Deadbat
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Sorry for late report- went out after the match.
The Blades got their first victory at Bramall Lane and made it two wins in a week as they saw off Crawley thanks to Jose Baxter’s superb long range strike. United had been fortunate to go in at half time still all square after a poor performance but improved significantly after the break and were the better side after the interval. Still despite Baxter’s strike; United were far from convincing and spent several minutes at the end of the game trying to kill off time such was their desire to get up and running at the Lane.
Clough had opted to tinker with his starting line up with Michael Higdon coming in for Marc McNulty after the win at Peterborough in the week. Crawley had lost their first game of the season in midweek at home to Bradford and began with former Blade loanee Izale McLeod.
The game began with little in the way of goal mouth action with Davies trying to cause problems with his delivery from wide but the game was played in the middle of the field for the opening stages. United were sloppy in possession and were struggling make much headway and gradually it was the visitors who began to start to take the ascendancy. They had a chance when Doyle and Collins both left it to each other and Young was in on the angle but his shot was a nice height for Howard and pushed away. Soon after McLeod was nearly in after more hesitancy; this time from Collins and McGahey but the ball was eventually cleared.
United were giving the ball away and not showing enough urgency. Crawley were in control of the game but had not created much themselves despite seeing more of the ball and having the few chances that had been created.
The lack of fluency in the home side’s performance continued as Higdon was unable to hold the ball up and the midfield struggling to get to grips with some lively runners from the visitors.
United had a rare chance just after the half hour when a trip on Murphy saw Davies hit a free kick that Jensen did well to finally gather as a sea of bodies converged on him. Soon after though it was Crawley back on the attack though and as the ball broke through Henderson managed to get away from the defence and hit a rising shot that hit the bar. The eventual follow up was blocked well by McEveley as the home crowd showed their frustration. Soon after McLeod blazed over and the half time whistle could not come quick enough for the
Blades who were slightly fortunate to go in level.
The second half clearly saw that Clough’s words had some effect as the tempo was much better from the Blades. They were quicker to the ball and were getting it forward quicker. It did not take long for this improvement to get rewarded.
After Higdon held the ball up and moved it wide, Murphy then found Alcock who played a ball inside. BAXTER hit it first time using the momentum of the pass to get the necessary whip on the shot. It nestled just inside the far post giving the motionless Jensen no chance. It was an excellent goal and one that lit up a mostly dreary contest. The goal scorer slid on his knees in front of the United bench, using the now wet surface after the first half downpour to good effect!
Soon after United nearly made it two as again Baxter was at the end of a move but this time his low shot went just wide of the post. United came again as Davies showed some good work to get in and maybe could have shot but his pull back gave Hidgon a chance but it was blocked. Basham then had an effort cleared and Davies again nearly forged a chance.
Crawley were struggling to stop the attacks now and the game was being played entirely in their third. Flynn came on for Baxter who may have taken a slight knock and then soon after this McGahey had a chance but badly scuffed wide after Jensen could not deal with a corner.
Reed came on for Higdon as United now sought to hold onto what they had got and ended up with an odd formation with Murphy the most advanced player. The home side opted to take the ball into the corner with 4 minutes left and this drew some groans from the fans but they were able to kill off a considerable amount of time. This pattern repeated itself often during the closing stages. Harris came on for McEveley right before the end and instantly nearly made a second as he advanced down the left on the overlap and pulled back but Davies put it wide when he should have sealed the game.
The game entered four minutes of additional time and in this period Crawley forced a late corner with big Jensen going up. The ball fell and a shot came in but hit a United player and was cleared. The throw in could not be taken as D’Urso called time on proceedings and marked United’s first home win.
United – It was not totally convincing. The first half was turgid and United never got going. We sat off when they had it, were careless when we had it and the whole tempo was woefully slow. We looked like we were playing a practice match and no one got the game by the scruff of the neck. So many players were 5 yards off the play or had awful first touches. The crowd were getting frustrated and other than Davies’ dead ball delivery never really looked like scoring at all. We were lucky to go in level as had a let off when they hit the bar. We had nothing up top with Higdon very poor and Murphy struggling to get past his man again.
Second half we improved and seemed to simply up the tempo and play further up the field. The defence pressed and the midfield were sharper to get to the ball. We started to have more of the ball and get the ball wide and into good areas to start creating things. Baxter scored a great goal and then we could have had a couple more with Davies and Baxter seemingly involved in most good things we did going forward. Still the second goal did not come and then we had a nervy final stage to the game as United opted to hold what they had rather than go for another goal. The crowd became frustrated and also held their breath as they had a shot from a corner right at the end that was blocked.
Still it was just important to get the win and nice to finally see a clean sheet. It was a poor game and a mixed performance. We are up and running and whilst a few of the new signings are yet to fully convince, a few (the full backs) have been steady. Too many from last season have yet to get going and we are operating with a lot of so-so performances. I hope we can continue to edge up the league but we do have a tough test at Preston next week. We need to just stay in and around the top 6 and then hope that individuals improve, we can settle to some sort of regular side but also maybe add 1 or 2 real quality rather than the quantity that we seem to have added.
Crawley – Gregory said it was the best performance he had seen since he came to the club which maybe was going a bit far but they played well first half and I felt they should have been winning at half time. They had 2 or 3 chances and were on top. They pressed us and were able to defend in numbers when they had to (all men back on corners and free kicks) but did get forward in numbers at times when they did break. The fact they only named 5 subs shows the comparison in resources of the two sides but for the first half they looked much better and more determined than us. After the break United upped the tempo and it seemed they regressed quite a lot. I felt they had a really wobbly spell around the goal and they could have conceded again. They hung in there though and was able to have another little go again at the end but it was probably too little, too late and the home side held on.
They have a mixture of some experienced players (Jensen, McLeod, Leacock) who seemed to have played for a lot of clubs with some young players and some carry overs from last season but read that they too have made a lot of changes and would have expected a bedding in period. They won the first two and have lost two this week; the polar opposite to United. Where will they finish? Not sure but I think they will be closer to the bottom than top but on the game against United I would suggest they would have plenty to avoid being in a relegation scrap. Gregory has been about and the squad has enough of that aforementioned experience to be ok. Of course if the pitch causes issues again in the winter and the postponements mount up then that could change things!
The Blades got their first victory at Bramall Lane and made it two wins in a week as they saw off Crawley thanks to Jose Baxter’s superb long range strike. United had been fortunate to go in at half time still all square after a poor performance but improved significantly after the break and were the better side after the interval. Still despite Baxter’s strike; United were far from convincing and spent several minutes at the end of the game trying to kill off time such was their desire to get up and running at the Lane.
Clough had opted to tinker with his starting line up with Michael Higdon coming in for Marc McNulty after the win at Peterborough in the week. Crawley had lost their first game of the season in midweek at home to Bradford and began with former Blade loanee Izale McLeod.
The game began with little in the way of goal mouth action with Davies trying to cause problems with his delivery from wide but the game was played in the middle of the field for the opening stages. United were sloppy in possession and were struggling make much headway and gradually it was the visitors who began to start to take the ascendancy. They had a chance when Doyle and Collins both left it to each other and Young was in on the angle but his shot was a nice height for Howard and pushed away. Soon after McLeod was nearly in after more hesitancy; this time from Collins and McGahey but the ball was eventually cleared.
United were giving the ball away and not showing enough urgency. Crawley were in control of the game but had not created much themselves despite seeing more of the ball and having the few chances that had been created.
The lack of fluency in the home side’s performance continued as Higdon was unable to hold the ball up and the midfield struggling to get to grips with some lively runners from the visitors.
United had a rare chance just after the half hour when a trip on Murphy saw Davies hit a free kick that Jensen did well to finally gather as a sea of bodies converged on him. Soon after though it was Crawley back on the attack though and as the ball broke through Henderson managed to get away from the defence and hit a rising shot that hit the bar. The eventual follow up was blocked well by McEveley as the home crowd showed their frustration. Soon after McLeod blazed over and the half time whistle could not come quick enough for the
Blades who were slightly fortunate to go in level.
The second half clearly saw that Clough’s words had some effect as the tempo was much better from the Blades. They were quicker to the ball and were getting it forward quicker. It did not take long for this improvement to get rewarded.
After Higdon held the ball up and moved it wide, Murphy then found Alcock who played a ball inside. BAXTER hit it first time using the momentum of the pass to get the necessary whip on the shot. It nestled just inside the far post giving the motionless Jensen no chance. It was an excellent goal and one that lit up a mostly dreary contest. The goal scorer slid on his knees in front of the United bench, using the now wet surface after the first half downpour to good effect!
Soon after United nearly made it two as again Baxter was at the end of a move but this time his low shot went just wide of the post. United came again as Davies showed some good work to get in and maybe could have shot but his pull back gave Hidgon a chance but it was blocked. Basham then had an effort cleared and Davies again nearly forged a chance.
Crawley were struggling to stop the attacks now and the game was being played entirely in their third. Flynn came on for Baxter who may have taken a slight knock and then soon after this McGahey had a chance but badly scuffed wide after Jensen could not deal with a corner.
Reed came on for Higdon as United now sought to hold onto what they had got and ended up with an odd formation with Murphy the most advanced player. The home side opted to take the ball into the corner with 4 minutes left and this drew some groans from the fans but they were able to kill off a considerable amount of time. This pattern repeated itself often during the closing stages. Harris came on for McEveley right before the end and instantly nearly made a second as he advanced down the left on the overlap and pulled back but Davies put it wide when he should have sealed the game.
The game entered four minutes of additional time and in this period Crawley forced a late corner with big Jensen going up. The ball fell and a shot came in but hit a United player and was cleared. The throw in could not be taken as D’Urso called time on proceedings and marked United’s first home win.
United – It was not totally convincing. The first half was turgid and United never got going. We sat off when they had it, were careless when we had it and the whole tempo was woefully slow. We looked like we were playing a practice match and no one got the game by the scruff of the neck. So many players were 5 yards off the play or had awful first touches. The crowd were getting frustrated and other than Davies’ dead ball delivery never really looked like scoring at all. We were lucky to go in level as had a let off when they hit the bar. We had nothing up top with Higdon very poor and Murphy struggling to get past his man again.
Second half we improved and seemed to simply up the tempo and play further up the field. The defence pressed and the midfield were sharper to get to the ball. We started to have more of the ball and get the ball wide and into good areas to start creating things. Baxter scored a great goal and then we could have had a couple more with Davies and Baxter seemingly involved in most good things we did going forward. Still the second goal did not come and then we had a nervy final stage to the game as United opted to hold what they had rather than go for another goal. The crowd became frustrated and also held their breath as they had a shot from a corner right at the end that was blocked.
Still it was just important to get the win and nice to finally see a clean sheet. It was a poor game and a mixed performance. We are up and running and whilst a few of the new signings are yet to fully convince, a few (the full backs) have been steady. Too many from last season have yet to get going and we are operating with a lot of so-so performances. I hope we can continue to edge up the league but we do have a tough test at Preston next week. We need to just stay in and around the top 6 and then hope that individuals improve, we can settle to some sort of regular side but also maybe add 1 or 2 real quality rather than the quantity that we seem to have added.
Crawley – Gregory said it was the best performance he had seen since he came to the club which maybe was going a bit far but they played well first half and I felt they should have been winning at half time. They had 2 or 3 chances and were on top. They pressed us and were able to defend in numbers when they had to (all men back on corners and free kicks) but did get forward in numbers at times when they did break. The fact they only named 5 subs shows the comparison in resources of the two sides but for the first half they looked much better and more determined than us. After the break United upped the tempo and it seemed they regressed quite a lot. I felt they had a really wobbly spell around the goal and they could have conceded again. They hung in there though and was able to have another little go again at the end but it was probably too little, too late and the home side held on.
They have a mixture of some experienced players (Jensen, McLeod, Leacock) who seemed to have played for a lot of clubs with some young players and some carry overs from last season but read that they too have made a lot of changes and would have expected a bedding in period. They won the first two and have lost two this week; the polar opposite to United. Where will they finish? Not sure but I think they will be closer to the bottom than top but on the game against United I would suggest they would have plenty to avoid being in a relegation scrap. Gregory has been about and the squad has enough of that aforementioned experience to be ok. Of course if the pitch causes issues again in the winter and the postponements mount up then that could change things!
