On Saturday Kevin Blackwell claimed Leeds had enough chances to "sink a battleship" and last night whilst we did not quite match that we did come close. Admittedly not every chance was a golden one but we still created plenty last night.

The zippy attacking football that we have seen in the past 2 games was there but not showing it's head as much as I would have liked. At the time I put it down to us not really getting going but on reflection this was probably owed more to Sheffield United's play. They had done their homework on us and were also a typical Neil Warnock team. They were organised, knew how to stop us and basically kicked and bullied their way around the pitch...Nothing wrong with that and well done for playing to their strenghts. As a Warnock side, this was to be expected but they added a new dimension to their game as well as they committed countless handballs. I lost count on the number of handball appeals we had and ok, some may have been more in hope than anything but most were blatant. There were even a couple right infront of the referee and he still failed to spot them.

Oh yeah, the ref was a total arse. As well as not being able to spot when someone was using his hands he also made some truly baffling decisions. Like, booking every Brighton player for their challenges but often not even punishing Sheffield's tackles with even so much as a free-kick. Although he appeared to even up the booking count. He denied United a penalty when it looked like Gary Hart had shoved Steve Kabba in the box.

We took our seats and waited in anticipation for our new found attacking style to be unleashed on United. They have also been bracing themselves for it as well. So therefore both the Blades players and us fans in the stands must have been equally confused when we entered opening period by launching long balls to our short forward line. The one team you do not use this tactic against is Sheffield United, this is meat and drink to them. Having reaslised they were having it easy they decided to stamp their authority on the game and had us on the back foot. Now it was nothing like the onslaught we had to endure in the first 10 minutes from Leeds but Sheffield had a firm grip on the game. Wayne Henderson had to make a decent save early on, just as he did on Saturday, this time to turn an Alan Quinn shot behind for a corner.

Kieth Gillespie, who was poor against us last season whilst playing for Leicester was playing well for United. He was winning tackles and making surging runs forward. One such incident came when he cut in from the left and just fired wide of the far post.

The Blades found it easy to gain possession seeing as every goal-kick was launched forward and when we did try our passing game the disciplined United players were breaking us down. When we did get some fluency it was rathe sporadic although we did carve out one chance when Sebastien Carole had a low shot saved by Paddy Kenny.

But the Blades continued to control the match and another long run from Gillespie allowed him to put over an inviting cross. I looked up to see Neil Shipperley in the box and straight away thought this was a goal. But to my surprise he headed over although he made strong claims that it took a deflection and should have been a corner.

Sheffield United eventually took the lead on 25minutes. Phil Jagielka advanced forward and as our defence backed off he played a 1-2 with Kabba on the edge of the box. With a clear sight at goal he shot but the on-rushing Henderson saved it. Unfortunately for us it fell kindly back to Jagielka who, despite now being put under pressure from our defence, was able to have a second bite of the cherry and this time he hooked the ball into the roof of the net.

We came into the game a bit more after the goal but we still insisted on hitting high balls up to the final third. A chance was presented to us for an equaliser though soon as after their goal. Poor play saw United concede a throw which was taken quickly by Leon Knight to Jake Robinson. With the United defence asleep Jake ran onto the throw and hit a first time shot, which went wide but appeared to be very close to the target.

We were getting more of the ball on the groud now getting Albert Jarrett and Sebastien Carole on the ball which enabled us to get at them a but more and Sheffield were not stifling us as successfully as they had been up to that point. With 10 minutes of the half remaining Robinson had another chance to draw us level following an excellent attacking move. Albert played a tight, curling ball down the left wing and it looked a lost but Knight did not give up. He streaked past the Blades defender and put in a low cross towards Jake at the far post. From my position it did not seem like he met the ball too well but still managed to flash a shot across the face of goal and out for a goal-kick.

The Sheffield had a chance to add to their tally when Steve Kabba headed onto the bar following a cross. This was closely followed by the penalty appeal I mentioned above. As United were ending the half strongly they had another corner. As this was floated in Wayne was blocked as he attempted to punch clear, the ball fell to a Blades player on the edge of the box who fired in a shot which Henderson saved. Wayne Henderson then complained to the ref about being impeded and was promptly booked.

Town started the second half with much more purpose about them and started really getting forward. The attacking play was not entirely in the style we have recently witnessed butt his mainly down to the Blades regimented and often heavy defending. But we were moving the ball about more and our midfield was operating more effectively which helped, especially Richard Carpenter who had a vastly imrpoved second 45. Another change for the better was that Henderson was thrown the ball out more to start attacks as opposed to kicking straight to the head of Sheffield player.

A couple of times we broke well only to find the final ball was not good enough. One time we did get it right had Leon chasing a high ball towards goal. Knight seemed to lose the ball in the air and by the time the ball had come down Paddy Kenny had come off his line to clear.

Next we had another chance when the referee finally awarded us a free-kick and Chippy stepped up. He struck a fierce low drive, which went under the defensive wall. Kenny got down well to smother and managed to sit on the ball in the process. Had luck been with us then the ball would have bounced out to the on-rushing Robinson who would have had the easiest of tap-ins.

Kabba managed a low shot for Sheffield United and another shot charged down by Hart who wa having a good game. He really is excelling in his new right-back role and puts in some quality tackles as well as working so incredibly hard which has become the Gary Hart ethos. But those 2 chances I have just mentioned were all the Blades had to really show for their second half efforts, such was the improved quality of our play, as we had them pinned back mostly.

Sebastien ventured forward on one occasion and was met by a forcefull tackle by Unsworth. It was a hard challenge but he won the ball so I did not see much wrong with it despite most of the crown baying for a ref's card. The tackle did hurt Carole though and he was not the same for a few minutes after and was eventually substituted for Alexandre Frutos. This was a shame as Carole was having yet another very productive game. We were sitting in the stands just begging the Terriers players to give him the ball, as he is brilliant on it. He turns and looks to take the oppsition on and has a decent shot on him and it was enjoyable watching him perform his tricks and causing him problems. But this substitution gave us our first glimpse of Alexandre Frutos. He, like Sebastien looks a hand addittion to the squad. Obviously it is too early to tell how he will eventually pan out but the signs are good. He is pacey, skilful and very direct. As soon as he had the ball he is off moving towards goal which is interesting, as was the fact he looked like he had been given a free-role to roam where he wanted. He also looks strong but may need to work on his set-pieces if his first corner is anything to go by.

With time running out Albert had a tame shot wide before we had a golden opportunity to equalise. Another good move saw Knight hang an inviting ball up to the centre of the penalty area and Dean Hammond arrived but somehow he headed agonisingly wide. Towards the end of last season everything Dean headed went in but this miss and hitting the bar on Saturday suggests the magic touch has deserted him!!!

We had one more chance when Leon chased another high through ball only this time Paddy stayed on his line but saw Knight blaze his left-foot volley over the bar.

Overall this was disappointing but we were up against one of the best sides in the Championship and if we continue this level of performance we will pick up the required points.

Town & England forever.

Thimble Keegan
Worthing-Belfast BHA