November 7 2005

Steve Kabba

This match was always going to be a barometer of how serious our promotion aspirations were going to be, by Simon Pophale.

Sheffield United came to Selhurst Park as league leaders and with the most goals scored in the division, we had a tough task in front of us.

From the kick off, United came at us in a way that no team, not even Liverpool, has done so far this season. Alan Quinn and Paul Ifill on the wings were giving Gary Borrowdale and Emmerson Boyce a torrid and busy first 15 minutes as United set their stall out.

Ifill had the first effort, blazing over on 3 minutes, before David Unsworth crossed and Phil Jagielka shot wide 3 minutes later.

Former Eagle STEVEn KABBA was beginning to cause problems and it was his run and cross that presented Jagielka with another chance minutes later but he shot tamely at Kiraly from 7 yards out.

Yet despite this early pressure we managed to carve out to excellent opportunites. Marco Reich and Emmerson Boyce combined down the right and Marlenes' cross found Dougie Freedman and from 6 yards out, his shot hit the post.

All that did was serving as a warning shot to United and on their next attack, opened the scoring.

KABBA, who was becoming a real handful, beat 2 defenders and his low cross into the box found Jagielka and his shot went in off the post past Kiralys' despairing dive.

Immediately we looked to hit back and Clinton Morrison headed wide from a Soares cross

two minutes later.

We were now fighting to get back into the match and despite United's early pressure, we were now coping with their midfield as their high tempo began to slow.

Kiraly was called into action less and less, while United may have had more possession, we were dealing with every threat that they could pose.

As half time approached, Morrison found Reich on the right and his cross was met by Micheal Hughes to level the scores.

From the restart, United marched straight down the field and after failing to clear the danger, Paul Ifill rifled the ball in stoppage time to give United the lead once again.

Stung by the disappointment of conceding so late on, we came out in the 2nd half and preceded to do to United, what they had done to us in the 1st 45 minutes.

A Ben Watson free-kick was curling viciously into the corner until Kenny tipped it for a corner. 2 minutes later, Borrowdale combined with Freedman and his shot was again saved by Kenny.

In the 54th minute from a Fitz Hall throw in, Darren Ward caused mayhem in the box and Derek Geary managed to scramble the ball clear.

Moments later, Emmerson Boyce sent in a pile driver which Kenny dived full length to keep out. We were chasing the equaliser but as often happens, we got caught with a sucker punch just moments later.

A United free-kick was met by Neil Shipperley and Kiraly looked to have it covered and made a great stop low to his right. But the referee gave a goal, despite Kiralys furious protestations. 1-3 down and with 35 minutes to go, it seemed a long way to come back.

But come back we did and we huffed and puffed, but we could not blow the United house down. Dowie threw on Andrews and we played with 3 up front and we did manage to net a penalty as Unsworth brought down Boyce in the box.

Dougie converted the spot kick and with 5 minutes left, the comeback was on. We threw everything at them and despite having corner

upon corner, could not get the ball in the net.

Even when we did manage to get the ball past Kenny, Jagielka was there to clear it off the line. Marco Reich so nearly got us level which was the last chance of the match.

Despite the loss, we gave United their toughest game of the season and even though it was frustrating, we can console ourselves that the performance would be good enough to beat anyone else in this division, but it was just not our day.