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Coca Cola Championship |
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Sheffield Utd 0 |
Barnsley 0 |
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| Connolly s/o 90 | - |
On a day when we matched the blades for bluntness... another goalless draw was the end result at Bramall Lane, and the second in succession for the reds. Some good defending from Moore and co. bad attacking play from the blades and some brilliant saves from Steele, kept the South Yorkshire derby goalless.
Sheffield United's play-off chances suffered a final death blow fromt he reds after being held to a goalless draw at Bramall Lane.
Henderson went close for United when he saw his 75th-minute header from Glen Little's corner saved by Luke Steele.
United's misery was complete when defender Paul Connolly was sent off in the dying minutes for a second yellow.
A near 25,000 crowd was not too excited by both teams in a South Yorkshire derby which was high in work rate but with low quality.
Both sides started the game with poor form that has seen both sides lose any chance of a play off place, with both teams having just one win in their previous seven league matches and this draw leaves the Blades without a win in four and Barnsley have not won any of their last five.
Blades skipper Chris Morgan finally plucked up enough courage to face his old team who he so badly let down last season, fellow defender Jordan Stewart, Glen Little and Jamie Ward also returned for the blades, while the reds recalled former Sheff Utd man Andy Gray, Iain Hume and Luke Butterfield also got in the starting 11.
This being the first game when Hume and Morgan had faced each other since the foul during the derby between the two sides at Oakwell in November 2008 that had left the Barnsley striker near death with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Luke Steele twice kept out the Blades in the first minutes, first tipping Richard Cresswell's header over the bar and saving well from Ward, who had fired in a rebound in the six yard box.
Ward and Cresswell were also off target with two long-range shots as United were on top in the first half hour then the Blades were dealt a double injury in the space of 12 minutes.
Stewart left the field in the 28th minute replaced by Andy Taylor and Ward, lasted just 38 minutes of his comeback before making way for Mark Yeates.
Barnsley pressed forward up to half time with Emil Hallfredsson's shot blocked by Nyron Nosworthy and Hugo Colace's 25 yard free kick was saved by Steve Simonsen.
We stepped up the tempo in the second half, but Sheff Utd substitute Yeates struck a 25 yard effort over the crossbar and also forced Steele into an easy save with his curling free kick.
Barnsley had most of the possession in the final 20 minutes without creating any clear opportunities and it was the Blades who went closest again to breaking the deadlock as Little fired his shot wide from six yards after a cross from Yeates.
Darius Henderson then had a close range shot blocked by Barnsley defender Luke Potter and Blades midfielder Nick Montgomery fired a 25 yarder just wide as the home side attempted to get back in control.
Darren Moore performed heroics to block another Montgomery shot and when Henderson powered in a header from Little's 75th-minute corner, Steele pulled off a brilliant save. Moore was man of the match and he was blocking and dominating when the blades tried to break through.
And there it ended, with both sides failing to do enough in the final third, but more positives for the reds in that it was another good clean sheet away from home, and has the added delight of finally putting paid to any Sheffield Utd hopes of a play off place.
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