October's results:
Sheffield United 3:0 Bristol City
Sheffield Wednesday 1:0 Sheffield United
Sheffield United 0:0 Southampton
Sheffield United 1:0 Preston North End
Bristol City 0:0 Sheffield United
The Blades got off to a bumper start after they thrashed Bristol City 3:0. A James Beattie brace combined with a Liam Fontaine own goal handed Utd the points. Beattie put Kevin Blackwell's side in front when his accurate smash one minute into stoppage time at the end of the first half broke the deadlock. Liam Fontaine scored a delicious own goal when his header back towards his own goal looped over Adriano Basso and into the top corner. Beattie tucked away his second and sealed United's fourth game of the season where they had recorded three goals, and it saw off Gary Johnson's men.
The Steel City Derby arrived once again, and it was bound to be as tasty as usual. Controversy was written all over the Sheffield derby and it was nothing short of it. Matt Kilgallon was dismissed with half an hour gone when he was penalised for a high boot on Sean McAllister. The straight red card caused criticism to the Wirral official and then it was the players who got into a mess. Skipper Chris Morgan and shot-stopper Paddy Kenny both got into a mix up, Morgan's header fell to Watson who could clinically lob the ball into the unguarded net at the Leppings Lane end. Jermaine Johnson was in trouble for kicking a water bottle on the sideline whilst coming off, and frustration got the better of him - he also got his marching orders. The bottle narrowly missed Blades' goalkeeping coach Andy Leaning. The fourth official called the referee over and he had no hesitation in sending the Wednesday midfielder off. Deon Burton's lame penalty was comfortably saved by Paddy Kenny, who redeemed himself for his earlier frantic mess-up with the captain. Wednesday fans got the bragging rights, although with the assistance of the man in the middle.
A mediocre performance against a young Southampton side didn't earn maximum points for the Blades against the Saints. Matt Kilgallon was suspended following his early bath at Hillsborough in the previous game, but no cracks appeared in the United backline. Goalkeeper Kelvin Davis pulled off a talismanic show at a chilly Bramall Lane, but he was beaten when loanee Anthony Stokes tapped in from close-range, but, it was cruelly ruled out for offside. Oliver Lancashire was given his marching orders with just two minutes remaining of normal time for a tug at Danny Webber - it was his second yellow card of the game.
Ugo Ehiogu's first goal in a red and white shirt proved to be the match winner against Preston North End. The veteran smashed in from close-range early after the restart which recorded United their first victory since the Steel City Derby humiliation. Another mediocre performance was produced by Blackwell's army, when a 0:0 draw at Bristol didn't produce much delight, although Paddy Kenny's double save in the final quarters prevented the Robins from snatching the tie. Anthony Stokes perhaps should have broken the deadlock in the first period whilst James Beattie's free-kick tested Basso.