By Deadbat
Sheffield United continued their impressive home form with a resounding win 4-0 against struggling Yeovil at Bramall Lane.
The Blades began with three changes from Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Salisbury with Quinn coming in for Flynn who was out with illness, Lowton replacing Ertl and Cresswell coming in for Porter. Yeovil were managed by returning manager Gary Johnson with former boss Terry Skiverton reverting to the position of assistant manager.
The game began with United on top but it was actually Yeovil who broke out and had the first chance. Williams managed to make a yard of space but his low shot was just wide of Simonsen’s right hand post. United had seen plenty of the ball but the first opening did not come until the 10th minutes as Francois found McDonald whose effort was charged down before Evans hit the rebound into a defender with the keeper sprawling behind him. However another warning side came when sloppy defending from the Blades saw Obika sprint clear but his cross cum shot just evaded his teammates at the far post.
United were back on the attack and Doyle was nearly in on goal advancing beyond the strikers. Soon after the opening goal came. Excellent work from Cresswell to win the ball back released Quinn on the left hand side. The winger created space and whipped in a delightful cross but it still required plenty of work from CRESSWELL who did superbly to power the ball downwards into the net past Gilmartin.
Despite the goal and being the better side, Yeovil had certainly had a few chances and another one came when Williams’ shot was pushed away by Simonsen. Doyle had another chance before Evans effort was saved from Gilmartin. It was a relatively open game and United were able to get the crucial second goal on 36 minutes from an unexpected source in some ways but not a total surprise considering the amount of efforts he had on goal on the evening. This was another goal made by Quinn who flicked the ball on and DOYLE from fully 25 yards hit a low shot right into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of Gilmartin.
Williams was booked for a cynical foul on the rampaging Lowton as United looked to kill the game off before the break. Evans had another effort blocked but the half time whistle came not long after.
Returning manager Johnson was clearly not too pleased and brought on N’Gala and Massey for MacLean and Wooton in a double substitution. It did not matter as United were on the attack again and scored the best goal of the game to effectively seal matters. Lowton moved forward again and played in WILLIAMSON who came inside and hit a searing drive right into the top corner. It was a great strike and was in as soon as it left his boot.
United were now in complete control and both Lowton and Collins had chances from corners and maybe ought to have done better with headers. For a period after this the game became a bit scrappy but Yeovil never looked like scoring a few erratic efforts from distance the best they could muster. Their best effort came from a corner when Huntingdon headed over but hurt himself in the process and required a great deal of attention before he was deemed fit to continue.
United made a double change with around 10 minutes to play as Beattie and Porter came on for Evans and Cresswell. McDonald was booked for pulling back a Yeovil player who threatened to break. Beattie had a chance but after Williamson had touched the ball on but the striker’s effort on the stretch was pushed away by the keeper as the expectant Kop rose wanting to acclaim the returning forward’s first goal back.
Lovely skill by Lowton saw him flick the ball with the outside of his right foot through the legs of the full back, play in Quinn who in turn fed WILLIAMSON down the right hand channel. The shot from a narrow angle. may have took a touch off a defender but still should have been saved but went through the legs of the hapless keeper at the near post.
Right at the close Montgomery came on for Williamson before the referee adjudged there would be 5 minutes of additional time after the early injury. Good work by Quinn outside saw him outfox his man but his low cross just evaded a teammate in the box and then as United broke Porter fired over just before the final whistle. It had been a professional performance and a relatively trouble free night for the Blades who went back up to second in the table.
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