No report on the forum? I'll have a go then, in that case, although the distance from the away end to the end where most of the action took place was a bit too far for me to be really sure who was doing what, so please excuse any mistakes.
The first half of the match was a stroll in the park for the Blades. Swindon were hopeless in attack, outplayed in midfield and nervous at the back. United had Caolan Lavery and Jay O'Shea in the side with the management opting to use Lavery's speed rather than Hanson's strength and height up front. The Blades midfireld trio of Coutts, Fleck and O'Shea had their opponents in a tizzy. Fleck hit a fierce shot just over the bar before the inevitable first goal had United in front.
Swindon had been playing with fire from the start, with some dodgy looking backpasses to the goalie, and they finally shot themselves in the foot when left back Dabo, who was having a nightmare, aimed one towards his 'keeper Henry, who was never going to get to it before Lavery. The young striker latched onto the ball and slotted it neatly just inside the far post.
The second goal was a thing of extraordinary beauty. One-touch intricate passing between Fleck and Coutts had the home players twisted inside out before a lovely ball found Lavery on the left wing. He sold a defender an exquisite dummy before laying the ball neatly into the path of the onrushing Kieran Freeman, who walloped it into the net. Shortly afterwards a great run by O'Connell ended with Billy Sharp almost making it a deserved 3-0 half time lead for the Blades.
The half time toilet break was as relaxed as any this season as we looked forward to the Blades running up a big score in the second half, but we were in for a very nasty shock. The fluffy bunnies of Swindon turned into tigers during the break and tore into United from the kick off. Almost immediately, Charlie Colkett was allowed to carry the ball forward unchallenged before hitting a screamer into the top corner of the goal. 7 minutes later, with no lessons apparently learned, Blades' players stood off while Ben Gladwin lined up a shot from the edge of the box; this time the shot was low but the outcome was the same, and all the first half's excellence had been wiped out with the scores now level.
We were rocking, and needed a lucky break if 2, or even 3 points, were not to be lost. Man, did we get that lucky break just before the hour. Goalkeeper Henry, with no pressure on him at all, lazily passed the ball straight to the feet of Jay O'Shea, who overcame his surprise to accept the gift and give us back the lead.
Even after this terrible clanger had undone all their hard work, Swindon continued to be the better and more dangerous side. Moore looked like a nervous wreck as crosses start to rain in on his goal, and United had yet more good fortune when Obika's header looked bound for goal, only for Ajose to run in and prod it over the line from an offside position. We were under the cosh, were wasting time and Swindon's fans were exasperated by ref Oliver Langford who seemed to be giving us the benefit of the doubt on a couple of occasions. Hanson replaced Lavery, Carruthers came on for O'Shea and finally Wright for Sharp to bolster up the defence. United came again and Ethan Ebanks-Landell had a shot well saved before 5 minutes of added time were announced. Blades fans were still biting our nails, but Carruthers cleverly ran into the box and invited a desperate challenge which gave the Blades a penalty, which Coutts struck down the middle as Henry dived to his right.
4-2. It looks like an easy win on the page, but it certainly was not, and the final score was hard on Swindon, who, in effect, gave us 3 of our 4 goals. They fought so well that, in spite of the way the table looks now, they can still escape relegation if they stop giving presents to their opponents. The Blades, on the other hand, can look back on a satisfactory result and a dangerous occasion overcome. The manager & players applauded the fans generously at the final whistle, but there was relief as well as triumph in those celebrations.
The first half of the match was a stroll in the park for the Blades. Swindon were hopeless in attack, outplayed in midfield and nervous at the back. United had Caolan Lavery and Jay O'Shea in the side with the management opting to use Lavery's speed rather than Hanson's strength and height up front. The Blades midfireld trio of Coutts, Fleck and O'Shea had their opponents in a tizzy. Fleck hit a fierce shot just over the bar before the inevitable first goal had United in front.
Swindon had been playing with fire from the start, with some dodgy looking backpasses to the goalie, and they finally shot themselves in the foot when left back Dabo, who was having a nightmare, aimed one towards his 'keeper Henry, who was never going to get to it before Lavery. The young striker latched onto the ball and slotted it neatly just inside the far post.
The second goal was a thing of extraordinary beauty. One-touch intricate passing between Fleck and Coutts had the home players twisted inside out before a lovely ball found Lavery on the left wing. He sold a defender an exquisite dummy before laying the ball neatly into the path of the onrushing Kieran Freeman, who walloped it into the net. Shortly afterwards a great run by O'Connell ended with Billy Sharp almost making it a deserved 3-0 half time lead for the Blades.
The half time toilet break was as relaxed as any this season as we looked forward to the Blades running up a big score in the second half, but we were in for a very nasty shock. The fluffy bunnies of Swindon turned into tigers during the break and tore into United from the kick off. Almost immediately, Charlie Colkett was allowed to carry the ball forward unchallenged before hitting a screamer into the top corner of the goal. 7 minutes later, with no lessons apparently learned, Blades' players stood off while Ben Gladwin lined up a shot from the edge of the box; this time the shot was low but the outcome was the same, and all the first half's excellence had been wiped out with the scores now level.
We were rocking, and needed a lucky break if 2, or even 3 points, were not to be lost. Man, did we get that lucky break just before the hour. Goalkeeper Henry, with no pressure on him at all, lazily passed the ball straight to the feet of Jay O'Shea, who overcame his surprise to accept the gift and give us back the lead.
Even after this terrible clanger had undone all their hard work, Swindon continued to be the better and more dangerous side. Moore looked like a nervous wreck as crosses start to rain in on his goal, and United had yet more good fortune when Obika's header looked bound for goal, only for Ajose to run in and prod it over the line from an offside position. We were under the cosh, were wasting time and Swindon's fans were exasperated by ref Oliver Langford who seemed to be giving us the benefit of the doubt on a couple of occasions. Hanson replaced Lavery, Carruthers came on for O'Shea and finally Wright for Sharp to bolster up the defence. United came again and Ethan Ebanks-Landell had a shot well saved before 5 minutes of added time were announced. Blades fans were still biting our nails, but Carruthers cleverly ran into the box and invited a desperate challenge which gave the Blades a penalty, which Coutts struck down the middle as Henry dived to his right.
4-2. It looks like an easy win on the page, but it certainly was not, and the final score was hard on Swindon, who, in effect, gave us 3 of our 4 goals. They fought so well that, in spite of the way the table looks now, they can still escape relegation if they stop giving presents to their opponents. The Blades, on the other hand, can look back on a satisfactory result and a dangerous occasion overcome. The manager & players applauded the fans generously at the final whistle, but there was relief as well as triumph in those celebrations.
