Sheffield United stormed to the top of League One
Dons no match for leaders
SHEFFIELD United boss Chris Wilder believes his side have cocked a snook at their recent critics after a dominant win over Wimbledon restored them to the top of the table.
The Blades coasted to their first victory in four games after Billy Sharp put them ahead less than two minutes into the game.
James Hanson scored on his debut to double the lead on 37 minutes, and late goals from John Fleck and substitute Caolan Lavery condemned the listless Dons.
It was the perfect response to accusations that United had been underperforming despite their lofty position.
“It was a big day for us,” said a relieved Wilder.
“A lot has been said and I like to think that maybe people will assess the season at the end of it.
“They do have an opinion which we have to take on the chin, but we believed in the process.
“That doesn’t mean we’re where we want to be, there’s a lot of football to be played.
“But you always think players step up to the mark when things have gone against them a little bit.
“Individual errors and missed chances over the last previous games have not got us the points that we wanted.
“So we had a tweak, the players have been outstanding in a group effort, and they’ve answered a lot of questions out there with the performance.”
James Shea was at fault for Sharp’s early strike, dropping the striker’s first shot from just three yards.
Sharp duly returned to the top of the League One goalscorers’ table, with a fortunate rebound off his knee.
Hanson, who joined from fellow Yorkshire promotion-challengers Bradford on the same day United last played, tucked away the second from Sharp’s cutback after Mark Duffy made up the hard yards with an impressive run.
Sharp could have had a second ten minutes after the break, but Daniel Lafferty’s cross got stuck under his feet with Shea in no man’s land.
Paul Coutts went close with a free kick ten minutes later, with the
midfielder claiming Shea got something on his low shot before it went wide of the post.
Dons debutant Tom Soares had to clear Chris Basham’s header off the line on 68 minutes from a corner, resulting from a decent Duffy effort that forced Shea into a save.
There was little the goalkeeper could do about Fleck’s strike 11 minutes from time, with the Scot finding the bottom corner with a precise left-footed finish.
Substitute Lavery finished off the game in stoppage time with a finish that was the mirror image of Fleck’s goal.
And that left Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley in reflective mood, claiming his side needed to improve their mental attitude.
“I said before when we played them at our place that I thought they were the best team in the league and nothing has changed my mind on that,” he said.
“But you do have to look at yourself. Mentally I didn’t think we approached the game right and Sheffield are a team that come at you and go at you like they’re 1-0 down from the first minute.
“Let’s make no bones, they’re a very good team and it was always going to be tough.
“With the way they were playing and the new signings they’ve made, we would have had to have been absolutely on our game and brilliant to get anything from the game, that’s my take on it.
“But we were far from that and when you’re far from it you get a 4-0 scoreline.
“If we were really really at it we’d probably have still struggled.”