Opinion: Jeffrey's first day brings plenty of encouragement

David Jeffrey watches the play intently during his first game in charge of Ballymena United. Picture: Stephen Hamilton/Press Eye.

If ever there was an unlikely scoreline in a match involving Ballymena United, then a scoreless draw would be high up on the list.

Before Saturday’s stalemate, it was almost two full years since the Sky Blues last had a competitive game that ended without a goal.

For that reason alone, David Jeffrey has already implemented change in his first week in charge at the Showgrounds.

You already knew that something a bit special was in the offing before a ball was even kicked.

On a day when the Belfast ‘Big Two’ were meeting across the city, there were as many media members who tried to get into the compact Seaview Press Box as there would be supporters at some Danske Bank Premiership games throughout the season.

The return of Jeffrey was a big deal for the media; the fact it was at the home of the champions and league leaders merely added to the intrigue.

While on paper it looked like as tough an assignment as you could imagine, in reality it was a good fixture for Jeffrey to return; a game in which United weren’t realistically expected to take anything and where any sort of positive result would be viewed as a bonus.