Give youth its head

THE first real test of Jeff Kenna’s bow as a manager came this week after his side’s gutless display when losing to fellow strugglers Cobh Ramblers in Terryland Park on Monday night.Kenna will have spent the week both trying to lift his side after the disappointment of that loss, while also driving home the fact that the level of performance against Cobh was completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated again.The players get a chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of both their manager and fans when they host high-flying St Patrick’s Athletic in Terryland Park tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).Under normal circumstances, the more realistic United supporters would not be expecting to get anything from the game; given the sorry state the club currently finds itself under, not even the optimist will be expecting a positive result for United – which is something that could work in their favour.There is no real pressure on United ahead of tonight’s game. Yes, they are badly in need of a win – especially at home – but there are not too many people expecting them to get that tonight, and with that kind of pressure off their shoulders, Kenna will hope they can be a bit more relaxed and play without the sense of panic that enveloped their game on Monday night.United were deserving of a point when these two sidesmet in Richmond Park back in March, but that old United failing – poor defending – was to cost them when Wes Charles and Marc McCulloch both left a dropping ball for the other to deal with. Gary O’Neill nipped in, squared to striker partner Mark Quigley and he slid in to score a goal that came completely against the run of play.There will be .............