Deadbat’s report on last night’s Sheffield derby. Sheffield United were indebted to the brilliance of leading scorer James Beattie to salvage a point against their city neighbours in an exciting contest at Bramall Lane, in a game that had look lost when Adam Bolder had notched a brace either side of half time. United were unable to carry on their free flowing football they had shown in previous weeks as battling Wednesday were able to win their share of individual battle and in turn create enough chances to worry the United back line. United fans will have reckoned that they would take revenge for their pitiful performance against their rivals back in January but in reality the contest turned into an almighty struggle and United were fortunate to take a point from a contest they had looked like losing for long periods and in doing so prevented Wednesday from completing their first Derby double since 1914.
United began by recalling Paddy Kenny, Chris Morgan and Derek Geary at the expense of the unfortunate Ian Bennett, Ugo Ehiogu and John Halls. Just prior to the game, their was a minute`s applause held in tribute to the late Derek Dooley, with his name echoing around Bramall Lane from both sets of supporters in an emotional tribute.
The game began at a frenetic pace with Wednesday forcing an early corner that came to nothing and then Sharp forcing Grant to save from a promising United move. Speed then tested Grant with a long range free kick but the ex Derby keeper fielded comfortably before Wednesday were soon on the offensive themselves with Johnson forcing Kenny into a low save. Sharp then had the best effort on goal so far but his curling effort from the left was clawed away by Grant and out for a corner kick. United had a good spell of pressure but could not deliver the killer ball with Cotterill despite wasting two good opportunities after good initial build up. The game had swung from end to end so far and Wednesday were giving as good as they got. Indeed, Songo`o and Johnson were causing problems for both United full backs with Geary and Naysmith at full stretch. From another promising Wednesday break, they stunned the home crowd by taking the lead. The ball fell into the path of Watson who rode through two challenges before floating a cross to the far post and over the United defence. The waiting BOLDER could not miss and nodded the ball downwards and in, despite Kenny`s attempts to clear. United`s response was instant and Tonge fired only narrowly over but they were fortunate not to be further behind when Wednesday broke again with Songo`o hitting a fierce shot which Kenny did well to palm behind and then broke once again before firing across goal. United`s first half performance had not been good enough and despite spending large spells with the ball, they had not created many clear cut chances and had looked vulnerable on the break.
The second half began with United forcing Wednesday back in the early stages and Beattie had a powerful header just over from an inswinging Tonge corner. However, Wednesday were not content to sit back and it was Songo`o again causing problems and he had another effort at Kenny, but this time it lacked power to worry the United keeper. However, the winger was back on the attack again, once again beating Geary down the left side before cutting inside and drilling a fierce cross shot that Kenny could only parry into the path of BOLDER who gleefully turned home from only a few yards. The 3,000 Wednesday fans behind the goal went into delirium, as did the Wednesday players who mobbed the two goal Bolder. United`s fans and players were stunned and for a stage after they could not get a foothold in the game but suddenly from an innocuous opening were back in it.
Quinn`s cross was laid back by Sharp into the path of who struck a shot goal wards. Grant saved the initial shot but the ball caromed off WOOD and into the net to suddenly give United hope. Quinn was replaced not long after by Stead who came on to play wide left as United sought to complete their comeback. From one such attack, Sharp sent over an inviting cross and Stead seemed set to score but Grant made a miraculous save from the striker`s driven shot before gathering after the ensuing scramble. Slusarski had now replaced Sahar and had an effort on goal that Kenny did well to smother before Johnson broke but could not find a teammate as the visitors suddenly had 3 on 1 for a period. United were now starting to pump the ball forward in an effort to find the vital equaliser but it seemed as if Wednesday`s resolute defence would hold out, which was now shored up by a third centre back Hinds. Speed was clumsily tripped by O` Brien to give United an opening and from it they found a moment of magic by their leading scorer. BEATTIE stepped up to take the free kick and he smashed an absolute peach past Grant`s left hand at the Kop End and to send most of the ground into raptures. After the celebrations died down, United were back on the attack soon again and looking to complete a remarkable comeback but it was Wednesday who actually had the best chance of the final moments of the game with Johnson`s cross field ball just evading the waiting players as the ground held its breath. Not long after referee Bennett ended proceedings with both teams having to settle for a draw. Wednesday may have settled for this verdict before the game but it was United in the end that were probably the more relieved considering the circumstances of the contest.
Player Ratings
Kenny 7/10
Made one or two really smart saves from Johnson and Songo`o in particular despite being badly exposed and given little to no protection by his defence. Maybe could have done a bit better with second but that perhaps being ultra harsh and that once again his defenders should have reacted to the parry to clear.
Geary 4/10
I thought he was given a torrid time by Songo`o all night and really was at full stretch. Songo`o beat him for pace and trickery on a number of occasions and was probably the outstanding player on the pitch, certainly for Wednesday. Geary was found wanting on both goals, not covering when Bolder stole in and also he was beaten badly by Songo`o which led to the second. Yes, he won the odd tackle but his actual basic defending was really poor tonight.
Naysmith 5/10
He was back to the poor standards of earlier in the season tonight in my opinion. I felt Johnson caused him real problems and he struggled with his pace. At times he did stop him and at least did put a body on Johnson but like Geary, Naysmith was always at full stretch and against pace he really struggles. I also felt he went to ground too easily, instead of doing the basics and getting in the right positions. His poor attempt to tackle led to the first goal. His job, like Geary`s, is to stop the cross or his winger and he did not do that enough tonight.
Kilgallon 6/10
He was ok and made some good blocks and tackles but like the rest of the defence seemed to get pulled around too much and was worryingly struggling to cope with Wednesday`s movement. He at least stuck to his task and did not lose his head as many of the other defenders around him did but showed his lack of strength in physical challenges even against strikers of relatively smaller build.
Morgan 5/10
Really poor tonight. He actually struggled with Burton physically and aerially which is odd but is a testament to how strong Burton is physically but also how poor Morgan was. Morgan did not win enough headers and did not get to the ball first enough allowing his opponent to bring it down and play others in. His actual clearances and tackles were also not of the same standard with many miskicks and hacks a feature of his sub standard defending tonight.
Speed 6/10
I felt he let the game bypass him for long periods and Kavanagh and Bolder seemed to win a lot of the ball and seemed to have more movement around the centre. Him and Tonge were too static and too one paced, particularly in the first half. He got a bit better after they went 2-0 up but he is not someone who is going to be a massive factor for us next season and at best will play 20 odd games and be a coach. We need more movement, more creativity and more fluency in the middle.
Tonge 6.5/10
Poor first half and got hustled out of things by his opponents but started to finally get hold of the ball and try and pass it. He was the only one who wanted to get hold of it and try and make things happen. Even he was frustrated with his teammates and their lack of movement but at least he tried to get it down and tried to get it wide or play it to feet.
Cotterill 5/10
He did ok for spells in the first half and did have one or two runs but his final ball let him down. Second half I thought he was very poor. He wasted numerous balls and also worryingly actually avoided contact in 3 or 4 50/50`s and also tossed the ball away or took too long to react to situations such as loose balls that he seemed to be favourite to win. His performance tonight was as poor as it was good on Saturday.
Quinn 4.5/10
Really poor performance. He did not seem to fancy it tonight and lost most of his challenges with Watson and also gave the ball away far too much. He could have easily been substituted at half time but was rightly taken off on the hour as he was contributing next to nothing.
Sharp 5.5/10
Thought he was not in it tonight and that Beevers and Wood were too strong for him physically. He did not really have any real chances and also did not keep the ball enough. Furthermore, a schoolboy error where he commited the most obvious foul throw ever, actually led to them breaking to score the first goal. He could easily have been taken off tonight.
Beattie 8/10
Excellent. He was one of the few constants despite us struggling for periods of the game and looking a beaten side. He won headers, chased lost causes, held the ball up, contributed massively to the first and then scored a wonder free kick. Looked every inch a Premiership striker and of course will probably leave us to be one at the end of the campaign.
United
Did not think we were great tonight. Sure we did have more of the ball for long periods tonight but we did not create enough chances for me and still did not keep the ball well enough. At the back I felt we struggled and certain pessimistic fans opinions that we would struggle with pace proved prophetic as Johnson and in particular Songo`o caused a whole manner of problems. I felt our centre backs too were not great tonight and was surprised at how Morgan struggled with Burton, particularly in the air. We got caught too many times on the break for a side at home and Wednesday actually could have scored 2 or 3 more goals with better composure. The lack of pace and mobility in our side, even against a poor side like them, really showed tonight, as we looked one paced and pedestrian particularly at the back. We are still 3 or 4 players, at least, off being a promotion contender in the Championship and still need a class act in central midfield. Tonge and Speed are steady but that is it. You cannot get away with two such slow, one paced players, who also both notably do not enjoy physical contact, in the centre of the park. We did not really create much either tonight, other than drop downs or from the strong play of Beattie. I felt Cotterill and Quinn gave us next to nothing and was really disappointed in the former who I felt would be a match winner tonight. Similarly, Sharp was not in the game and revered to the timid, weak and slow forward we had seen earlier in the season. He seemed to just give up and by the early stages of the second half was positively in his shell. We need some genuine pace down the flanks and some level of consistency. If we had their two wingers tonight we would have won the game easily. I was really disappointed that we lost two such innocuous goals just before and after half time and unfortunately have to place a large portion of the blame on the defence with Geary and Naysmith failing completely to stop crosses. After we came back, I felt we may go and win, as we had 5 minutes + 4 minutes of stoppage time but they actually had most of the game after this and had one or two decent half chances. We almost stopped after equalising when I felt if we had surged forward their defence was showing real signs of crumbling.
Crowd
Ground was full, save for odd seat here and there and was a really good atmosphere, despite us going behind and seemingly looking doomed. United fans at least kept singing and did not turn completely when they went behind. It would have been interesting to see what happened if it had been 2-0 for a longer period though and it was a relief when we scored so the crowd could get back into it. There was actually quite a bit of trouble and fighting in the Kop and the far end of the South Stand, near the Bramall Lane end, when Wednesday scored the second. Some around us said there were a couple of Wednesday fans on the Kop and one had a shirt on? However, the stewards eventually moved in but not until several punches had been thrown. It was a good 5 minutes before the police arrived which was remarkable considering their presence around the city centre before the game. So they can stop groups of 4 or more going in pubs together for fear of trouble but when a full-scale fight breaks out they stand back and watch.