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2nd May Ipswich Town 0 Sheffield United 3 (Attendance: 23,003)
Kenny, Nosworthy (Little 85), Naysmith, Morgan, Bartley, Lowton, Harper, Montgomery, Yeates, Cresswell, Evans.
Subs Not Used: Aksalu, Seip, Geary, Fortune, Foster, James.
Scorers: Yeates 34, Evans 56, Cresswell 63.
Man of The Match: Mark Yeates. see bottom of page.
Ipswich Line-up: B.Murphy, Peters, McAuley, Eastman, Smith (O'Connor 57), Walters, Garvan, Norris (Clark 57), Leadbitter, Colback (Brown 62), Wickham.
Subs Not Used: Lee-Barrett, Martin, Edwards, Hyam.
Bookings: Eastman 41.
Sent-Off: Eastman 58 (second bookable offence).
Referee: Andy D'Urso (Essex).
Mark Yeates scored one goal and created another two as Sheffield United ended their long wait for an away victory as Ipswich were beaten 3-0.
There was a debut for Matthew Lowton in midfield. Mark Yeates returned to the starting line-up on the left wing. And Ched Evans partnered Richard Cresswell in attack. For Ipswich, centre-back Tom Eastman make his debut, Own Garvan went into his familiar midfield position in a five man midfield.
The first ten minutes came and went without any notable action. Grant Leadbitter tried to test Paddy Kenny in the Blades goal with a tame drive from 25 yards in the first shot of the match. Soon after, Yeates and then Evans fired over for United. Kenny was kept active by another Leadbitter drive before the Tractor Boy’s almost got a breakthrough, Jon Walters crossing from the right and Garvan heading against the far post, the ball hitting Chris Morgan on the way out and rolling inches wide for a corner.
Then, Kyle Bartley stopped Jack Colback with a great tackle in the Blades 18 yard box before Kevin Blackwell’s men grabbed the lead soon after. Gary Naysmith on the right sent Yeates on his way and he stormed toward the edge of the Ipswich box before unleashing an unstoppable volley which might have deflected off Garreth McAuley and beat goalkeeper Brain Murphy to give United the lead and stun the home fans.
The home side responded with Leadbitter setting up Jaime Peters with a clever back heel, his cross headed away by Bartley. Evans sent Murphy scampering back to his goal with a 40 yard effort after Eastman's header had fallen into his path. Eastman then picked up a booking after pulling back Nyron Nosworthy just before the break.
The Blades started the second half on the front foot with Yeates testing Murphy, who had to save with his feet. Midfielder Lowton nearly added a second, but his glancing header went just wide of the mark. After 55 minutes, the Blades extended their lead and it was some superb football which brought the second goal. A short ball from Cresswell on the left sent Yeates storming down the left flank and he squared a perfect ball for Evans. The Blades striker cracked the ball with his left foot straight beyond the keeper into the top right of the net.
The home side immediately made two changes, Tommy Smith and David Norris making way for Shane O'Connor and Billy Clark. Worse was to follow for Roy Keane’s men soon after. Lowton tried to latch onto a loose ball just inside the Ipswich half and Eastman dived in with a reckless challenge which brought a second yellow card for the Ipswich debutant.
The match was all over when United added a third goal soon after. Yeates made his way into the Ipswich 18 yard box and shot at goal and Murphy did well to parry the fiercely hit shot away, but the ball bounced high enough for Cresswell to react and he headed the ball over the line. Late on, Yeates could have added another when he again got into the Ipswich box and launched another well hit strike that fizzed just wide. It had been an enjoyable last day of the season. We can now look forward to a busy summer of new signing and another attempt at promotion next season. The Championship will be a lot more even next season with Burnley and Hull returning and United will definitely start the campaign as one of the promotion favourites.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Ipswich: Kenny 7, Nosworthy 6, Little 6, Naysmith 7, Morgan 7, Bartley 7, Lowton 7, Harper 6, Montgomery 6, Yeates 8, Cresswell 7, Evans 7.
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.
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