Sheffield United had gone into this match with four consecutive wins under their belts, two of which were in the league against Shrewsbury Town (2-0) and Gillingham (1-0) which was enough to take the Blades out of the relegation zone prior to their meeting with the Robins whilst victories in the FA Cup against higher opposition Fulham (1-0) and Nottingham Forest (3-1) would surely have been enough to lift the teams spirits from what has so far been a disappointing season for the Bramall Lane faithful.
But if cup-wins against Aston Villa, Fulham and Forest weren't enough to give the Blades a boost in confidence then comments such as this from a unknown City supporter would have been the tonic; 'I was there on Sunday at Bramall Lane, must say what a fantastic atmosphere, even when they were losing, the fans never stopped singing. When they got a penalty I swear I thought the roof was gonna come off. The scenes at the end were great as well, was like they had won the cup and possibly sets up an all Sheffield Quarter-Final. I thought they were brilliant to watch today and although I've seen City 9 times this year, it was without doubt the best game of football I've been to all season. We face a seriously hard task getting anything out of our fixture with them if they play like they did today.'
Perhaps this mysterious supporter was one of the few hundred who booed his own side off the field once the final whistle had been blown by referee Mr Duncan in what (in the end) was a relaxed and comfortable result by United which saw Brayford - on loan from Cardiff City net his first goal in red and white colours whilst second half strikes from Flynn and a penalty from Baxter cemented all three points and lifted them above opponents Bristol who for their troubles crashed into the bottom four.
Despite the score-line it was the Robins who started off well but this didn't last, in the early exchanges Wade Elliott ran and shot but was unable to trouble keeper Mark Howard whilst at the other end Jamie Murphy went onto a trademark mazy run but his looping cross evaded Baxter.
From then on it was one way traffic as the home side took control of the game, Scougall, who has impressed since his signing from Livingston shook of his marker in the sixth minute and sixty seconds later Flint was perfectly primed to clear the ball off the line when Murphy looked set to score from close range.
Consistently United won a string of corners as the Blades continued to attack the kop end in the first half, and from a Baxter delivery Flynn came close to giving them the lead but his shot fizzed past the post. On 13 minutes former Everton trainee Baxter clipped a ball over the City defence saw Scougall surge forward but found himself crowded out by El-Abd.
Maguire then went on a powerful run from the half-way line and at the point of impact his powerful effort smashed into the face of Emmanuel-Thomas who prevented a potential goal but in the aftermath laid out dazed. When the goal came there was two minutes remaining, Baxter swung in a corner and Maguire's header was looping wide until BRAYFORD swooped unchallenged at the far post to hammer into the roof of the net; 1-0.
Bristol began the second half in a more positive mood but overall were still second best, on 50 minutes Murphy won a free-kick after Osborne fouled Harris with the eventual taken by the latter saved comfortably from Moore. United doubled their advantage just before the hour mark when the best two players on the pitch combined, Murphy evaded Osborne and his telling pass across the edge of the box found FLYNN who positioned before driving into the far bottom corner.
With 22 minutes remaining Matt Hill, who started his career with Bristol City replaced Bob Harris at Left Full-Back and goal scorer Flynn was handed a standing ovation as he made way for new boy Ben Davies. Moments later the game was beyond City when Scougall was hauled down in the box and BAXTER kept himself composed despite the Robins disrupting play with two substitutions. The midfielder calmly slotted the ball home into his bottom left and corner with the keeper guessing correctly but powerless to stop.