Sheffield United?s promotion hopes are firmly back on track after they picked up 3 valuable points on their first ever visit to Southampton?s St. Mary?s Stadium. Following Saturday?s first home defeat of the season against Norwich, Neil Warnock made 3 changes and opted for a 3-pronged attack with Danny Webber, Steven Kabba and Neil Shipperley all starting. It was the former Saints hit man Shipperley who proved to be the difference between the sides as he fired home the only goal of the game on 55 minutes to hand the Blades all 3 points.
The game started at quite a pace with Saints winger Nathan Dyer causing all sorts of problems down the right. Phil Jagielka tried his luck with a long-range shot before Dyer found Kenwyne Jones, whose through-ball picked but Djamel Belmadi but his cross come shot was blocked. Matthew Mills then found Nathan Dyer who was racing through on goal but his final touch let him down and Paddy Kenny gathered the ball. Nick Montgomery attempted a low long-range drive on 17 minutes and the shot was heading for the far corner but Paul Smith parried the ball just wide. The boo?s from the home crowd got louder for former Portsmouth defender David Unsworth as he picked up a booking for flattening the shifty Dyer on 19 minutes.
The action was becoming worse as time ticked on and both sides were happy to go into the break goal less. As the teams re-emerged for the second half, the early signs were similar to the first period, with neither side looking clinical in front of goal. That was until target man Neil Shipperley popped up to bag his 9th goal of the season. ?Shipps? beat the offside trap with precision and neatly controlled Danny Webber?s quality low cross before smashing past Paul Smith in the Southampton goal. The big man has had his critics this season for often being anonymous but nobody can fault his goal tally and he merits his place in the side. The Blades were then in control of the game and could have bagged a couple more. First, Danny Webber raced through on goal but a deft miss-touch allowed a back-tracking Saints defender the chance to clear. Some neat work by Steven Kabba and a beautifully-timed back heel by Phil Jagielka left the former with a run at goal, albeit from a tight angle. He had options in the middle but opted for a powerful shot, which proved to be the wrong decision as the ball flew high and wide.
Teenage sensation Theo Walcott, who is being tracked by a host of top-flight clubs, was introduced on the hour to chants of ??who are ya!?? by Blades fans. The United backline, who looked so frail against Norwich on Boxing Day, held firm though as the 17-year-old failed to impress, where Brett Ormerod and Kenwyne Jones had already failed. Saints were forced into long-range efforts with the usually lively Nigel Quashie firing wide on 65 minutes. Chris Morgan was booked for hacking down Walcott. Kenwyne Jones raced down the right and attempted an early shot which was watched over the bar by Paddy Kenny. Jones was causing problems again on 76 minutes and his cross flew across the face of goal but substitute Dexter Blackstock couldn?t get enough on the ball and saw his slight flick past the far post.
The fizzled out as the Blades stood strong and had done enough to pick up all 3 points and left new Saints boss George Burley still searching for his first win.
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