Warrenpoint Town 0, Ballymena United 2

Cushley and Allan Jenkins scored first half goals to earn the Sky Blues their third successive win in all competitions.

The result also sees United leap-frog rivals Coleraine and they now sit ninth in the Danske Bank Premiership table.

United survived an early scare after Tony Kane was dispossessed deep inside his own half and Liam Bagnall put Daniel Hughes clear but the striker tried to dink the ball over Stuart Addis and his weak effort was easily clear by the covering Johnny Taylor.

Stephen Hughes dragged a shot wide of the far post for Warrenpoint before Ballymena went close again.

Gary Thompson released full-back Mark McCullagh on the right with a searching crossfield ball and when the ball popped loose, Kane’s low shot was beaten away by Jonathan Parr.

United almost contrived to gift Warrenpoint another opening as Johnny Taylor played a back-pass without looking, which was seized upon by Daniel Hughes but the striker opted to shoot first time rather than composing himself and Addis was able to block the effort with his leg.

United broke the deadlock on 28 minutes with a trademark goal from Cushley. The midfielder collected a pass from Allan Jenkins and curled a shot into the top corner past motionless keeper Parr.

Warrenpoint suffered a further blow on 33 minutes when they were reduced when midfielder Shaun Parr was red-carded, picking up a second booking in the middle of the pitch, just two minutes after he had been cautioned following a tangle with Tony Kane.

It got worse for the home side as they went two goals down a minute before half-time.

Aaron Stewart played the ball into the feet of Cushley on the edge of the penalty area and he cushioned a pass into the path of Jenkins, who outmuscled a defender before side-footing past Parr.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Warrenpoint made the brighter start to the second half, as they stretched United on a number of occasions without hitting the target.

In a desperately poor second half, Ally Teggart fired over when well placed for Ballymena while Warrenpoint, despite their dominance in possession, struggled to create clear-cut openings.

The closest the home side came to reducing the deficit was with eight minutes left when Ruairi Devlin played in Stephen Hughes whose fierce shot from a tight angle was beaten away by Stuart Addis.

Warrenpoint Town: J Parr, King, Cowan, Boyle, M Hughes, Devlin, S Parr, Bagnall, Havern (sub Grant 75), D Hughes, S Hughes. Subs (not used): Anderson, McGuigan, Smith, McMullan.

Ballymena United: Addis, McCullagh, Munster, Taylor, Stewart, Kane, Surgenor (sub Taggart 63), Thompson, Cushley (sub Robinson 68), Jenkins, Teggart. Subs (not used): Davidson, Dolan, McLellan.

Referee: John Deighan (Limavady).