In the latest of his regular blogs, Hillary Street-Ender takes a look back at Saturday afternoon's Sky Bet League 1 draw with Sheffield United.
This week is a real case of
from-one-extreme-to-another, as on Tuesday night I
visited Pelsall Villa for a Walsall Senior Cup game, whilst on Saturday I was Sheffield United for a league fixture. If there’s one stadium in the
division that ought to be hosting a higher level of football then it’s Bramall
Lane. I’ve been there before but that occasion was way back in 1984 so this is
as good as a new ground for me. It’s old school in all the best ways but the
absence of terracing robs it of that little bit extra. My previous visit saw a
two-nil defeat for the Saddlers so I was hoping for better from this game between
two teams who stand just one hundred and eighty minutes from Wembley. In our
case we’re hoping to be there for the Paint Pot final, and in the Blades’ case
they’re hoping to make it to the League Cup final. Theirs would be a somewhat
more prestigious game but us Saddlers will take a Wembley appearance however it
comes. The Blades are riding high in the play-off places but we’ve recently
beaten them in the Paint Pot so there’s nothing to be scared of in facing them
again so soon afterward. The afternoon’s line-ups are displayed on the
scoreboard and we see that young Henry has deservedly kept his place after two
fine displays, although that’s probably due to Taylor still being injured. Last
week’s comeback against Barnsley will have given Clough Jr food for thought and
United will know to keep a tight rein on Bradshaw while keeping one eye on
Cook, so well did they begin to combine last week. The one moderately big name
in the Blades’ line-up is Jose Baxter and he’s capable of being a decent
play-maker on his day so we’ll need to try to contain him, preferably by not
letting the ball get to him.
The first half largely turns out to be a case of
the teams cancelling each other out and proceedings aren’t terribly
entertaining. We run out of steam, as we so often have, on reaching the home
penalty area with Sawyers being at his most frustratingly casual and with
Bradshaw being tightly marked. Howard isn’t troubled overly much but neither is
O’Donnell although one effort late in the half has him back-pedalling furiously
in vain only for the ball to come down on top of the crossbar. In doing so he
collides with a post and appears to have aggravated the back twinge he suffered
during the kick-in and we wonder if he’ll be out for the second half. He turns
out to be okay and finishes the game. The same cannot be said for the referee
however, who has to be replaced by the fourth official shortly before the break.
He’s shown no noticeable sign of being injured so presumably must be feeling
unwell. There’s many a chuckle when a tannoy announcement asks if there’s a
qualified referee in the ground able to take over as fourth official. I’ve no
idea if the game would have been abandoned had no-one been found. Neither side
has had the other at panic stations during a somewhat tedious first period but
the second half turns out to be thoroughly watchable, being pretty much
non-stop end-to-end action. It’s the Blades who break the deadlock when a
through ball from Baxter finds O’Grady in far too much space and he advances into
the area before tucking a low shot between O’Donnell and his near post with our
keeper possibly thinking he might have saved it. We’ve come from behind in our
two previous matches and we’ll need to do so again today if we’re to take
anything back down the A38. Thankfully we don’t have long to wait, a pass
reaching Cook wide out on our left from where he takes his time before looping
over a cross in the direction of Bradders. There’s not much pace on the ball so
young Tom has to jack-knife in mid-air to add oomph and direction as he nods it
into the net for a cracking finish right in front of us travelling Saddlers up
in the top tier. United come close to grabbing a second when a tremendous shot
from wide on their left loops over O’Donnell’s backward dive to flick the top of
the bar on it’s way out of play and we almost grab a winner in the final
minutes when Bradshaw wriggles clear on the edge of the area and puts in a
cross shot that goes wide of the far post via the keeper’s finger ends. The
final whistle sounds at the end of an exciting half and the score-line of one
each is a very fair reflection of the play. Neither side did quite enough to
deserve a victory and neither deserved to go away with nothing. Henry has put
in another display full of promise and hasn’t appeared at all over-awed by
playing in what’s a Premier League standard stadium in front of a twenty
thousand crowd. The youngster has played with a maturity well beyond his tender
years in his three games so far and Taylor now has a battle on his hands to
reclaim his spot in the starting eleven, Neil Woods deserving a lot of praise
for bringing the lad on to the extent that he’s been able to fit in as though
he was never not there. This was the first of a run of three particularly
difficult fixtures, with Swindon and the Franchise to come next, so the point
gained today is an encouraging start to a crucial period.
Good stuff.
By: Hillary Street-Ender.