A piece of magic from Fraser Taylor helped us get the win at Glenavon, says Ballymena United chief Jim Ervin

The Braidmen sadly lost supporter Lydia Ross in a car accident on Thursday night, with a poignant tribute taking place across all five Irish League games as fans clapped in the 21st minute to honour the life of the ardent Sky Blues follower.

On the pitch, United made it back-to-back wins in the Premiership as Fraser Taylor's first-half strike was enough to see off the Lurgan Blues and put more breathing space between themselves and bottom-placed Newry City.

Ervin was pleased to see his side weather an early storm before Taylor’s match-winning contribution.

"A very professional and well-deserved win," Ervin told Ballymena United TV.

"I thought Glenavon put us under a lot of pressure in the first 25 minutes, they had a number of corner kicks and we saw it out which was good as we would have crumbled in previous games and conceded goals.

"I thought after that we started to control the game and Dylan (Boyle) and Fraser (Taylor) were getting on the ball and playing lovely passes and stuff like that.

"But with a pitch like today, it's very difficult to play football and we told the players to play percentage football today and we would get our rewards.

"Fraser comes up with a bit of magic and it's the one part of his game that he's been looking to improve on because everything up until then has been top drawer.”

Ervin reflected on a sad week for the club but vowed that Ballymena United will do whatever they can for the Ross family in the weeks and months ahead.

"Everyone knows that our thoughts and prayers go out to Paul and his family on the passing of young Lydia, who the players were very familiar with,” he continued.

"We were pleased to get the game on today and despite all that Paul is going through, he still has his thoughts of Ballymena United and I received a text message from him wishing us all the best.

"The thing I want to let Paul know is that the Ballymena United family is here for him and the tributes from the Irish League family have been fantastic to see and what the league is all about.”