An excellent second-half display by Sheffield United earned them victory over
Worthington Cup finalists Tranmere at Bramall Lane.
After a dismal first half winger Paul Devlin rounded off a wonderful move to
put the Blades ahead three minutes into the second half.
Marcus Bent in the 61st minute, and Bobby Ford three minutes from time, went
on to wrap up the win.
Scott Taylor equalised for Tranmere in the 57th minute after a scramble in the
box and Alan Mahon came close to a consolation in injury time when his free-kick
clipped the crossbar.
Tranmere had the better of the low-key first half but it took them 27 minutes
to carve open a sight of goal as Taylor failed to convert Mahon's corner when
well placed.
Six minutes later Gary Jones should have scored after Wayne Allison headed
into his path in the box but he screwed his shot wide.
The Blades were equally ineffective but could have gone ahead in the 16th
minute when Michael Brown's header was cleared off the line by Dave Challinor
and Bent shot well over the bar when put through by Alex Notman.
Neil Warnock must have had some stern words for his side at the interval after
their anonymous first half and they went ahead almost immediately after the
restart.
Manchester United loan star Notman laid the ball into the path of Curtis
Woodhouse, who sprinted through into the box from midfield.
With Tranmere's defence dragged over Woodhouse poked the ball to Devlin, who
stroked it past keeper John Achterberg.
United had a great opportunity to double their lead in the 56th minute as Bent
tricked his way past two defenders and could have released Notman but delayed
and the striker was caught offside.
Tranmere hit back almost immediately as the Blades were unable to clear a
free-kick from their area and the ball ran loose to Taylor, who lashed it into
the roof of the net.
The equaliser might have deflated the Blades but they responded positively and
quickly regained the advantage.
Some excellent work by Brown on the left sent Wayne Quinn into the corner and
his excellent cross found Bent unmarked at the far post to head it in.
Aldridge made a substitution up front, bringing on David Kelly for goal-scorer
Taylor.
It almost paid dividends as Kelly had the ball in the back of the net in the
77th minute, forcing home Mahon's free-kick, but it was ruled out for offside.
United wrapped up the points with a fluke goal three minutes from time.
Ford
beat the offside trap down the right and he tried to send in a cross to the two
unmarked strikers in the box, but he mishit it and it found its way into the
back of the net via the despairing hand of Achterberg.
All Tranmere could muster in response was a Mahon free-kick which clipped the
bar in injury time.
Teams
Sheff Utd: Tracey, Devlin, Kozluk, Murphy, Quinn, Sandford,
Woodhouse (Derry 84), Brown, Ford, Bent, Notman (Ribeiro 78).
Subs Not Used: Smeets, Gysbrechts, Hamilton.
Goals: Devlin 48, Bent 61, Ford 87.
Tranmere: Achterberg, Hazell, Challinor, Babb, Thompson, Henry,
Mahon, Taylor (Kelly 71), Allison, Parkinson (Black 83), Jones (Koumas 78).
Subs Not Used: Nixon, Morgan.
Booked: Mahon, Henry.
Goals: Taylor 57.
Att: 14,219
Ref: P Richards (Preston).
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