A WILD RIDE
Blades finally win after thriller
HALLELUJAH! Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was finally singing his side’s praises for winning a game this season.
At the 19th time of asking, the Blades picked up their first victory of the campaign, edging a five-goal thriller at gutsy League One Bristol Rovers.
No wonder Wilder was smiling at the end. You had to go back to July 11 to find the last occasion he and his Premier League basement boys celebrated any triumph anywhere.
The Blades boss, whose side have only two top-flight points, said: “I’m so pleased for the players, the fans and club. It’s a big win because of our form.
“My players have had to take a lot of stick – and that dents confidence.
“Whether we played well didn’t matter. We just had to get this result and get through a tough tie.
“Most people would have thought this was going to be a home win and another upset.
“Now we have to take this forward into the next few games.”
What a chance this trip to the West Country represented for the Blades to forget their horrors among the elite – for one afternoon at least.
That said, Rovers – 18th in the third tier – knew very well what it was like to win this season. They had experienced that feeling 10 times. And their lowly league position was misleading, too, as they have three games in hand on the majority of the division.
They had also slammed six past Doncaster in the previous round – and won three of five league outings under new boss Paul Tisdale.
A measure of how important Wilder was treating the occasion was his full-strength line-up.
Forget the fact that they have Premier League games against Newcastle and Tottenham this week, reaching round four was all that mattered yesterday.
And United enjoyed a perfect start when they grabbed the lead after five minutes – Ben Osborn’s cross was ideal for striker Lys Mousset, whose header clipped off the bar and struck Rovers’ debutant keeper Joe Day before nestling in the net.
Rovers responded with some crunching tackles but the visitors, with many of their players having started their careers lower down the pyramids, met fire with fire. However, the four-time FA Cup winners were not so adept dealing with set-pieces – as shown by Rovers’ 20th-minute leveller.
Zain Westbrook’s excellent free-kick was met by central defender Alfie Kilgour who planted a towering header past Aaron Ramsdale.
If the first half had been good, the second exploded with a remarkable three-goal burst in four minutes.
Blades sub Oliver Burke missed an open goal seconds after coming on before making amends with a classy
58th-minute solo strike.
Rovers were level immediately as Max Ehmer tapped in at the far post from a corner.
But the Blades regained the lead on
62 minutes as Jayden Bogle skipped into the box to make it 3-2.
Rovers boss Tisdale was proud of his team’s efforts and said: “I asked the players not to sit back and hope for a
1-0 win.
“I told them I didn’t mind if they lost
3-2 if they had a go – and that’s how it worked out.”
BRISTOL ROVERS: Day 8; Ehmer 6, Kilgour 8, Baldwin 7, Leahy 7, Westbrook 7, Upson 6 (Rodman 80th), Oztumer
6 (Grant (60th) 6), McCormick 6, Hanlan 6, Ayunga 7 (Barrett (60th) 6)
Ramsdale 6; Basham, 6, Egan 6, Ampadu 7, Bogle 7, Lundstram 7 (Bryan (73rd) 6), Norwood 6, Fleck 7 (Lowe 86th), Osborn, McGoldrick, Mousset 7 (Burke (52nd) 8)
Oliver Burke
K Stroud
ALF TIME: Alfie Kilgour celebrates his goal