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United look Sharp as Billy bags one: MATCH REPORT AND SLIDESHOW
SHEFFIELD UNITED 2 v COVENTRY CITY 1: SHEFFIELD United paid homage to two of their favourite sons during at emotionally charged Bramall Lane last night.
After an impeccably observed tribute to Derek Dooley, who passed away last week, it was fitting that Billy Sharp delivered the goal which set Kevin Blackwell's team on the path to a victory which hauls them to the brink of the 50-point target their manager believes will provide immunity against relegation.
The trials and tribulations Sharp has endured since returning from Scunthorpe pale into insignificance compared to those Dooley endured with dignity and grace during his own playing career but, as a proper 'football man', United's former chairman would have been the first to congratulate the youngster.
Instead it was left to Blackwell to heap praise on Sharp's shoulders as he contemplated a win which, following Saturday's victory over Plymouth, suggests United are on the road to recovery.
"I thought that was more like what this ground should be like," said Blackwell, who also saw Gary Speed score before Elliott Ward pulled one back for Coventry from the penalty spot. "The crowd were great and the players responded.
"The lads have struggled at home and we had to break that hoodoo. Now we've done it everyone will get a lift."
"Billy's a Blade through and through and hopefully this will be the first of many for him."
While Blackwell basked in the glory of his first triumph at home in the league since taking charge, his opposite number Chris Coleman was "surprised, disappointed and frustrated" having seen the visitors slip to an eighth successive away defeat.
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"The first goal was always going to be crucial," he said, "If we'd have got it then I'm sure we would have gone on to get two or three.
"But we didn't and, to be fair, while we kept asking their goalkeeper Paddy Kenny questions he kept giving us the answers."
Kenny was again in good form but United, who climb to 14th in the table, again showed the collective resilience required.
Providing quick, quality ball to the strikers is one of the hallmarks of Blackwell's methodology and there was certainly no shortage here.
Indeed, having seen Kenny and Speed deny Scott Dann during an early penalty box scramble, United could have been two goals to the good by the time Sharp fired them into a 69th minute lead. That they weren't owed more to Sharp's misfortune rather than any lack of effort on the marksman's part.
Sharp's failure to open his Championship account for United has been a source of frustration for both club and player and having seen a seventh minute attempt hacked clear – James Beattie's decision to wheel away in delight apparently costing him the chance of a simple tap-in – he suffered further agony moments later when an offside flag temporarily prevented him from breaking his duck.
"If Billy hadn't have scored tonight then I would have sold him," Blackwell joked.
"You can only imagine the pressure that must have been on him."
Dann's skirmish and a fine volley by Michael Mifsud apart, Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon were rarely troubled by the visitors until Danns, Coventry's greatest threat, saw another chance clawed away by Kenny seconds before the interval.
But Mifsud's record since arriving from Lillestrom demands respect and, almost immediately after the interval, he demonstrated the instincts which have brought him 16 goals in all competitions this term.
His low drive from an acute angle looked to be sneaking in past the foot of the post until Kenny intervened.
On a pitch rougher than a Bermondsey docker, perhaps it was sensible for both teams to take the most direct route forward.
Their respective positions demand that points not plaudits must be the primary objective and the stalemate was eventually broken midway through the second-half when Sharp converted David Cotterill's cross.
Seldom can there have been a more popular goalscorer at Bramall Lane and his frenzied celebrations spoke volumes.
"Billy got booked for ripping his shirt off but I'm not going to fine him for that,"Blackwell grinned. "You can see what it meant to him."
Blackwell has insisted that when Sharp's luck turned, it would do so emphatically and seven minutes later he was instrumental in United's second.
Coventry captain Stephen Hughes was adjudged to have fouled Sharp in the area and Speed doubled their advantage on the rebound after Marshall had saved his initial shot from the penalty spot.
But for a controversial decision by referee Trevor Kettle that should have been game, set and match but the Rutland official's decision to award his second penalty of the evening, this time for Chris Morgan's seemingly innocuous challenge on Mifsud, allowed Ward to put the outcome back in the balance.
"The penalty they got wasn't and the penalty we got wasn't either," Coleman said. "When you've got someone like that in charge then it becomes a circus."
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READ MORE
Football headlines.
More Blades.
More Owls.
More Spireites.
More Rovers.
More Reds.
More Millers.
More Ice Hockey.
More rugby.
More boxing.
Sports columnists.
All sport categories.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
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