...

"We're delighted to win obviously. We got off to a real fast start," said United boss Roy Walker.

"We were very unfortunate with the goal we lost when Albert slipped. He completely lost his footing and the ball has come off the 'thruppeny bit' – it was just rank misfortune.

"But we were playing the top team in the league and we were always going to come under pressure – they aren't league leaders for nothing – but by and large we stood up to Cliftonville.

"It was a spirited performance in which we defended well from the front. Kevin and Surgy worked very hard up front and Gary Muir is a player. You can see the attributes he brings to us – pace, two good feet and a good crosser of the ball," added Roy.

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

Teams:

BALLYMENA UNITED	CLIFTONVILLE
1: NELSON, Dwayne	1: CONNOLLY, John
2: RAMSEY, Chris	3: SCANNELL, Ronan
3: COLLIGAN, Lee	4: HOLLAND, Barry
4: HAVERON, Gary	6: DONAGHY, Ciaran
5: WATSON, Albert	8: McMULLAN, George
6: STEWART, Aaron	9: SCANNELL, Chris (c)
7: SMITH, Michael	14: CALDWELL, Ciaran
8: MUIR, Gary	16: BOYCE, Liam
9: SURGENOR, Mark	17: CATNEY, Ryan
10: KELBIE, Kevin	24: CLARKE, Mark
11: LOCKHART, Darren	30: HUTTON, Peter
Substitutes	-
12: McLAUGHLIN, James	2: FLEMING, Liam
Replaced Kevin Kelbie (90+4 mins)	Not Used
13: TAGGART, Gavin	5: O'HARA, Declan
Not Used	Not Used
14: CUSHLEY, David	7: HOLLAND, Mark
Not Used	Replaced Liam Boyce (71 mins)
15: McCONNELL, Nathan	22: DUNLOP, Ryan
Not Used	Not Used
16: WATSON, Aidan	23: JONES, Martin
Not Used	Replaced Ciaran Caldwell (77 mins)
Yellow Cards:	-
Unknown	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None