 Linfield's Peter Thompson scored the only goal at Windsor Park |
A fine second-half strike by Peter Thompson was enough to keep champions Linfield on top of the Carnegie Premier League on goal difference. The Northern Ireland international ran to on to a well-judged Glenn Ferguson pass and beat United keeper Paul Murphy with a right-foot shot on 59 minutes.
Ballymena should have equalised but front man Kevin Kelbie shot wide from a great position in front of goal.
Ferguson then saw his header tipped on to the bar by Murphy.
It was a hard-earned win for Linfield against a Ballymena team desperate to end a run of defeats.
Tommy Wright's men have now not scored or picked up a point from their last four league fixtures.
They should have equalised when that glaring oppportunity fell to Kelbie.
A mix-up in the Linfield defence left the Scotsman in the clear but he somehow failed to hit the target.
It means Ballymena stay in 13th place with just three points from five matches.
"Ballymena were well organised and hard to break down," said Linfield manager David Jeffrey.
"It took a piece of brilliance from Peter Thompson and what a fantastic finish.
"He showed great composure under pressure and it was the pistol Pete of old."
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