It?s a miserable, cold winter day. All over there are woolly hats, scarves and flasks full of Bovril as many do their best to find comfort in the dismal conditions. Yet the whole place is buzzing with the excitement. The two armies in the stands are exerting their lungs to the fullest extent because they care, so much, about the eleven men that are about to make ten?s of thousands of people, up and down the country, ecstatic. The crisp red and white shirts ripple gently in the wind, as the atmosphere engulfs over 30,000 people, including the 22 on the centre stage. The referee blows his whistle, and the biggest derby in England erupts in to action.
After just four minutes, United made a statement of their intent when Steven Kabba almost grabbed the first goal in a well-worked move; the ball was played into the Wednesday penalty area with Jagielka and Shipperley linking well, after a precise turn Webber sharply cut the ball across the front of goal, only for Kabba to lose the ball in his own feet. The pressure continued from the Blades and Wednesday?s only respite came with a 30-yard effort from David Graham, more in desperation than purpose. Eventually United got their reward with a goal on 24 minutes, captain Phil Jagielka won the ball on half way, feeding the ball onto Steven Kabba. He played a neat one-two with Danny Webber, whipping the ball in to the Owl?s penalty area. After a moment of madness Alan Quinn, an ex-Wednesday player, came steaming in to the area with passion and firing at goal with vengeance, the ball was already, or almost, in when it deflected off Neil Shipperley, but there was no taking this one off Quinny who raced to celebrate with fellow Irishmen Derek Geary and Paddy Kenny.
Moments later, Quinn was hungry for more as he looked to double his tally from a 25-yard free kick, tipped just wide by the outstretched Nicky Weaver, down low to his left. The resulting corner was whipped in and clumsily punched into his own net by Weaver, however, the Wednesday loanee?s blushes were saved as the referee spotted a foul in the area, and disallowed the goal.
It was another Wednesday loanee Daryl Murphy who made the most impact on the closing proceedings of the first half as he went close with headers from a couple of corners, and most notably, on 41 minutes firing just wide after making inroads into the guarded United area.
At the break, United had dominated the game so far and deserved to go into the dressing room with a hefty lead. Wednesday had ridden their luck to keep the game within reaching distance, producing efforts on goal in the dying embers of the first half.
The tempo of the first half was not carried into the second, and it was pretty dire stuff. The away end made some noise ? the very ordinary chant ??woooah you fat b*****d?? ? as Paddy Kenny took a goal kick ? to which he responded with a ?1-0? hand gesture. It took 9 minutes to create the first tangible chance of the half; David Graham cross finding Daryl Murphy offside.
On 68 minutes United had a stonewall penalty appeal turned down, when defender Rob Kozluk was clipped as he darted in to the area, however the theatrical manner in which he plummeted to the ground shrouded the referees judgement and United didn?t get the penalty they deserved.
As time wore on Wednesday continued to push forward but United?s resilient defence were somewhat impenetrable. Their opponents resorted to long range efforts and the Blades began to sweat, Burton O? Brian came within inches of grabbing a equalizing after his driven shot came agonisingly close to Paddy Kenny?s goal.
Wednesday did have the ball in the back of the net from a corner but Brian Coughlan?s header was ruled out after the referee spotted a foul prior to the ball crossing the line. Despite a lot of possession the only other chance for Wednesday came from a driven Chris Brunt free kick bounced awkwardly in front of Kenny, but the Blades keeper was equal to it.
United deserved their win, just. Wednesday played their way back into the game but should never have been allowed to. The Owls didn?t capitalise though and never really looked clinical in front of goal. The Blades will need to move up a few gears if they are serious about reaching the Premiership. However, the win could, hopefully propel the team back on track. By the end of the season I get the feeling that this is the one we?ll look back on!
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