A tale of two halves - it may be an overused cliche in football, but I'll use it anyway! This afternoon's first-half showing brought back memories of Peterborough and Palace earlier this month, but a revitalised second-period was more than pleasing to watch.
Praise must go out to Kevin Blackwell, who had only one attacking option on the bench because of injuries, for making the correct changes today, with Glen Little, a half-time substitute, igniting the Blades' performance.
Steve Simonsen added another one on to the never ending tally of debutants at Bramall Lane this season - he made it an excessive 22! The goalkeeper's first touch of the ball was when he was forced to pick it out of his net when Donny took the lead with James Hayter on five minutes. Slack defending was at blame once again as the striker converted from close-range.
Doncaster could have put the game to bed in the first-period with a hatful of chances, including two chances for goalscorer James Hayter. Both were headers, and the first miss wasn't his fault - Steve Simonsen superbly got down low to his left to tip the ball around the post for a Rovers corner. Hayter's second miss was an absolute sitter; he somehow turned his header wide of the back-post with the goal gaping in front of him.
Glen Little replaced the ineffective Mark Yeates at the interval. Richard Cresswell should have undoubtedly had a penalty when Shelton Martis blatantly pushed the Blades striker. Simonsen cleverly pushed a Woods shot to safety, and then a dilemma struck for Kevin Blackwell. Henri Camara couldn't continue, this forcing the manager to bring on left-back Andy Taylor, moving Jordan Stewart up on the wing, Stephen Quinn up front with Cresswell and centre-back Kyle Bartley doing his bit for the cause by going up top also.
Harper blazed over, but the midfielder made amends on 88 minutes when he drilled the ball at goal and it found the back of the net in front of the jubilant Blades fans. United got their just rewards for the immense amount of pressure they loaded on Neil Sullivan's goal.
Hayter could have dramatically stole the spoils in the five added minutes. The Rovers goalscorer was put through on goal but he fired over Simonsen's crossbar. It was Donny who put all the pressure on in injury time, but the Blades held on for a worthy point. The final score from the Keepmoat Stadium, is, Doncaster Rovers 1:1 Sheffield United.
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