IRISH LEAGUE: Ballymena United manager David Jeffrey hails impact of subs in Sky Blues win

The diminutive duo stepped off the bench to dovetail for the two late goals that ensured Jeffrey’s first home game in charge of the Sky Blues ended in victory.

“With something like what happened today people will say ‘wasn’t that a great substitution?’ - the reality is you go with your stomach and instincts and think ‘we’ve got to change this’,” said Jeffrey.

“I simply asked Willie ‘can you go on and win it for us?’ - he replied ‘no problem’ and then went on and did it.

“Jonny Frazer was superb when he came on - he gave us that wee injection of pace. Jonny and William made the difference because we felt Warrenpoint were tiring a wee bit and I felt we had to put something different on and on this occasion it worked out.

“I’m not going to put any spin on it - we didn’t reach anywhere near the heights we reached last week.

“I’ve got to say - and this is not an excuse, it’s a simple fact - the pitch is brutal. It’s very difficult for the players to play on - you have to take three touches before you get the ball under control but over the piece I think we did enough to deserve victory,” added Jeffrey.

With Warrenpoint deservedly a goal up thanks to Johnny McMurray’s neatly-placed finish, the game turned on its head just before half-time when Stephen Moan was sent off for palming Johnny Taylor’s header off the line, resulting in the defender being dismissed for the third time in three outings against Ballymena this season.

Allan Jenkins bundled home the rebound after Johnny Parr had saved his spot kick and it was a totally different ball game.

“He (Moan) obviously just doesn’t like to play here - I wish he had told me that before the game, we could have arranged to keep him off!” quipped rueful Warrenpoint boss Barry Gray.

“It’s a poor decision, there’s no justification for that. I just don’t see the benefit of it - with 11 men on the field, one-one going in at the half, you can deal with it.

“He has forced us into a situation where the gameplan is out the window and you’re always struggling with 10 men to cover the ground.

“The sending off changes the complexion of the game and gives them a huge boost going into the break,” added Gray.