Irish Premier League

18th September

Ballymena Utd 0 Glentoran 0

Nobody Wins

And so the wait goes on.....Glentoran's defence of their title remains stuck in third gear, while Ballymena are still awaiting their first win after more than 600 minutes of Premiership action.

Yesterday's goalless fare and the champions lack of cutting edge in front of goal had Glens manager Roy Coyle admitting "We are simply not firing on all cylinders. The players have to look at themselves". Glentoran now six points off the pace at the of the table have scored only five goals in their last seven outings this season. That's one goal less than they scored in a mere 90 minutes the last time Roy Coyle's men visited the Showgrounds while hitting United for six at the end of the season. If you look at our goals for column you can see where our problem lies this season, he said.

We simply aren't performing going forward. In a game of few chances Glentoran came closest to breaking the deadlock when winger Tim McCann hit a cracking 15 yards shot against the upright in the 77th minute following clever approach play by substitute Brian Russell.

United's best opportunity came only minutes earlier when a Mark Carlisle cross was headed back across goal by David Calderwood into the path of Phillip Knell whose glancing header was cleared off the line by covering defender Darren Finlay, the ball eventually fell to impressive left back Ricky Culbertson- recently signed from Swindon Town whose speculative 35 yard drive just missed keeper Neil Armstrong's left hand post.