3rd May Southampton 3 Sheffield United 2 (Attendance: 31,957)

Blades Line-up: Kenny, Geary, Kilgallon, Naysmith, Halls, Cotterill (Gillespie 38), Speed, Tonge, Quinn, Hulse (Stead 63), Sharp (Shelton 56).
Subs Not Used: Bennett, Armstrong.

Booked: Speed, Shelton.

Scorers: Quinn 23, Stead 65.

Man of The Match: Gary Speed. see bottom of page.

Southampton Line-up: Richard Wright, Jermaine Wright, Powell, Perry, Surman, Viafara, Safri, Idiakez (Licka 79), Euell, Saganowski (Lallana 73), John.
Subs Not Used: Davis, Wright-Phillips, Pericard.

Sent Off: John (80).

Booked: John.

Scorers: Saganowski 42, John 53, 69.

Referee: Phil Joslin (Nottinghamshire).

United lost the chance of a play-off place when they went down 3-2 to Southampton in a pulsating game of football on the south coast. In front of a full house the Saints ensured they will be playing Championship football next season, as for the Blades, it was only an outside chance of the play-offs, but they gave it everything in the warm sunshine at St. Mary’s.

Kevin Blackwell made several enforced changes to the side which beat Bristol City last weekend. Derek Geary returned to the starting line-up with John Halls moving to a centre-back position, and Rob Hulse was recalled in place of the injured James Beattie.

Southampton had one change from the side which drew with West Brom last week with Darren Powell replacing Chris Lucketti - who had decided to opt out of facing the club he is currently still contracted to.

It was a lively start to the proceedings with more than 3,000 Blades fans in the crowd. After a succession of throw-ins, the first chance went to the Blades after eight minutes, when corners by Michael Tonge and then Stephen Quinn were cleared, and Gary Speed saw his header deflected over the top and Geary headed for Hulse, but the Blades striker shot wide.

Two minutes later and Billy Sharp’s header was easily covered by Southampton goalkeeper Richard Wright. A couple of crosses from Andrew Surman caused some problems in the United defence, and two corners from Inigo Idiakez gave the Saints more hope, roared on by their desperate fans.
But disaster struck for the home side when United grabbed the lead after 24 minutes when Sharp curled in a deep cross from the right which the unmarked Quinn met with a firm header back across keeper Wright and into the net.
Marek Saganowski twice came close to equalising, with a header which hit Matt Kilgallon and a point-blank drive blocked by goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. The Blades were only denied what could have been a second when Tonge's pinpoint left-wing corner picked out Kilgallon and his header from about six yards was superbly saved by Wright who made a reflex save to thwart the Blades.
And seconds later, St Mary's erupted when the Saints broke quickly and Viafara's cross from the left was deflected to the far post where Saganowski came storming in to score with a diving header.

The home side emerged after the break eager to get their second and six minutes into the second half Stern John sparked delirium in the stands amongst the home fans. John fed Saganowski and continued his run into the area, and the Polish striker lofted the ball over Kilgallon and Halls and back into his path. From about eight yards out John’s dispatched the ball past an unprotected Kenny into the top left of the net.

But the Blades would not lie down started to force the nervy Saints back and Tonge’s header just cleared the crossbar.

Sharp had worked hard and was replaced by Luton Shelton who brought pace to the Blades side. After 56 minutes, a superb tackle by Gary Naysmith on Saganowski surely prevented another goal for the Saints.

United made another substitution when Hulse was replaced with Jon Stead after 62 minutes, and four minutes later the Blades striker hit United’s second to make it 2-2. Quinn played in a low centre from the left and Stead turned the ball in at the near post to stun the home faithful.

But the equaliser did not last more than two minutes when John controlled and turned sharply 12 yards from goal to fire into the bottom left corner past the wrong-footed Kenny.

There was more agony for the home fans when John was sent off after sliding in to tackle Geary. John had already been booked for removing his shirt after his first goal, and a second yellow meant Southampton were now down to 10 men.

With five minutes remaining, Southampton were content to defend their precious lead, but United continued to torment the home fans by virtually camping in the Southampton half but, without worrying the goalkeeper to any extent. Still it was bedlam in the three minutes of added time until Adam Lallana broke for Southampton and won a corner and from that point the match was over.

On the final whistle there was a massive pitch invasion from the Southampton supporters who could not contain the relief at avoiding relegation.

Unitedites made the long journey home maybe wondering what would have happened if our new manager had been in place a few weeks earlier. Perhaps we would now be in the play-offs.

But things do bode well for next season. And if United can keep their players and make a few additions, we will clearly be among the favourites for promotion next season.

Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Southampton:

Kenny 7, Geary 6, Kilgallon 7, Naysmith 8, Halls 6, Cotterill 6, Gillespie 6, Speed 8, Tonge 6, Quinn 7, Hulse 7, Stead 7, Sharp 7, Shelton 6.

Blades Player Performance Ratings:

The above player performance ratings are scored out of a maximum rating of 10. A 'Man Of The Match' will still be selected even if several players have an equal highest rating.
These are the standard rules used. (see below)

10: Out of this world - Extremely rare, exceptional performances only.
9: Excellent - Top-class display, probably the matchwinner.
8: Very Good - Outstanding, very influential.
7: Good - Impressive, eye-catching.
6: Average - No major faults, nothing overly impressive.
5: Below Average - Some faults, out-of-touch.
4: Poor - Many faults, easy to criticise.

--: Players must have been playing in the match for a minimum of 10 minutes to receive a rating.