Henderson's Relish

jamie ward ward ward!!! - the pint sized forward turns and celebrates after giving United the lead. Image copyright to SportBox.TV

Kevin Blackwell finally was able to break his Wednesday hoodoo as the Blades survived a frenetic fight back to earn bragging rights as they just saw off their city rivals in a pulsating contest at Bramall Lane. United has surged into a three goal lead thanks to Ward, Henderson and a Buxton own goal and seemed set on avenging the famous Boxing Day massacre but the Owls refused to lie down and a goal immediately after the restart gave them hope. A further strike by substitute Esajas saw the score-line further reduced but the Blades held on to take the spoils.

United fielded debutant Andrew Davies as Matthew Kilgallon was still not fit enough to take his place and went with a more orthodox 4-4-2 with Henderson partnering Evans up front after the reverse at Coventry and Harper making his home debut. Wednesday brought in Wood and O'Connor after their own defeat in the week.

The game began at the usual frenetic pace and Davies' first contribution was not a positive one as he was booked for bringing down O'Connor as the midfielder drove towards goal. Potter fired the free kick well over the bar. United had their first opening and this also saw Davies involved as he flicked a header towards goal but Grant turned it over the bar. From the resultant corner the Blades went ahead and it was with only 7 minutes on the clock. It came via a corner and after Treacy's delivery Morgan headed the ball down and after it deflected into his path WARD swivelled smartly and fired the ball home past the motionless Grant. Ward has now scored 4 goals already this term but none have been as important as this one as he wheeled away in front of the Wednesday fans behind Grant's goal.

Wednesday tried to come back but efforts from Potter and Varney failed to trouble Bunn and it was not long before the lead had been doubled. United continued to put pressure on Wednesday with Wood and Purse struggling to handle Evans and Henderson. The goal came as Walker's long throw was not cleared properly by O'Connor. Evans hit a shot towards goal and it was turned home via a deflection of HENDERSON and Wood that sent the ball spinning into the far corner.

Montgomery was the next man to go into referee Wiley's book after he fouled Varney. The free kick saw Tudgay out jump Davies but Bunn was equal to it to tip the ball over the bar.

Ward was taken down and ominously a stretcher was called for with the free scoring winger having to be replaced by Cotterill. O'Connor then was cautioned after two fouls in quick succession and Henderson nearly made it three with a headed chance.

Half time was quickly approaching but not before the ball was in Wednesday's net once again! Cotterill made up significant ground down the right hand side and sent over a dangerous cross into the box. BUXTON under pressure from Henderson could only head the ball into the top corner of his own net. There was not a question

heads i win; wednesday defender lewis buxton heads United's third goal into the back of the net. Image copyright to SportBox.TV

of it being a foul and the appeals were half hearted at best even from the defender himself. United were in dreamland. It has been a long time since the Blades were 3-0 up against their city neighbours and the fans were clearly going to enjoy it. Bunn punched away after a deflected effort and the half time whistle came not long after with the cheers that greeted it from the home fans surely being audible across the whole city. Wednesday in contrast looked stunned as their team trooped off the field and their fans stood motionless.

Wednesday knew that had to deliver an instant riposte and tried to shake things up with Esajas replacing Johnson. The reply was instant too as a goal came only moments after the half time whistle. Esajas's header was blocked by his own man but as the ball dropped TUDGAY hit a tremendous shot with his left foot as the ball dropped to give the visitors hope. Both Tudgay and Bunn were booked after the goal; the former presumably for kicking the ball away and Tudgay for taking off his shirt. Wednesday continued to come at United with Gray firing wide and then Tudgay firing over after Bunn had blocked Esajas' driven free kick.

Wednesday further reduced the arrears though after Cotterill fouled Wood. From the free kick ESAJAS took it and drilled a low shot into the corner pat Bunn and it was suddenly 'game on.' United now were looking totally uncomfortable with Wednesday now the team firmly in control. Clarke came on for Varney for the Owls and United were now struggling to stem the flow.

However, despite the momentum clearly changing, United had two chances of their own with Evans fierce shot being blocked and then Henderson forcing Grant into an excellent save. Esajas continued to be a threat and he had another good effort on goal that went narrowly wide as the game approached the final 10 minutes. Miller replaced O'Connor as Wednesday looked for a more attacking threat.

Wednesday were understandably pouring men forward but United were offered chances on the break. Evans hit a super shot that Grant did well to save and then Morgan's header was saved by Grant. The Blades skipper was booked when he tried to stop Grant taking the quick free kick. Quinn and France both came on as United looked to see out time. Wednesday put a number of crosses and balls into the box but did not create a clear chance in the 5 minutes of stoppage time and as referee Wiley blew his whistle United could finally celebrate a long overdue victory against the old enemy It had been tougher than it should have been but never the less it was a win and three vital points into the bargain as well as cross city bragging rights.

Wednesday - In my mind they will finish around mid table and I saw nothing tonight to suggest anything otherwise. They have some positives but some negatives too and won't be bad enough to be near the bottom but also won't be good enough to be near the top. That is an honest opinion on them; not one as a fan of their hated rivals. I think Laws has done a tremendous job and appears to be a very good manager and gets the best out of what he has. It will be interesting to see what he does if and when he gets funds as of course the pressure changes. At the moment anything above top 8 or 9 is seen as a bonus but with money that will be expected every year; a bit like with us at the moment. I would have been a bit disappointed with some of the signings they made in the summer with Purse, Miller adding to players on the downside of the career such as Gray and O'Connor. I think he would have been better taking the Wolves approach and going for young, up and coming players. The squad is thin but is also relatively old. I am not sure on the average age but I reckon it is a fair bit higher than ours.

They have some good players going forward with the likes of Tudgay, Johnson and Esajas and some good honest club men type in midfield in Gray and O'Connor. I feel they are quite pedestrian at the back and lack mobility and nous. They ship goals all too easily; as tonight showed and their defensive away record last year. Purse is nearly done as a defender at this level and was an odd signing. He has been a solid centre back for many years but Cardiff knew he had completely lost his pace in the same way United did with Robert Page years ago. Wood has some good game and some wretched games and of course Beevers has not gone on from the promise he showed a few seasons ago. I feel the two full backs are poor defensively too and quick direct wingers will cause problems. Ward really worried Spurr until he had to go off and even though Cotterill was up and down he also caused the same player problems. I think Grant is a much improved keeper and is now displaying the promise he showed at Derby before falling away. He is one of the better keepers in the division.

United - It was not a tremendous performance but despite many Wednesday fans saying otherwise I felt we were value for the win. We controlled most of the first half and although Wednesday has a few half chances we looked like scoring every time we went forward. Wednesday were all over the place at the back and could not handle Ward and Henderson. Sure we had a bit of luck on the goals but how many times in the early to mid 2000's have United battered Wednesday and just had absolutely no luck of Pressman saved them single headedly. Even Wednesday fans would admit that. Besides whilst 3-0 flattered us we definitely were the stronger side and were in cruise control at the break. Of course the early goal for Wednesday was the worst thing that could have happened. If we had kept it 3-0 for 10-15 minutes we could have gone onto win 4 or 5-0 without a question. United then sat back after the first goal and when the second came it was just a case of holding on. Actually with a bit more composure United could have scored a few more after this and Wednesday did not throw the proverbial kitchen sink at us as I expected. We were more in control at 3-2 than 3-1 actually in a perverse kind of way!

Still too much long ball and direct stuff and we tossed away possession too much in the second half yet again when we needed calm heads and to try and keep the ball. The pressure football with good set play delivery and getting the ball in the box (maybe it is classed as direct or in your face football) is fine but we need to mix it up a bit too. In the first half we did play some decent stuff along with the power stuff but in the second as they came back it was more lump ball or panic football again.

We do need to strengthen the squad in January and need at least 2 strikers (one with real pace) and a centre back minimum. To have no real striking option on the bench is criminal really and I am amazed Blackwell has not brought someone in. This is priority in the next week. I had no problem with the players Blackwell moved on as Bromby, Howard, Hendrie, Sharp and Carney all had plenty of chances and were all too slow, not athletic and too inconsistent to be seen as players we could rely on week in, week out to make a promotion challenge. Blackwell was right to move

what was the score?