Middlesboro 0 Sheffield United 0

[S36Reject]

Date: 7th August 2009 @ 8pm

Venue: The Riverside

Attendance: 23,541

Referee: Lee Mason (8/10)

Man of the First Half: Yeates(Middlesboro)

Man of the Second Half: Montgomery(Sheff Utd)

Man of the Match: Wheater(Middlesboro)

Blades Line-Up:
Bunn
Walker, Kilgallon, Morgan, Taylor
France, Montgomery, Howard, Quinn, Treacy
Henderson

First Half:
United kick off the new Season in a Predictably Defensive Line-Up, with Suspensions and Injuries already taking it's toll on a small Squad of players Needless to say, United start the brighter Having 2 great opportunities in the first 2 minutes Along throw by Taylor finds the head of Wheater who Clears to the edge of the area, Finding Treacy Unmarked, He hits a sweet left footer through a packed 6 yard box, and Boro Debutee Keeper Coyne, Parries really well, but there's no follow up from the Blades, as Emnes kicks it out for a Corner France runs over and takes the Corner, all the way over to the far Post, Morgan gets his head to it, But Wheater Kicks the ball clear to Emnes, who tries to dribble clear, Montgomery stopping him in his tracks
Better football followed, Johnson and Yeates combining well to set-up Alliadiere twice in 2 Minutes, and Howard mis-timing his through ball, Wheater easily cleared! Uncertainty in the United Rear Guard nearly gifted Boro the Opener, when Walker made a Terrible Back Pass to Bunn, with Emnes racing on! Bunn JUST getting it clear Fierce Tackling as both sides tried to muscle there way forward, United getting the better of the Play! Quinn seeming to spend more time on the Grass than anyone else, With the referee rightly waving away the Appeals
Yeates, showed his Class moments later, Beating First Taylor, Then Monty as Kilgallon beats Yeates to it to concede a Throw United Break straight after, Bunn's free kick over the top, Knocked down by Henderson, and Quinn hits a Volley well wide, Very Good opportunity Missed is the only way to look at that Williams and Huth Combine well finding Yeates who again Beats Taylor and sends a Really Good low cross, Morgan Clearing cooly (14th Minute) Scrappy periods of End to end Football followed, United again winning a Corner on the 20 minute Mark, France again sends the Cross to the far Post Morgan, Again, Wins the header, But Again, Quinn Mis-Hits and after a game of Ping-Pong in the 6' Box, Emnes Breaks, Finding Johnson on the Right side of the Blades 12' Box, 1-2 with Yeates, but Yeates not quick enough to react
Boro, Scrappily take the ball forward in the 23rd minute, Williams, Johnson, in the build up, Emnes Tangling with Morgan and the ball rolls loose to Yeates, who hits a great shot, Bunn Equal to the effort, Parries the Shot for a corner, Good Effort, Great Save
Boro begin to take control of the match, United Resolute Defending keeping the Relegated Side at Bay, Yeates being the thorn in Uniteds Side, Kilgallon beating Alliadiere to a Great Cross, heading it Wide
More Scrappy Centre play followed, Boro, seeing more of Possession than United, But Both Defenses being the Dominant forces! United pushed forward again at the half hour, Crosses from Treacy and Taylor, unable to find Henderson, until, an incisive break from, Montgomery, finds Henderson, Henderson threading a great ball to Quinn who dribbles wide and Forces Coyne into a great save, And parries away from any lurking follow up too Johnson and Yeates, take the ball forward almost everytime, Yeates being the Most threatening, Beating Taylor, 8 out of ten times, only for Alliadiere and WEmnes, to not be Strong enough to beat Morgan and Kilgallon. United pressing forward again, winning 2 corners in succession, Kilgallon having a Spectacular, over head kick and France's Threaded Cross nodded away by Huth!
More urgency goes into the Boro players with 8 minutes to go, and with Little niggling mistakes from Howard, Quinn and Taylor, With France in and out of the Play, Walker being forced to stay back instead of Venturing forward, which he plays like he's frustrated in being Stuck there. The first Substitution comes after Digard has to be taken off after tangling with Treacy, O'Neil getting ready to come on(42)
Tired Legs kick in in the 43rd minute as both Teams are happy to run the clock down
HT 0-0 (45+1) United, Dominated Chances 1:4(3 from Quinn) but Possession is 55:45

Second Half:
No other Substitutions at Half time
United Continue with the dominant chances in the second Half, Treacy and France Creating half chances in the opening 2 Mins, But Howard Ran off-side United moving the ball forward well, passing through midfield, but with Treacy, Quinn and Henderson all taking 1 too many touches to get the shot away! Williams receives a Yellow Card moments after the ball goes Dead, for a cynical Tackle on Montgomery On 50 Boro get a Penalty Shout, Johnson, making his way into the box from the Left, Walker tracks him and gets aToe on the Ball as Johnson goes down! Excellent decision from Mason as he waves away the Appeals Moments later, The referee gets the decision wrong when awarding a Free Kick against Howard after great pressing and eventually getting the ball which could have been Threatening Montgomery rightly gives Quinn and Howard a dressing down after a succession of bad passing and cheaply losing possession which brings the pressure from Boro, Monty having to be in the box to successfully nod away then Clear the corner as Wheater on both times was lurking behind him
The Home side didn't really threaten any part of the Blades Defense until the hour Mark Johnson creating a rare moment of magic to whip the ball in, Emnes and alliadiere again found Wanting in strength, Kilgallon actually looked to have pushed Alliadiere but replays proved it to be 6 and 2x3 Treacy Off Cotterill On(60) Boro continued in the ascendency until Yeates concedes a foul on Montgomery, Emnes goes off and Lita comes on Moments after(65)
Morgan instantly Man-Marks Lita Boro win Free-Kicks and throws but to no no avail. Howard Off Evans On(68) (on a personal note, That should have been Quinn, not Howard, IMO)United begin to Defend from the front, Creating opportunities via Cotterill, But Boro break from a United Corner,Only for Monty to have deemed to have Wrestled Lita to the Floor, Moments later, Montgomery Again, foils another Boro Attack, Stopping Yeates making progress down the Right, then again Montgomery getting the decision for a great tackle on O'Neil United continue with the game plan of defending from the front, Evans playing in an advanced Midfield role, However, with Cotterill probing, Quinn has another Shot but sends it well wide on 75
United still continues in the better play, by the 80th Minute, Tired Legs and silly mistakes are aplenty, But United remain Resolute! The commentary team focusing on Lita, as United mark him out of the game Boro adds pressure, with McMahon, unleashing a Shot from way out in the Middle of the park, it flying High and wide But as the game goes on, Both sides decide to play longer, Head tennis being a regular exchange, With niggling challenges and pointless free-kicks conceded by both sides
The last 5 minutes, Uniteds Dead balls and set peices routine Changes as Morgan and Kilgallon, stop moving up the field to attack them, opting to stay at the back to Ceal the Point after Montgomery's scirmish with Lita Boro in fairness haven't had the time thay had in the first Half, United, or more to the point Montgomery, have been in the faces of the Home side throughout! in the 90th minute, United create themselves a great chance, only for Wheater to deflect the shot Wide, and the chance is ended
FT 0-0 (90+2) Very good point for both sides IMO

Ok, New Feature:

Rate them(out of 10):
Bunn
Walker
Kilgallon
Morgan
Taylor
France
Montgomery
Quinn
Howard
Treacy
Henderson
Cotterill
Evans

[S36Reject]

Bunn 9
Walker 7
Kilgallon 9
Morgan 9
Taylor 7
France 7
Montgomery 9
Quinn 6
Howard 6
Treacy 8
Henderson 7
Cotterill 7
Evans 6

[YouFUMS]

A fair assesment of the game, Dane...cheers

here's my rating:

Bunn 7
Walker 6
Kilgallon 8
Morgan 7
Taylor 7
France 6
Montgomery 8
Quinn 7
Howard 5
Treacy 7
Henderson 8
Cotterill 6
Evans 6

[BoltonBlade]

My scores after watching it on Sky

Bunn 8
Walker 7
Kilgallon 9
Morgan 8
Taylor 7
France 6
Montgomery 9
Quinn 5
Howard 5
Treacy 6
Henderson 7
Cotterill 6
Evans 6

[Staboblade]

Bunn.8
Walker.6
Kilgallon.10
Morgan.10
Taylor.8
France.5
Montgomery.8
Quinn.7
Howard.6
Treacy.7
Henderson.7
Cotterill.6
Evans.6

[bognor blade]

good job dane

after watching on sky
bunn 7
walker 6
killa 9
morgs 8
taylor 7
france 6
monty 8
quinn 5
howard 5
treacy 7
hendo 7
cotts 6
chedders 6

[lingsbord]

Bunn 7 because he only had one save to make. Looks very assured.
Walker 7
Kilgallon 9
Morgan 8
Taylor 7
France 6
Montgomery 8
Quinn 7
Howard 5
Treacy 7
Henderson 8
Cotterill 6 - we put a winger on and continue to play without width. the rating is because no-one gave him the ball.
Evans 6 - clearly not ready. WTF did he do with Man City before he came here? Was he injured or summat? Has a good early pedigree in the game and I'm delighted we have him but we'll see the best out of him a) at home with better tactics and b) from October onwards when he gets fit

[lingsbord]

Ipswich pissed all over coventry but lost, which is great because Ipswich will be far more of a challenge than Coventry will.

Overall then, only 3 wins in the CCC this weekend and 2 of those from teams who probably won't be a threat. Essentially then it's almost as if the season starts next week but we get to chalk off an away game against an ex-PL team. Great stuff. UTB!!

That's how to take positives from a goal-less draw!

[Halfvampire Halfman]

Lings - love the thinking - here's my ratings;
Bunn 8
Walker 7
Kilgallon 9
Morgan 8
Taylor 7
France 7
Montgomery 8
Quinn 7
Howard 5
Treacy 7
Henderson 8
Cotterill 6
Evans 6

[Pastitblade]

Right my stab at it.

Mr Bunn 7
Walker 6
Morgan 7
Killa 8 (though why we are bothering scoring him as he won't be here at the end of the month)
Taylor 6
France 6
Monty Truly dreadful game thuggish with no tangible skill GOD he's crap! 8 MOTM
Quinn 7
Howard 4
Treacy 6
Hendo 7

Cotts 6
Evans 6