United 1 Wednesday 0 - report / ratings

[Deadbat]

Derby day spoils went to the red half of the city as the Blades saw off the Owls in the steel city derby at Bramall Lane. It was a game of few chances and neither side really had any fluency at any point but an improved second half performance from the Blades saw them take the lead through Tyrese Campbell and in the end United did enough to see off Wednesday to take the spoils.



Wilder was unable to call on Kieffer Moore or Rhian Brewster in his starting line up as Wilder made two changes from the starting line from the victory at Bristol City. Arblaster and Rak Sayki were back in for Peck and Brooks. Shackleton and Davies were back amongst the substitutes for the home side. Wednesday were unchanged from their victory over Norwich City in the week with former Blades Marvin Johnson and Max Lowe both starting.



After the remembrance day tributes the game started with United kicking away from the Kop. The Blades had a lot of the ball early on but Wednesday were set up deep with a defensive orientated line up. Hamer and O’Hare were trying to get on the ball but it was a game mired in midfield for the large part. Windass had a shot well off target before O’Hare had a half chance but his shot deflected wide after Ray Sakyi did well to find room after being well marshalled prior to this. Hamer was trying to get on the ball and create but Wednesday were sitting in a deep block and trying to make it hard for United to break though.



Charles fired over as Wednesday ended the first half with some ascendancy after having ceding most of the possession in the game. United had most of the possession but had not realty hurt their rivals and Wednesday would be happy to have remained well in an event contest. The game had few chances of note and whilst both teams huffed and puffed, there was little really for either set of fans to get excited about.



Burrows was booked for a challenge on Iorfa who looked to stride away before Bannon was also given a yellow card for a high and late tackle on Burrows on half way with the home crowd asking for a red card.



Arblaster had gone down twice with a few knocks and was deemed not fit enough to carry on and Peck took his place. Seriki was also brought on for Gilchrist in a double change for the home side.



Seriki was involved from the off as the Blades looked to play at a quicker tempo and won an early corner. From the short one, Campbell had his shot blocked from close range as the Blades looked to turn the screw. Hamer and O’Hare then nearly linked up as the home side finally found a spell of dominance in the game.



On 50 minutes, the deadlock was broken. It came from a free kick on the left which Burrows rather telegraphed, but as the ball came out, it fell for Hamer. He jinked past Bannan and fed it to O’Hare who slipped it inside into the path of CAMPBELL who fired it past Beadle and into the net. The players celebrated in the corner in front of a jubilant Kop end.



After the celebrations had ended, United sensed the weakness in the Wednesday back line and continued to pile forward with Peck busy and Souza patrolling midfield. Seriki was looking to get on the ball down the right and was forcing Wednesday back who were struggling at this point to hold United up. Valery was booked for brining down Hamer but Wednesday had a rare break and Gassama hit an effort well wide, not long after coming on Ingelsson. Smith had also joined the fray with ex Blade Johnson going off as the Owls looked to push more men forward.



The game settled into a more even contest, after the Blades had controlled the opening to the second half but there were few chances either way. Souttar showed his aerial ability and Souza came away with the ball twice as United looked to keep what they had. McCallum and One came on for Rak Sayki and Campbell Musaba replaced the disappointing Ugbo. The game became scrappy for a period with some frustrating decisions from the referee irking both teams. Hamer showed his class as he came out with the ball to give United a spell of possession before a corner for the Owls came to nothing.



Lowe and Valentin replaced Valery and Windass, as the game entered the final 10 minutes. Musaba had a good break and run but Seriki got across well to make the tackle before some grabbing and pulling from both Smith and Ahmedhodzic saw the referee had to intervene. The game moved into 6 minutes of stoppage time but a looping header from Iorfa well off target was the closes the Owls got as Hamer used his class to see out a substantial amount of the extra time, right in the corner. There was one final long throw but United cleared and Lewis Smith’s final blast of the whistle signalled it was the Blades that would be celebrating the city bragging rights, at least until the return contest later in the season.



United’s players celebrated as one at the final whistle and Campbell was pushed towards the Kop, before Wilder patted his chest to accompany his first win in this fixture at Bramall Lane as many inside the ground stayed to salute the winning side of the city; as the Blades moved to joint top of the table.

 

[Lane Top Blade]

First?

 

[1973Blade]

Derby day spoils went to the red half of the city as the Blades saw off the Owls in the steel city derby at Bramall Lane. It was a game of few chances and neither side really had any fluency at any point but an improved second half performance from the Blades saw them take the lead through Tyrese Campbell and in the end United did enough to see off Wednesday to take the spoils.



Wilder was unable to call on Kieffer Moore or Rhian Brewster in his starting line up as Wilder made two changes from the starting line from the victory at Bristol City. Arblaster and Rak Sayki were back in for Peck and Brooks. Shackleton and Davies were back amongst the substitutes for the home side. Wednesday were unchanged from their victory over Norwich City in the week with former Blades Marvin Johnson and Max Lowe both starting.



After the remembrance day tributes the game started with United kicking away from the Kop. The Blades had a lot of the ball early on but Wednesday were set up deep with a defensive orientated line up. Hamer and O’Hare were trying to get on the ball but it was a game mired in midfield for the large part. Windass had a shot well off target before O’Hare had a half chance but his shot deflected wide after Ray Sakyi did well to find room after being well marshalled prior to this. Hamer was trying to get on the ball and create but Wednesday were sitting in a deep block and trying to make it hard for United to break though.



Charles fired over as Wednesday ended the first half with some ascendancy after having ceding most of the possession in the game. United had most of the possession but had not realty hurt their rivals and Wednesday would be happy to have remained well in an event contest. The game had few chances of note and whilst both teams huffed and puffed, there was little really for either set of fans to get excited about.



Burrows was booked for a challenge on Iorfa who looked to stride away before Bannon was also given a yellow card for a high and late tackle on Burrows on half way with the home crowd asking for a red card.



Arblaster had gone down twice with a few knocks and was deemed not fit enough to carry on and Peck took his place. Seriki was also brought on for Gilchrist in a double change for the home side.



Seriki was involved from the off as the Blades looked to play at a quicker tempo and won an early corner. From the short one, Campbell had his shot blocked from close range as the Blades looked to turn the screw. Hamer and O’Hare then nearly linked up as the home side finally found a spell of dominance in the game.



On 50 minutes, the deadlock was broken. It came from a free kick on the left which Burrows rather telegraphed, but as the ball came out, it fell for Hamer. He jinked past Bannan and fed it to O’Hare who slipped it inside into the path of CAMPBELL who fired it past Beadle and into the net. The players celebrated in the corner in front of a jubilant Kop end.



After the celebrations had ended, United sensed the weakness in the Wednesday back line and continued to pile forward with Peck busy and Souza patrolling midfield. Seriki was looking to get on the ball down the right and was forcing Wednesday back who were struggling at this point to hold United up. Valery was booked for brining down Hamer but Wednesday had a rare break and Gassama hit an effort well wide, not long after coming on Ingelsson. Smith had also joined the fray with ex Blade Johnson going off as the Owls looked to push more men forward.



The game settled into a more even contest, after the Blades had controlled the opening to the second half but there were few chances either way. Souttar showed his aerial ability and Souza came away with the ball twice as United looked to keep what they had. McCallum and One came on for Rak Sayki and Campbell Musaba replaced the disappointing Ugbo. The game became scrappy for a period with some frustrating decisions from the referee irking both teams. Hamer showed his class as he came out with the ball to give United a spell of possession before a corner for the Owls came to nothing.



Lowe and Valentin replaced Valery and Windass, as the game entered the final 10 minutes. Musaba had a good break and run but Seriki got across well to make the tackle before some grabbing and pulling from both Smith and Ahmedhodzic saw the referee had to intervene. The game moved into 6 minutes of stoppage time but a looping header from Iorfa well off target was the closes the Owls got as Hamer used his class to see out a substantial amount of the extra time, right in the corner. There was one final long throw but United cleared and Lewis Smith’s final blast of the whistle signalled it was the Blades that would be celebrating the city bragging rights, at least until the return contest later in the season.



United’s players celebrated as one at the final whistle and Campbell was pushed towards the Kop, before Wilder patted his chest to accompany his first win in this fixture at Bramall Lane as many inside the ground stayed to salute the winning side of the city; as the Blades moved to joint top of the table.

Where are your player ratings?

 

[utd4ever]

Where are your player ratings?

Maybe he went for a poo

 

[Englebert Wincobank]

Deadbat - when you're back, can you rate the poo out of 10?

 

[Coolblade]

A few more random observations from the stats:

- Wendies pressing game was quite effective, as we usually have a fair few players with pass completion stats above 85%. Today we only had one, Anel, at 96%, which given how they pressed our back 4 is a great performance. And he made a couple of strong forward runs too. It also impacted on our creativity with only 5 key passes across our whole team.

- Soutar had 19 defensive contributions, more than double anyone else. 12 aerial duels won (next best 3) 7 clearances (next best 2). A colossal contribution.

- Burrows continues to be both a defensive and offensive power house, with twice as many successful tackles as anyone else, as well as most crosses (6)

- nothing too startling looking forward. Peck and Hamer had most dribbles, Hamer and Campbell most shots. But we didn’t create as much as we need to.

Just a quick nod to show I appreciate stats never show the complete picture and can be misleading - Hamer shows as having no key passes, as his outstanding work for the goal doesn’t count as the ball went first to O’Hare, before reaching Campbell. Yet his dummy leaving the baldy one looking foolish was a massive highlight!

 

[HillmortonBlade]

Didn’t see any level of parity between the teams, despite the score. Pigs looked so weak in the final third.

 

[Winthorpe Blades]

A quick observation on the goal but why did Beadle come out like a dying swan and actually dived over the ball - stayed on his feet and it would have been a save

 

[Deadbat]

United – It was a game where we wanted a good performance and a win. In the performance was patchy and we never really were at our best, but we got the win and the result is all that mattered. In the end, we just about shaded it. We had more of the ball and for that 10-15 minute after half time, felt we stepped it up, forced them back and scored a good goal. Outside of this, the game was quite even. The first half was a bit of a non-event. Felt we were slow on and off the ball and it became bitty. Not sure Wednesday were any better than us but it was an even game and they of course as the underdog and away side, would be happy to go in 0-0 and restricting us to nothing really. They created nothing in contract and it was a game where both teams seemed almost too nervous to attack. Windass had an effort well wide and O’Hare had one deflected wide but nothing happened goal action wise. Thought we made it too easy and kind of lacked the intensity and seemed flat. They clearly did not have much quality but at least won the off 50-50 and it meant we did not have the control of the game in terms of dangerous possession – most was in front of them and we never hurt them playing too slow and pedestrian. Thought we did not get Rak Sayki in the game and Hamer/O’Hare sort of flitted in and out. The only real talking point was the Bannan tackle which seemed close to a red card. It was an awful late tackle and high and on another day he may have been dismissed.

After the break, one sub, Arblaster was enforced but he bravely brought Seriki on and he made a real difference. Peck was busy too and the energy of these two subs did really help us to play at a better intensity. We pushed them back and won a few corners and I felt we were getting on top just before we did score. The goal was a poor free kick but Hamer showed his class and O’Hare was calm too. Campbell did not panic and there was of course pandemonium in front of the Kop as the deadlock in a tight game was broke. You sensed there would not be many chances or goals so it felt so big. After this I thought we continued to dominate but could not quite find the pass or moment to double the lead and probably put it away. The game then became scrappy and around he 65th-70th minute, it became off as there were lots of chances, we stopped attacking but Wednesday did very little despite our side being a bit fragmented with so many youngsters playing and finishing match.

I thought we gave it away for a spell and made it harder than we needed to but Wednesday did not really create much at all. A few corners and throws and one run where Seriki made the tackle but Cooper was not tested at all. A couple of long-range shots and a header wide/over but they did not have any clear chances at all. There was 6 minutes of stoppage time but we had most of this in their half and in the end, they did not come close to scoring.

In the end, it is a win and we take their derby spoils. We can play better and will play better but we have to recognise we were missing our main centre forward, Arblaster went off and ended up with Seriki, One and Peck finishing a Sheffield Derby. That is no criticism of them but they are youngsters finding their way in the game but they all played their part. I just think if we had said we would have had the likes of these, Campbell, McCallum etc playing big chunks in such a game, we would have been surprised at the start of the season. So, credit to them and Wilder for trusting them.

Wednesday fans will say how United were not amazing and we were not but we still shaded a tight contest with a young side finishing the game, whatever is said about parachute payments. They did not really look like scoring and in a game of few chances, we showed the bit of quality and a moment when it mattered. I hate the derby games and shamefully would take two 0-0 draws at the start of the season, so to win it is huge. It puts us right back at the top of the league at the international break and we can have that swagger for a while as king of the city. Hopefully Arblaster and Moore are not serious injuries and we can get them back and throw Brewster and even Tom Davies into the fray for the run in to Christmas. Defensively we look rock solid. We have now kept 6 clean sheets in a row at home and we can use this solid spine and foundation to build on. Hopefully, we can get bit more from some of the attacking talents as we move into the next run of games. We have difficult trips to come to Coventry and West Brom and Sunderland at the Lane (Oxford too of course) but so no reason with the defensive structure, why we cannot remain near the top. Hopefully in January we can add some more attacking threats at the top of the field and can push on even more.

Today though we just have to be delighted to win the derby. The scenes in the ground and around London Road after the game showed that even a narrow win, does not matter. We won the derby and have the ascendancy in the city and we can enjoy going into work tomorrow and the next few weeks!

Ratings:

Cooper 6/10 – Had very little to do. Punched one away but saves wise, nothing at all.

Gilchrist 5.5/10 – Thought one of few who got stuck in and competed first half as a few others at off but a few loose touches too and we did not offer a threat down the right side attacking wide as he and Rak Sayki offered little. Surprised he got took off, but we did improve with Seriki.

Burrows 5.5/10 – Thought it was the poorest he has been after an excellent run of games where he has been a key man. His touch and passing was off and his set plays poor. He did not seem at it and seemed a bit overawed I felt at times. He did improve after the break and helped us cause some problems down the left.

Ahmedhodzic 7.5/10 – Solid again, as he has been most of the season. Covered across well and won his battle. Few grapples on the set plays but Smith had hold of him a fair bit too. Just did his job.

Souttar 7.5/10 – Started slowly I felt and too many loose touches/poor passes but after the break stepped it up and won everything. They put Smith on but Souttar won all the headers and was first to everything. Just looked so commanding.

Souza 7.5/10 – First half he was ok and one of our better players but the game became scrappy and we never got hold of it in the right area. He moved it on but we were very slow to advance. Second half, he played higher up the field and won all the loose balls/headers and came out with the ball on so many occasions. Used his body and strength to just come out of situations where he almost looked second best and by the end, he completely dominated the middle of the pitch and looked the most dominating player on the field.

Arblaster 6/10 – Thought he was a mixed bad. Some decent touches and passes but some loose stuff too and they had a spell where they seemed to win midfield. Did not help he had a few knocks and eventually went off.

Rak Sayki 4/10 – His poorest game for some time. Had one run and cross to O’Hare and a few other moments but often he was shown away from goal or was not assertive enough in his forward runs. After the break, he had more of it but again seemed to shy away from attacking and running at them. Seemed like the occasion got to him a bit?

O’Hare 6/10 – Busy and worked hard as he always does even if not always on the ball. He was always showing for it and trying to become involved but just felt not a lot came off but he never stopped wanting it. Made the pass for the goal with a clever ball. He continued to work across the field and do the defensive stuff too.

Hamer 7/10 – Might seem a touch high but felt every time we looked like creating something, he was the man who was orchestrating things. He does give it away and tries to play the Hollywood ball too much, but he always will keep trying things. Some of his passes were wasteful but some good balls too where he moved us up the pitch at pace. He was central to the goal with a jink and pass. Some moments of real composure and class at the end as we saw the game out.

Campbell 7/10 – Not in the game first half really as we struggled to involve him and he sort of got crowded out but second half he really started to get involved, got in front of his man, held it up and ran the channels too. He was excellent for 20 minutes and won us free kicks and territory in the final third. This good play, culminated in the goal which was a cool finish after a good run. 3 in 4 games is an excellent return for him. Not sure he is a lone striker type but with our injuries and issues at this area of the field, he has done a really good job recently and now will go down in Sheffield folklore, for the winner at the Kop end in a Sheffield Derby. Outside of the goal probably a 5.5-6 but the goal pushed it up a fair bit!

Subs -

Seriki 7/10 – He did really well when he came on. A big call to give him the entire half but his pace and forward running caused them problems and he was a catalyst for our improvements. He did what he had to defensively too and won really good block when he got across. Not played many games for us, so to come on and be more then decent in a Sheffield derby and win must be a big fillet for him.

Peck 7/10 – Way off it in the week and felt recent games, when he has been given a chance, he has not been to the standards and promise he showed earlier in the season. Today, he came on and played really well, getting on the ball, winning tackles and covering a lot of ground. He was not sensational but solid and allowed us to win the middle of the field. He showed some composure towards the end with some neat skills to help us keep possession. Clearly loved it at the end too!

McCallum 6/10 – Did what he often does, coming on, moving down the left and winning headers and flicks. Ended up back at left back when Burrows went off.

One 6/10 – Put himself about and tried to win the odd flick and header but at this stage we were just content to see it out.

Robinson – Useful experience for the final moments.

Manager: Wilder 7/10 – Faced with some selection issues and limited striking options, coupled with losing Arblaster, he ended up having to use a lot of his squad and many young players. I thought first half we were slow and not winning enough battles/races. We did not move it on quick enough when we did have it, despite having lots of the ball. Not sure Wednesday were that great but the game was even. After the interval, the two youngsters gave us some more energy and we forced them back, had a few half chances and then got the goal. After this we looked like we may go and get another but then as it drifts towards the final 10-15, you just want to see it out. He used the subs well and we kind of eased to the win. It was not much different to games like Swansea and Derby etc but of course seems edgy and nervous as it’s against ‘them.’ In the end, 1-0 was about right and whilst we did not create much, our defence is so solid, it matters little seemingly and to end with so many youngsters playing, it’s another fantastic three points and of course even better against your city rivals.


Wednesday – They are a hit and miss side and have had some great results but many poor ones too and sit about two thirds in the table and expect they may finish around that position too. They lack the consistency and quality to really push up and trouble the playoffs but there are too many poor teams that they won’t be In danger. They have some days where they have some individuals that can cause teams issues but equally they have defenders who make some poor mistakes and they have too many days where they throw away goals.

I think they would of course, have been delighted to get anything today and kind of set up for a draw, with 5 at the back. However, they will have been pleased to restrict us to virtually nothing first half. The game plan went well, in that they were well in the game but they did not quite match our intensity second half and gave away a poor goal where they did not mark. It could have gone away from there, but they stayed in it but I expected them to push more towards the end but they sort of lost in a bit of a whimper really. We had got the lead and were happy to see it out. Seen some of their fans say they are happy with the performance as they expected to get beat by more and/or given more a going over. I suppose that is fine, but also shows where the city stands in terms of the far superior side/club. That sound arrogant but when a number are almost content or kind of ok with a defeat in a derby is telling. I am sure deep down they are not. I thought they may have had more of a go but never really tested us at all and we were happy as we had our goal. 1-0 or 4-0, it is still a win./defeat but some of their fans may see it differently but they also forget despite all the crap about parachute payments and wages (which are valid) we actually finished with a side that was very young and lacking in experience with many being u21 players for much of last, and indeed this season.

They were not awful but looked a limited side. They may argue, well we were not better. That is correct but our formula to be nice and solid defensively and nick the odd goal to win games, has worked much of the season and has been very effective. It is not like we have been destroying teams at home and have done what we did today, to a number of other teams.

They looked a side that lacks real quality on the ball and I think if we had beat another side (Swansea and Derby are two I have mentioned) then the celebration would be much more understated but of course the home fans/team will be much more delighted to win a local derby? I think there is no shame in that. I thought they were about what I expected them to be. Very limited but huffed and puffed. Sadly we were not quite at it on and off the ball but had a good spell, even for 10-15 minutes and that was enough to win the game.

Opponent Man of the Match – Charles was decent in the middle but Souza took over 2nd half and Loe actually had a decent game. Thought Musaba was lively when he came on but not sure anyone really worried me.

Opponent Weak link – Do not think anyone was awful but they had a lot of mediocre rather than good/bad performances (as did we to be fair!). Ugbo was awful and then Smith when he came on did not do much better (few bits of link play) as Souttar dominated defensively.

Referee/Officials – Lewis Smith. Thought he got too involved and then at times when we needed a firmer hand, failed to give it. He let them get away with so many throws/free kicks from the wrong areas. I also thought a number of 50-50’s went for them first half. Maybe that is me being a Blade but thought we got little from him. The foul on the keeper he gave he guessed as he was miles away. Arblaster got caught twice and he did not give a foul on either. Second half he continued to be a long way from play but he often played on when there was no advantage. In the end, a lot of grappling ended up in him having to get involved. Saw some Wednesday fans asking for a penalty for the one on Anel/Smith (the Wednesday many fouled him long before Anel threw him to the ground but Wednesday fans seem to conveniently forget this) but this was not much different for the one where Souttar and their centre half clashed near the Kop. In the end, none of his decisions realty impacted a tight game but he was a bit frustrating I felt. There was one big call, the Bannan one. I felt it was more like an orange card than yellow/red. My friend who was sat next to me felt he should have walked and technically, being high and late, he could have gone but then the tariff almost seems higher in a derby.

Crowd – Early kick offs, even in a derby, often mean it is a bit flat. There was a fair bit of noise to start but then the poor quality of the game and few chances meant neither sides supporters had much to shout about. After the interval we improve and the intensity was matched on the terraces. There was big noise on the goal and then as the game went on, the home fans admitted the dirty work with tackles, runs and blocks as we saw it out. Was a good atmosphere but a nervous one too. Despite, United being the favourites, not sure lots of Blades were supremely confident and felt it would be tight. That is why at the end, just winning the game and taking the spoils still leads to the euphoric scenes, even if it was a narrow in. It is a win and we have beat them lot. Lovely to have a few beers down London Road after and to see so many happy faces as people can go to work/school tomorrow and walk in with a real swagger! Enjoyed the ‘Sausage, sausage roll!’ chant too. Bit daft but you need this sort of wit at a football game and not always about swearing and offensive chants.

 

[Deadbat]

Sorry, thought I'd posted the ratings etc after! Least you had the anticipation!!!

 

[Deadbat]

Deadbat - when you're back, can you rate the poo out of 10?

7/10 - too many beers and a big full English not helped

 

[Rodley]

A few more random observations from the stats:

- Wendies pressing game was quite effective, as we usually have a fair few players with pass completion stats above 85%. Today we only had one, Anel, at 96%, which given how they pressed our back 4 is a great performance. And he made a couple of strong forward runs too. It also impacted on our creativity with only 5 key passes across our whole team.

- Soutar had 19 defensive contributions, more than double anyone else. 12 aerial duels won (next best 3) 7 clearances (next best 2). A colossal contribution.

- Burrows continues to be both a defensive and offensive power house, with twice as many successful tackles as anyone else, as well as most crosses (6)

- nothing too startling looking forward. Peck and Hamer had most dribbles, Hamer and Campbell most shots. But we didn’t create as much as we need to.

Just a quick nod to show I appreciate stats never show the complete picture and can be misleading - Hamer shows as having no key passes, as his outstanding work for the goal doesn’t count as the ball went first to O’Hare, before reaching Campbell. Yet his dummy leaving the baldy one looking foolish was a massive highlight!

Great summary, if ever get chance do post it again - good insight.

 

[Teofilo Cubillas]

Deadbat,
You really should make the effort to type out, Oné rather than the simpler One.
The forward accent on the "e", provides a complete different pronunciation or even name for that matter: "Won" vs "Oh'neh" Or, one syllable vs two syllables.
Just saying!

 

[Addison]

They had a brief period of about 10 minutes just before half time where they passed it around a lot and got a few crosses into our box. Outside of that it was press, kick anything that moves and hoof up to 70 minutes. They then brought on 2 whippets and decided to go for it. Musaba is rapid and Sereikis block was immense considering the ground he had to make up. Otherwise they achieved only one of their primary objectives of spoiling. The other of nicking a goal never looked close to materialising.

They are a big physical, hard working team but lack the class to cause teams problems up top. You can see why they have scraped some away wins over the last few weeks as they are difficult to break down but when they have to go out and win games at Home they are vulnerable as Watford proved recently.

Agree about JRS, disappointing, as we only began to exploit the weak link of Max Lowe when Seriki came on. Very good tactical move and today the manager out thought his opposite number. Its a win over them, 3 points no goals conceded so objective achieved.

A special mention for the referee he excelled today at being fckin useless. We were lucky to escape with only 1 injury as they targeted Arblaster. Time and time again he was ball watching as our players were hit with late tackles. His assistants are supposed to help him but rarely intervened. We didn't get any 50/50 decisions all game yet incredibly our neighbours were unhappy with him.

Glad we got that out of the way relatively unscathed. If potential new owners were watching they can only have been impressed with the atmosphere and intensity of the Sheffield Derby. CW's standing will have risen as a consequence.

 

[jiminiesmeow]

Great report again DB - only thing is, it's "Rak-Sakyi", not" Rak-Sayki" - otherwise, can't fault your opinions

 

[itsinyerblood]

Well done DB, know what you mean about Gus, but on close inspection some of his touches and close interplay is another level and we're fortunate to have Gustavo.
Of course we'd love him to retain more of the ball, but the guy can see things that others can't, and todays example of beginning the move that lead to our goal is a perfect example.

Excellent player and a shoo-in for our best eleven.

 

[Charlieblade]

Another quality report.

Credit to Wider for trusting the young subs second half. Those lads certainly had the ‘derby’ head on, and the rest improved because of it.

A real pity Blaster was carrying a knock/ off the pace. I think the armband got him as far as possible?

 

[coaxingstar71]

Thanks for the report Deadbat
Always a relief to win these games, especially when we were poor for much of it.
I thought the no.41 Gassama was their most dangerous player (one of the whippets) when he came on.

 

[Melbourne Blade]

Tough game to report on unfortunately. Both teams were poor and only a single shot in target defines the whole game really. Agree with some of the dirties in view from that nil nil (again) would probably have been a fair result.

I'm excited we can interchange Gilchrist and Seriki through the season (hopefully!) as the latter offers so much more going forward.

O'Hare did little apart from the assist and it's starting to worry me now that he may drift through the season - especially if we don't go up, could have spent the wages on a premier league loan.

We sorely missed Moore. Badly. He would have made a huge difference yesterday and wouldn't surprise me if we'd have won by 2 or 3 goals had he played.

 

[Blacksea]

We were excellent all game,our tactics suited the type of game we knew it was going to be,tight,niggly and physical.We made sure we were not bullied,we did the bullying and produced the class for the goal,we were brilliantly organised at the back and switched between long and short game going forward,we made sure to cut out unforced errors,our passing out of defence was good,we beat their press,and won the ball back in good amounts before they got near to threaten,plus winning important second balls, it was a classic old style 1-0 to the Arsenal win

 

[Revolution]

Nice report.

It seems to me that when you step back from it, and take all the local derby hype and tension out of it, it was more or less the same and all of the other post QPR games.

• we largely control the ball
• we don’t create much but inevitably find a way to score
• most of the players look average to good: few to no weak links
• most importantly, the opposition never look like scoring.

Mind you, I enjoyed the result a hell of a lot more this time.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Game was everything I expected it to be a typical scrappy derby , I think we knew they’d set up to spoil & sit deep & in the first half our players who can put their football on the ball / beat a man took the safe options .
A lot of credit wants sending Wilders way with the subs particularly bringing on Seriki for Gilchrist as that opened the pitch & game up & gave us a lot more width . Pecks introduction too for the injured Arblaster also gave us more bite in the middle & you saw Hamer come more into the game & Vini get more space to play in after .
Probably the only bit of telling quality won the game yesterday , Hamer’s feign to lose Bannan & slide rule pass into O’Hare , O’Hare giving eyes to the defender for a square pass return to Hamer but weighting it perfectly for the on rushing Campbell with a cool finish
They then resorted to bringing on Smith & launching high balls into him but Souttar & Anel mopped them up . The difference Souttar has made in there is immense, last season we would have dropped deeper & deeper defending against that , instead he won every one of those duals .
MOTM - Souttar .. good performances from Hamer , Souza , Anel , Peck & Seriki .
For them I have to say & surpringly so Lowe had a good game for them but I’m sure it’s one of those 1 in 10 before he gets injured again . All about the result yesterday & not the performance & a least the oinks can’t celebrate another 0-0 win at ours

Cooper 6.5
Gilchrist 5
Souttar 9
Anel 8
Burrows 6
Arblaster 5.5
Souza 8
Hamer 7.5
O’Hare 7
Campbell 6
Ram Saki 5

Seriki 7
Peck 7
McCallum 6
Robbo 6

 

[Barmyblade]

Thanks to both DB and Cool for their thoughts!

The spine of the team of Souttar, Souza and Moore is very strong and allows others to do the more sexy football. But we don’t really have adequate replacements for any of them in the event of injury or suspension. But we are doing fantastically well so far, and if we can keep it going until Jan, and with new owners can add 2 or 3, then who knows!

But with the prem being so miserable recently is that a dream or a nightmare?

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Was there any trouble outside ground?

I walked back on Shoreham St with kids to station and saw none, my ex wife said it all went off outside Cricks shed seen on Facebook, I'm not on it so didn't see.

Great day kids enjoyed their first derby, same as every home game since QPR, didnt look like conceding and found a way to score get in

 

[Shakin Stevens is my Dad]

7/10 - too many beers and a big full English not helped

I hope there was black pudding and fried bread on said full English. If so give yourself 10 out of 10.

 

[BerksBlade]

Hamer 7/10 – Might seem a touch high but felt every time we looked like creating something, he was the man who was orchestrating things. He does give it away and tries to play the Hollywood ball too much, but he always will keep trying things. Some of his passes were wasteful but some good balls too where he moved us up the pitch at pace. He was central to the goal with a jink and pass. Some moments of real composure and class at the end as we saw the game out.

That's the thing with Gus - he will give the ball away because he tries things that other players wouldn't.
He was good on the defensive side too - 2 or 3 times he was the one tracking back to stop a Wednesday breakaway.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

A poor game, with one bit of quality separating the two sides.
On that basis, you have to conclude we deserved it (0 shots on target for Weds & no clearcut chances).
I also feel, had we not scored when we did, we would have kept knocking and eventually got there. We have gears to go through.

The game wasn't dissimilar to a lot of our fixtures, where we don't look great on the eye, but we're solid, functional and have just enough to win.

First half, I was really disappointed in us. I thought the occasion got the better of some of our youngsters and Wednesday seemed more up for it.
They got forward in numbers and we didn't give them much to think about defensively, choosing to go long far too often.

Second half, some good substitutions and the goal was really well worked by Hamer, O'Hare and a good finish from Campbell.
We controlled possession and dictated most of the game, won the majority of the duels both on the floor and in the air (Souttar immense).

A lot of Wednesday fans seem to think they dominated the last 20, but that's not my memory.
I thought we improved after our goal and Souttar, Anel and Souza totally dominated the middle of the pitch (a recurring theme this season).
They did nothing to cause concern.

In terms of Wednesday, they looked OK. They defended smartly and didn't allow a 1 on 1 situation to develop between JRS & Lowe (a clear tactic of ours).
Charles and Bannan are tidy in the middle of the pitch, but they lacked imagination going forwards.

They'll probably flirt with the play-offs at times this season but ultimately fall short. That would still be a big achievement for them considering how Rohl found them.
They'll do well to keep hold of him.

 

[bakeblade]

A poor game, with one bit of quality separating the two sides.
On that basis, you have to conclude we deserved it (0 shots on target for Weds & no clearcut chances).
I also feel, had we not scored when we did, we would have kept knocking and eventually got there. We have gears to go through.

The game wasn't dissimilar to a lot of our fixtures, where we don't look great on the eye, but we're solid, functional and have just enough to win.

First half, I was really disappointed in us. I thought the occasion got the better of some of our youngsters and Wednesday seemed more up for it.
They got forward in numbers and we didn't give them much to think about defensively, choosing to go long far too often.

Second half, some good substitutions and the goal was really well worked by Hamer, O'Hare and a good finish from Campbell.
We controlled possession and dictated most of the game, won the majority of the duels both on the floor and in the air (Souttar immense).

A lot of Wednesday fans seem to think they dominated the last 20, but that's not my memory.
I thought we improved after our goal and Souttar, Anel and Souza totally dominated the middle of the pitch (a recurring theme this season).
They did nothing to cause concern.

In terms of Wednesday, they looked OK. They defended smartly and didn't allow a 1 on 1 situation to develop between JRS & Lowe (a clear tactic of ours).
Charles and Bannan are tidy in the middle of the pitch, but they lacked imagination going forwards.

They'll probably flirt with the play-offs at times this season but ultimately fall short. That would still be a big achievement for them considering how Rohl found them.
They'll do well to keep hold of him.

I can't see them being anywhere near the playoffs unless they spend big in January

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I can't see them being anywhere near the playoffs unless they spend big in January

I think they could be one of several teams that with a handful of games to go, could make them with a really unlikely run.
But, as I say, ultimately think they'll fall short. 11-15th.