Fans giving team plenty of support - even in defeat

It’s a good indicator as to Ballymena United’s progress this season that even in defeat, the club’s fans are fully behind the team.
Ballymena's Tony Kane and  Allan Jenkins exchange views with Linfield's David Jeffrey after Kane was sent off during Saturdays Danske Bank Premiership game at the Showgrounds. Picture: Press Eye.Ballymena's Tony Kane and  Allan Jenkins exchange views with Linfield's David Jeffrey after Kane was sent off during Saturdays Danske Bank Premiership game at the Showgrounds. Picture: Press Eye.
Ballymena's Tony Kane and Allan Jenkins exchange views with Linfield's David Jeffrey after Kane was sent off during Saturdays Danske Bank Premiership game at the Showgrounds. Picture: Press Eye.

As obvious as that sounds - the clue, after all, is in the name ‘supporters’ - it hasn’t always been the case in recent years but there’s no doubt both the team and the fans are singing off the same hymnsheet at present.

Ballymena’s players are producing the type of high-energy, full-blooded displays which have seen the Showgrounds faithful get fully behind them, irrespective of the result - the latest of them in Saturday’s defeat by Linfield, where Ballymena’s players were applauded off to the extent that it might reasonably have been believed that they had won the game.

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Against a fully-functioning, title-chasing Linfield, it requires all 11 players to be near the top of their game.

Go down to 10 men and the theme tune from ‘Mission Impossible’ starts to enter your head.

Tony Kane has been hung out to dry by some sections of supporters for his red card but, while it undoubtedly had an effect on the outcome of this game, it’s worth looking at what players do over a longer period of time and Kane has been a model of consistency this term.

One thing that Saturday’s game did illustrate is that United are at least moving closer to challenging the likes of Linfield, rather than simply being steamrollered.

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If you take the example of Jim Ervin, having a player of his ability perform for Ballymena rather than languishing in Linfield’s second string is surely much more preferable, not only for Ballymena, for the good of the game in this country as a whole.

Rather than having Linfield stock-piling players and having a star-studded reserve team which, I suspect, would survive quite comfortably if it played in the Danske Bank Premiership, the movement of Linfield fringe players to other clubs re-distributes the balance of ability more equally and consequently makes for a more competitive league.

Ballymena’s defeat, along with wins for Dungannon and Glenavon, meant that those sides cut the gap on United in the chase for sixth spot, illustrating just how important United’s midweek win at Stangmore Park was, to keep that cushion on the sides snapping at their heels.

There are tough games on the horizon between now and the ‘split’ and suspensions are starting to mount up at a bad time.

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As well as missing Tony Kane, Johnny Taylor and Gavin Taggart this week, there are also spells on the sidelines looming for Allan Jenkins and David Cushley as a result of accumulating yellow cards.

United’s recent run of form was based on having a largely unchanged side over a number of weeks. Manager Glenn Ferguson will be hoping that concept doesn’t flounder as the Sky Blues embark on a pivotal few weeks of their season.

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

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