Roy Walker made only one change to the side which suffered a disappointing defeat to the Crues in the County Antrim Shield semi-final last week - with Mark Surgenor replacing Gavin Taggart in a re-shuffled pack.

Michael Smith, operating on the right flank, had an early chance after a good run by Chris Ramsey - but he fired well over from distance. The terrible conditions held up play in the early stages as a number of the advertising boards behind the Crusaders goal were blown onto the pitch and had to be removed.

Crusaders' first real chance in a poor opening period fell to the normally reliable David Rainey failed to meet a dangerous cross, carried also by the strong wind, and hooked his effort over the bar at the near post.

The Braidmen took the lead on 29 minutes though after Nathan McConnell released David Cushley down the left wing. Cushley easily outpaced the former United defender Jamie Marks to get to the bye-line and drill a low cross across the face of goal which the in-rushing Michael Smith gleefully tapped home for his first goal in United colours.

Stephen Baxter's side tried to use the strong wind in their favour with a few long range efforts, with Chris Morrow coming closest for the Shore Road men, but on the stroke of half-time the home side missed a glorious chance to double their lead.

Some excellent work by United captain Andy Smith down the left flank released Nathan McConnell free, who did well to evade the sliding challenge from McKeown but dragged his shot wide with his weaker left foot when one-on-one with visiting goalkeeper, Chris Keenan.

Baxter's double substitution at the interval seemed to kick start the IFA Premiership leaders as Aaron Black missed a glorious opportunity; however the Sky Blues remained dangerous as Andy Smith cannonned a ferocious effort off the crossbar early in the half.

The second goal did come for the Sky Blues on 63 minutes when Andy Smith's low cross from the left was touched off by Lee Colligan to David Cushley, who drilled an effort with his unfavoured right foot past Keenan for the Belfast winger's fifth goal of the season.

Crusaders pressed hard for the goal that would bring them back into the game, Jordan Owens coming closest when he turned a drilled a shot at Nelson which the United keeper turned away with his shin.

McConnell again could have put the game beyond reach when Andy Smith drew the goalkeeper off his line but squared the ball just behind the static McConnell, who would have had an open goal at his mercy, had the pass been successful.

Manager Roy Walker who won two League Championships with Crusaders, was very pleased with the result; "We stood up to Crusaders today and adapted to the conditions very well and produced some moments of quality that led to the two goals."

"Today we had no failures on the pitch. Overall, I feel that we were worthy winners of this game." added Walker.

The win takes Ballymena United up to sixth place in the IFA Premiership table and into the top half of the table for the first time in eighteen months. Next up for Walker's men is a home game against Glentoran on Tuesday evening (7.45pm kick-off).

Picture: www.presseye.com | Videos: Andy Nelson (Sky Blue TV)

Teams:

BALLYMENA UNITED	CRUSADERS
1: NELSON, Dwayne	1: KEENAN, Chris
2: SMITH, Michael	2: McKEOWN, Gareth
3: COLLIGAN, Lee	3: MARKS, Jamie
4: STEWART, Aaron	4: BLACK, Aaron
5: RAMSEY, Chris	5: MAGOWAN, David
6: SURGENOR, Mark	6: COATES, Colin (c)
7: CUSHLEY, David	7: McCANN, Ryan
8: ANDERSON, Noel	8: MORROW, Chris
9: SMITH, Andy (c)	9: DICKSON, Mark
10: McCONNELL, Nathan	10: RAINEY, David
11: LOCKHART, Darren	11: DONNELLY, Martin
Substitutes	-
12: TAGGART, Gavin	12: DOHERTY, Eamon
Replaced David Cushley (86 mins)	Replaced Martin Donnelly (75 mins)
14: CARSON, Philip	14: MELLY, Dominic
Not Used	Replaced Jamie Marks (46 mins)
15: OKUNAIYA, Ormon	15: OWENS, Jordan
Not Used	Replaced Ryan McCann (46 mins)
16: McNEILL, Paul	16: MAGEE, Jonathan
Replaced Nathan McConnell (90+3 mins)	Not Used
20: O'NEILL, Sean	25: HOGG, Aaron
Not Used	Not Used
Yellow Cards:	-
Unknown	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None