MD11: Sheffield United 1-1 Newcastle United

A first home point for the Blades extends their gap on the relegation zone

United kicked off the second half of their league campaign with an impressive point against Newcastle – the first point at the Lane this season – and one that could be vital in the final reckoning. It restores a three point buffer to bottom-side Portsmouth, who crucially have a much worse goal difference than the Blades as it stands (-26 to -10). Every point is going to be precious for United, and this was a good one.

And one could have been three, but for a 92nd minute equaliser by Rachel Furness – she of almost a century of caps for Northern Ireland. And even then, the Blades went straight down the other end and could have had a penalty when keeper Claudia Moan bundled Liv Edwards to the floor in the box – definitely in the “seen them given” category.

Anyway, I’m skipping ahead a bit, so let’s rewind to kick-off. Disheartening team news revealed that only-just-returned-to-fitness Alyssa Aherne was unavailable after picking up a knock on her debut. Abbie Lafayette, Annie Wilding, Grace Foy and Ella Kinzett were all also injured – although I noticed the latter two at least taking part in the pre-match warmups.

That meant a first league start for newly-signed Issy Hobson, and the welcome sight of a first Bramall Lane start for skipper Satara Murray with Olivia Page completing the back three and Eva Butler freed of her wingback responsibilities:

Those absentees meant there wasn’t much choice in terms of who would make the starting XI – the only other vaguely senior outfield player on the bench is Ellie Jones, who signed last week and only turned 17 a few months ago – but this lineup worked and put in possibly the best 90 minutes I’ve seen out of the Blades this season.

The back three and keeper deserve a lot of credit, with Jade Bailey also putting in a shift at DM (I’m an increasingly big fan of hers – the exact kind of physical, smart presence this team needs in the middle). Murray’s return could be a massive boost, and paired with Hobson in particular the back line suddenly has quite a bit of size and muscle about it. Supplemented by Connolly-Jackson’s athleticism down the left, Newcastle found our defence a fair bit harder to crack open than other sides have done this season.

Page was outstanding on the right side – another young player who looks to be taking a big step forward this season. This was her first league start of the season and she really shone at RCB, with only the dangerous Poppy Pritchard (signed on loan from Man City on the eve of the game) really giving her problems late on.

For Newcastle, Pritchard’s arrival was infuriatingly-timed for a team that is already well-resourced, but at least the England U19 regular was only deemed fit enough for the bench. The other noticeable face was one I mentioned last week: Charlotte Wardlaw, the Blades loanee recalled by Chelsea earlier this month. While I guessed that she’d be going back to the Championship, what I didn’t foresee was that she would be making her second Bramall Lane debut of the season, this time in black and white, but here she was.

Newcastle had the best chance of what was otherwise a very even first half, as Katie Barker bounded into the box and forced Sian Rogers into a good save from the angle. Rogers was then athletic enough to block successive rebounds from Jasmine McQuade and Isabella Sibley.

Eva Butler leaves a Newcastle defender in her wake.

At the other end Murray had a free header from Connolly-Jackson’s corner which she powered over from close range, and then Maria Farrugia threatened to do what she’s done so often this season and almost scored another belter. This time she weaved away from three Newcastle defenders and cracked a 20-yarder off the crossbar.

In the second half she almost topped it, with Moan just managing to scrape a 25-yard volley onto the top of the net. Ordinarily shooting in this situation seems like a terrible idea but I have so much time for Farrugia’s willingness (and ability) to go full hero-ball a couple of times a game (see also: Gus Hamer for the men’s team):

Anyway, she caught this perfectly and anyone other than last year’s Championship Player of the Year might have been picking the ball out of the net rather than diverting it onto the roof.

And then, a moment of comedy that only sport can really throw your way. Page’s ball forward was easily mopped up by Wardlaw, who hit a firm pass back to Moan. I was right in line with this and immediately thought she’d overhit it a bit, but more in a “that’ll be a bit awkward” way than what happened next as the ball sailed straight past Moan’s attempt to control and trickled into the back of the Newcastle net. An OG from a player who spent the first half of the season defending that very goal.

I think this is more Moan’s fault than Wardlaw’s, to be fair, but it was noticeable that any further backpasses from Wardlaw were very deliberately hit wide of goal. Although I should point out a small but effective bit of positioning from Butler who deliberately-or-otherwise must have planted a seed of doubt in Wardlaw’s mind that made her hit it closer to goal than she would otherwise like:

1-0 United, 19 minutes plus added time to play, could this be the first home win of the season? Sadly not, although not for lack of trying. Cowan and Connolly-Jackson dropped deeper to form a back five, and Bailey was replaced by Ellie Jones for some fresh legs in the middle. Pritchard nonetheless was getting some joy against Page and created a couple of half-chances with her first two crosses after entering the field, but United were at least getting closer to her and blocking a lot of her attempts away.

Unfortunately for the Blades, one of those blocks led to a corner from which the visitors equalised, and it was another fairly flukey goal. Lois Joel swept a high cross to the back post and Furness, who’d only been on the pitch ten minutes, headed back across. It looked more like she was simply putting it into a dangerous area rather than trying to score herself but the ball somehow evaded Murray and Connolly-Jackson and looped over the line for 1-1.

The sizeable Geordie contingent celebrated but United were close to silencing them again almost from the kick-off, as Cowan’s precise ball found Edwards running free into the box only to be flattened by Moan. Naturally I was on my feet demanding a penalty (this game was much more tension-filled than the previous day’s stroll of a win over Norwich for the men’s team) although from another look I think Moan may have got a touch on the ball before she trips Edwards. Still, as I say, seen ‘em given, and manager Ash Thompson picked up a booking for his reaction.

That was enough drama for one afternoon, although a few of our tetchier fans had some choice words for the referee at full-time. Even with an injury-time concession, I find it very hard to be less than happy with both the point and the performance that made for one of the more enjoyable games I’ve seen this season.

Charlton Athletic (A), Sunday 26th January, 14:00 kick-off

Another tough away game next for United, who head to a Charlton side looking to close the gap on the top. They won at Durham last weekend, although were very fortunate when former Blade Charlotte Newsham’s deliberate goal-saving handball went unspotted by the officials. Ooch.

The Londoners have the league’s second-tightest defence so far on expected goals (via footystats) and also boast the set-piece prowess of Jodie Hutton. Any point for United here would be a huge bonus.

The Blades did also welcome another signing this week, with England U19 midfielder Maddy Earl joining on loan from Arsenal for the rest of the campaign. Earl only recently signed her first pro contract, and it’ll be exciting to see how she fits into a team which suddenly might have more options on the bench than it has done for a long time.

Thanks for reading, back next week.

Maddy Earl joins the Blades this week on loan from Arsenal.