‘Toon’ teams share spoils at JDLC

In a first half of few chances in which Glebe enjoyed the majority of possession, United saw a ninth minute shot from Stewart saved by debutant Greg Shannon with efforts from Glebe midfielders Hume and Christie flashing wide.

As half-time approached it was Christie who broke the deadlock with a fine 40th minute strike past the diving Moore.

Glebe opened the second half in determined fashion but suffered a setback in the 63rd minute when Chris Nicholl received a red card for hauling down Stewart as the forward broke through. United sensed a comeback and Ryan Stewart levelled affairs in the 74th minute with a lob over the advancing Shannon.

Super-sub Mark Dickson then hit the post before giving United the lead with a fine finish after 80 minutes.

As injury-time approached and with United in sight of their first league victory of the season Peter Spratt was felled in the box. Up stepped Christie who kept his cool to beat Moore and leave both teams with a share of the spoils.

Following a recent upturn in the quality of play and performance from his side, Glebe Rangers boss Jason Wilmont went into the weekend’s derby against Ballymoney United, hopeful of securing all three points.

However, he was under no false illusions about the twists and turns that can occur in a derby encounter and his fears were confirmed when his side found themselves 2-1 down and reduced to ten men.

“We were 1-0 up and comfortable and then we had a man sent off. Despite that we were still comfortable and we should have put the game to bed but we didn’t.

“Big Chris Nicholl was sent off and it was harsh in my opinion. Then they got a goal and they scored fifteen minutes after that.

“The conditions were horrendous, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was so stormy and the rain was horrendous. There was a big ball sent upfield and our midfielder went to clear it. It was a big looping ball into the box and Gregg (Shannon) came and stopped and then came again and the player lobbed him.

“It was a lottery to be honest because of the conditions. We played all the football but we were unable to turn chances into goals. We were so comfortable even with ten men, we should have scored more. Their second goal was a bit of a fluke, when they scored it some of their supporters even thought it was offside.

“At 2-1 down we got out of jail with the penalty. When he went to take it there were some massive gusts of wind and the ball was blown off the sport three times. My heart was beating hard at that point, I wouldn’t like to say what my blood pressure was doing at that time!

“Ballymoney played well so they deserved their point. I did say form goes out the window when it comes to a derby game. We were a better team from 1 to 11 but at the end of the day things sometimes dont always go your way.”