the Sky Blues would have lost just twice, it would have been deemed more than acceptable.

The debit side, however, is that Ballymena have won the same paltry number of games as they’ve lost.

The major sticking point is the six draws from 10 games, which have slowed down United’s early-season momentum.

Yes, those drawn games keep the points tally ticking over but while United have failed to win in their last six league games, other clubs have picked up wins here and there, leaving the Sky Blues in a congested mid-table where the wrong sequence of results in any given week could see Ballymena dumped as low as tenth, above the duo of Donegal Celtic and Lisburn Distillery who are marooned adrift at the foot of the table.

Those draws show how difficult to beat United have become under Glenn Ferguson – but on the flip side, it also shows how Ballymena lack that little bit of star attacking quality which can turn a scoreless draw into a 1-0 win.

So it’s with more than a little relief that United fans have greeted the re-appearance of Alan Davidson – a Rolls Royce of a midfielder in Irish League terms – in the last couple of games.

A player who can not only put his foot on the ball but also has the awareness and range of passing to unlock opposing defences – a priceless commodity in any team but even more so for a United side who are struggling to get strikers on the scoresheet.

Davidson’s return is even more timely given news of Allan Jenkins’ extended stay on the sidelines with a medial knee ligament injury – what a pity it will be the new year before the two have the opportunity to dovetail together in United’s midfield.

In the meantime, the remainder of October’s fixture list gives United a realistic opportunity to add to their tally in the ‘win’ column in the league table – not that anyone would predict outcomes of games with any degree of confidence in this most topsy-survey of IFA Premiership seasons.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not end this column without extending my sympathy to the family of Noel Millar, with whom I enjoyed many a yarn about Ballymena United and who was never anything other than a gentleman in any dealings I had with him.

* Follow Ballymena Times Sports Editor Stephen Alexander on Twitter (@Stephen_Bmena)