An inspiring performance from Kevin Blackwell's troops at a calm evening in Middlesbrough was warmed by the visiting thousand or so Unitedites. It was the second consecutive season the Blades got English football to an off, once again against a relegated side from the Premier League. This time though, there wasn't any last minute drama, as a resilient outing paid off.
The side looked rather different to the one that stumbled off the pitch at Wembley in May, four debutants donned on the black third away shirt. Left-back Andy Taylor, wingers Ryan France and Keith Treacy and shot-stopper Mark Bunn were all handed starting berths.
Ched Evans was on the bench, as were fellow new recruitments Glen Little and Kyel Reid. Darius Henderson begun the game despite having no pre-season action. Kyle Walker, who was obviously sold to Tottenham, returns on loan and he was thrown straight into the side.
A minute's applause for Sir Bobby Robson, who sadly died recently, occurred before kick-off. England U21 manager Stuart Pearce and Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill were in attendance, they also paid their respects to the great gentleman.
United well and truly came out of the traps quickly and set-up the first attack, which almost led to an opener so early in. Keith Treacy hammered the ball at goal, which second choice goalkeeper Danny Coyne parried, the ball was hoofed away.
Emnes had a pop at goal, whether it was a cross or a shot goalie Mark Bunn denied a Middlesbrough opener. He then saved Kyle Walker's bacon, the youngster clumsily passed the ball back towards Bunn, with Emnes eyeing a chance to sneak in, but Bunn booted the ball into row z.
Stephen Quinn hammered wide, but United continued to mount the pressure on the home contingent when a goalmouth scramble could have ended in a goal, but didn't.
Morgan and Kilgallon both had ariel attempts, Mark Yeates' fire at goal was magnificently pushed away by Mark Bunn. Wheater had to clear another Sheff U attempt off the line, but the game got into an end-to-end mode for the time being. Adam Johnson skipped through United's back-line and thumped the ball at goal from a tight angle, Bunn denied. Didier Digard was replaced by Gary O'Neil, which was a big blow for the The Riverside outfit. It would be fair to say that Sheffield United had Boro on the back foot as half-time approached.
Middlesbrough burst on to an attack fairly early in the second-half with Adam Johnson running rings around SUFC's defence, but Kyle Walker produced a stunning tackle from behind and got the ball, thankfully it didn't go wrong as he could have been in a messy situation if it wasn't a picth-perfect interception.
Williams didn't trouble Bunn with a pop at goal, Johnson's testing cross was cleared. Both managers made changes around the same period. Welshman David Cotterill replaced Keith Treacy, shortly after Leroy Lita was greeted to applauses from the home faithful but was jeered by the United fans packed into the bottom half of the South Stand. Sheffield United's very own blockbuster signing entered the scene, Ched Evans went up top with Darius Henderson, Brian Howard left the fray.
The Blades had their first real attempt on goal in the second-period, Stephen Quinn curled but it flew agonisingly wide. Nick Montgomery and Chris Morgan both got stuck in on Middlesbrough's new signings Leroy Lita, who of course turned down the red and white wizards. The duo felled the front-man on separate occasions.
McMahon fired high and wide while Adam Johnson swung in another tantalising cross, skipper Chris Morgan dealt with the situation. Ryan France kept the ball in play at the by-line, but no attempt on goal followed.
Just a couple of minutes of added time was to be played, and United had the last attack of the encounter. David Cotterill tried to play Darius Henderson in, in the box, but the ball trickled over to the opposite end of the pitch with defender nor attacker getting a touch.
Lee Mason brought the curtain raiser to a close, with United producing a promising performance against the favourites to go up. Not many sides will return from The Riverside with at least a point, so that's a positive aspect. Praise must go out to Darius Henderson who produced a strong 90 minutes despite not playing any pre-season games for the Blades due to injury. Kevin Blackwell is expected to field a different looking team for the First Round of the Carling Cup against Port Vale next Tuesday.
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