Manager Roy Walker gave debuts to goalkeeper Dwayne Nelson, who rejoined the club from Dungannon Swifts on Monday and also centre-back Mark Surgenor made his first start for the Sky Blues. Local-lad Chris Rodgers and former Wrexham teenager George Stewart were new faces on the bench.

The home started brightly and started to carve out chances from the whistle but strikers Andy Smith and Nathan McConnell were wasteful in front of goal, with the best of the early chances falling to the former Northern Ireland striker who fired wide when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

On 30 minutes influential midfielder Philip Carson was forced off with a dislocated shoulder after an innocuous challenge and replaced by Gavin Taggart. The Welders had their best and only real chance of the tie soon after as Carl Rezai found space but fired his shot well over.

The Braidmen took the lead on 35 minutes when the impressive Ormo Okunaiya floated in a free-kick from the left and Paul Muir stooped low to head past Carnduff in the Welders' goal to open Ballymena's account for the season.

Seven minutes into the second half and Ballymena sealed their win with a second goal gifted to them by the visitors. Aidan Watson was quick to intercept a woeful attempted pass by Welders' captain Paul Harbinson and he raced through to slot the ball under the keeper for his first goal since January 2006.

A late rally by the Skies produced two goals in the last five minutes as firstly Lee Colligan's cross was flicked on by Aidan Watson into the path of Andy Smith who volleyed the ball home from close range for his first goal in Ballymena colours.

Substitute Gavin Taggart rounded off the rout when he made a late burst into the penalty area and found time to stop and coolly place his shot for Ballymena's fourth and final goal with progression to the quarter-finals assured.

Walker told the Ballymena Times; "I'm critical of wasteful finishing - we could have scored a bucketload. We had a plethora of chances in the opening 20 minutes and we have to be more clinical.

"I saw some things that were good and some recurring issues we need to address on the training pitch.

"On the plus side, we kept a clean sheet and Dwayne Nelson looked secure in goal and Mark Surgenor gives us pace and balance in the back four."

United resume their Carling IFA Premiership campaign on Saturday, away to Dungannon Swifts.

Picture: www.presseye.com

Teams:

BALLYMENA UNITED	HW WELDERS
1: NELSON, Dwayne	1: CARNDUFF, Paul
2: SMITH, Michael	2: MURRAY, Reece
3: COLLIGAN, Lee	3: ARMSTRONG, William
4: HAVERON, Gary (c)	4: McKILLAN, Glenn
5: SURGENOR, Mark	5: REZAI, Carl
6: MUIR, Paul	6: HARBINSON, Paul
7: OKUNAIYA, Ormon	7: BROWN, Ryan
8: CARSON, Philip	8: BELL, James
9: SMITH, Andy	9: HARVEY, Ryan
10: McCONNELL, Nathan	10: VERNER, Marty
11: WATSON, Aidan	11: DICKSON, Andrew
Substitutes	-
12: RODGERS, Chris	12: JOHNSTON, Aaron
Not Used
13: STEWART, George	13: HIGGINS, Ricky
Replaced Paul Muir (77 mins)
14: TAGGART, Gavin	14: TOWELL, Chris
Replaced Philip Carson (30 mins)
15: McNEILL, Paul	15: FORSYTHE, James
Not Used
16: CUSHLEY, David	16: STEWART, Gary
Replaced Nathan McConnell (68 mins)
Yellow Cards:	-
HAVERON, Gary (32 mins)	Unknown
WATSON, Aidan (43 mins)
SMITH, Michael (48 mins)
Red Cards:	-
None	None