Yesterdays midday kick-off against Scunthorpe United, at Glanford Park, saw the Blades taste a 3-2 defeat, and it was a defeat for the first time this pre-season. It marked a rare loss in a friendly as United hadn’t lost since the pre-season of 19/20, when they lost 2-1 to Burton.
The National League side struck first as a cross into the box by Nuttall found its way to Daniel who took a touch and the ball bounced up, and was ready to be hit on the volley. The volley was driven low and found its way into the bottom-left-hand corner of Jordan Amissah’s goal.
A trialist for the home side played a precise cross-field pass to Daniel who then saw Beestin free in the penalty area. He received the ball and from around ten yards out he slotted the ball under the Blades u23’s goalkeeper. That made it 2-0 in the first half.
The home side got a third goal, as Daniel got his second of the game. A cross in from the left-hand flank by O’Malley was met by the head of the Scunthorpe midfielder who produced a strong header to beat Amissah. Making it 3-0 just before the half-time interval.
United made six substitutions with around 20 minutes left and immediately George Baldock and striker Rhian Brewster combined to give Sheffield United their first goal of the game. A cross in from Baldock found the head of Brewster who produced a powerful header, which made its way into the top-right-hand corner of the on loan Blades u23’s goalkeeper Marcus Dewhurst.
Not long after, they grabbed their second of the game. Iliman Ndiaye found himself in a position on the edge of the Iron’s area and he beat several Scunthorpe players before slotting the ball into the bottom corner. A strong low driven shot gave the Blades their second goal and put them right back into the game. Ultimately they couldn’t level things up and the game ended Scunthorpe United 3-2 Sheffield United, in the blazing heat on Saturday afternoon.
IRON: Dewhurst, O’Malley (Lewis, 68’), Whitehouse (Rowe, 63’), Boyce, Feeney (Wilson, 57’), Beestin (Shrimpton, 34’), Nuttall (Sellars-Fleming, 68’), Butterfield (Cribb, 55’), Taft, Daniel (Moore-Billam, 63’), Gallimore.
IRON SUBS NOT USED: Foster.
SHEFFIELD UNITED: Amissah, Fleck (Baldock, 73’), Basham (Ahemedhodzic, 39’), Egan (Osborn, 73’), Lowe, Broadbent (Gordon, 73’), Robinson (Clark, 73’), Coulibaly (Brewster, 73’), Arblaster (Norwood, 63’), Osula (Ndiaye, 46’), Jebbison (Berge, 73’).
SHEFFIELD UNITED SUBS NOT USED: Wharton.
ATTENDANCE: 2,532.