I remember the 1983/84 promotion season, amongst other things, for our final match being as unusually flat as you could imagine for a promotion season.
We played Newport at the Lane, and were just 1 point ahead of Hull who had 2 games left, with us having seemingly thrown it away with 2 consecutive defeats to Wimbledon and Bolton. The gate v Newport was 6,000 down on the gate v Wimbledon, which was a fair barometer of the mood. I'm not sure many believed it would swing in our favour.
I don't recall United really going for it either. We won 2-0 (Edwards and Arnott) but it was all a bit routine and felt academic until after the final whistle when we then found out that Hull had only drawn at Bristol Rovers, I think. No constant score updates from other games in those days. Even then, though, my recollection is of a feeling, leaving the ground, of disappointment that we hadn't really gone for it against Newport and put the goal difference out of reach.