It was Andy Smith who started the first half avalanche on 6 minutes with his first goal for the Club. Kevin Kelbie crossed from the right wing to the far post and Darren Lockhart knocked the ball back into the centre for Smith to head past the stranded Comrades keeper from 8 yards.

The second goal arrived shortly after on 14 minutes. United won a free kick on the right wing and Kelbie fired it into the back post and the keeper could only palm it into the top corner. Whether it was a cross or a deliberate shot only the Scot will know.

On 20 minutes Kelbie came close to his second when the Ballyclare keeper blocked his close range shot following a flick on by his strike partner Smith.

The Sky Blue fans were enjoying the display and they were to enjoy it even further in the 25th minute when they stretched their lead again. Winger Okunayia fed the ball into Andy Smith who cleverly flicked the ball over a defenders head for Philip Carson to control the ball before lashing home a left foot valley from 10 yards for his first Ballymena goal.

Still the Braidmen kept piling forward in wave after wave. Okunayia showed off his talents shortly after. Twisting and turning in the box he created room before firing in a low shot which the Ballyclare keeper did well to turn aside.

Kelbie added his second and United's fourth goal on 36 minutes. Sean O'Neill launched a long clearance from the back, a Ballyclare defender misjudged it and the big Scot was onto it as quick as a flash. He drew the keeper before cooly slotting the ball into the net.

Comedy chaos arrived 3 minutes before the break. From a corner on the right the ball broke to captain Haveron. He shot, beat the keeper only to have Lockhart block the ball on the line !

Despite a half that was almost exclusively one way traffic the Comrades were to have the last laugh and also score the best goal of the game on the stroke of the half. A cross from the right fell to ex Sky Blue Anto Crawford and he executed a superb hooked shot to the top corner past a stranded O'Neill to reduce the arrears.

The second half had a more pedestrian pace in terms of United attacks where the Premiership side seemed more content to retain possession although the home team had certainly upped their performance.

Ballymena though came close to extending their lead on a number of occasions, most notably when Haveron had his free kick well saved and Kelbie fired narrowly over.

The game petered out to its conclusion with United worthy 4-1 winners. Manager Walker will have been pleased in particular with his team's first half display and with the fact that Smith and Kelbie showed the beginnings of what could be a potent partnership.

Next up for the Sky Blues is Carrick Rangers at Taylor's Avenue on Monday 27th July, kick off 7.45 p.m.

Teams:

BALLYCLARE COMRADES	BALLYMENA UNITED
1: FLOOD, Paddy	1: O'NEILL, Sean
2: McWILLIAMS, Sam	2: SMITH, Michael
3: McGAREL, Andy	3: COLLIGAN, Lee
4: CUTLETT, Gareth	4: HAVERON, Gary (c)
5: DRYSDALE, Mark	5: WATSON, Albert
6: FORSYTHE, Andy (c)	6: TAGGART, Gavin
7: ARMSTRONG, Keith	7: OKUNAIYA, Ormo
8: McGOWAN, Simon	8: CARSON, Philip
9: CRAWFORD, Anto	9: SMITH, Andy
10: McCLELLAND, Mark	10: KELBIE, Kevin
11: SIMMS, Andy	11: LOCKHART, Darren
Substitutes	-
12: DEVINE, Niall	12: MUIR, Paul
Replaced Sam McWilliams (58 mins)	Replaced Gary Haveron (66 mins)
14: AGNEW, Kyle	14: GRATTAN, William
Not Used	Replaced Philip Carson (75 mins)
18: McGRATH, Neil	15: WATSON, Aidan
Replaced Andy McGarel (46 mins)	Replaced Darren Lockhart (46 mins)
	16: McDONNELL, Joe
	Replaced Andy Smith (89 mins)
Yellow Cards:	-
None	None
Red Cards:	-
None	None