LFL: SHEFF UTD

What a wonderful day it was! I’d thought beforehand that we’d win 2-1 but we didn’t play at all well in the first-half and when they got the ball in the net for the second time I seriously wondered how we could get back into it. We kept at it and some telling substitutions made a great difference with Roberts setting up our equaliser and Watson winning the game with a moment of brilliance. Our fans never gave up and our support, particularly in the later stages, was crucial.

BEFORE

It rained a lot during the night and now it's overcast and pretty cool here in West London but the cockles of my heart are glowing with anticipation of this afternoon's match. I think we're going to win. We've managed to get to the final with our strongest possible squad and that's an achievement in itself. I hope that Mundle will start in place of Roberts and I can see him getting a goal. In the two previous games this season I thought we were the better side overall and though I respect Sheffield United, I don't fear them. My team shirt (Reg Vardy vintage) is on and I'll be at the game with two friends from home. We'll be meeting for a couple of slurps in Marylebone Station buffet in an hour or so. As we did so effectively in the second Coventry match we fans can give the team a huge lift and be the twelfth man. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.

The Victoria and Albert bar at Marylebone was heaving with fans from both sides when I arrived at midday but most of them were outside and I was pleased to see there was a queue at the bar, like at Jameson’s in Sunderland. The atmosphere was friendly among both sets of fans and why not? My friends’ match predictions were also 2-1 and 2-1. We wanted to get to Wembley early both to make sure we got in okay but also to soak up the atmosphere and roar the Lads on as they warmed up. We chatted with three Blades fans on the train up to Wembley Central and as we got off I told them to have a nice day…but not that nice. We were in our seats just after 2.00. We were so high up that we all had a little bit of vertigo but the view was great and we were soon waving the red flags that had been left on our seats and soaking up the vibes. As for team-news, Rigg and Mundle were in for Isidor and Roberts. We watched a very well-produced video on the distant screen of Ballard’s goal against Coventry. I imagine the Blades fans were watching a different video on a screen at our end. When it was displayed on the screen that VAR would be used during the game, a lot of people booed and I’m not a fan either. The atmosphere was great as the game started.

THE MATCH

We were pressed back from the off and in the second minute Patto dived to his left to tip the ball away to safety. When the dust had settled we saw that O’Nien was down injured and he was there for five minutes or so before he managed to get up and leave the pitch with difficulty. He was replaced by Mepham but it was a harsh blow to lose our talisman so early and we knew it must have been a serious injury to cause Luke to go off. We continued to look vulnerable at the back while the Blades showed that they could penetrate quickly and decisively. We gradually started to put some moves together and in the seventeenth minute we won the first corner. Cooper in goal grabbed it cleanly but it was a start. In the twenty-second minute there was a round of applause from both sets of fans for Lib Hume, a young Blades fan who recently died of cancer.

We then won another corner but instead of making something from it we actually went behind. We took it short but it was cleared and Hamer burst down our right wing and despite the attention of three of our defenders, was able to put a cross in which Campbell received and struck past Patto to put them one-up. Our defending was poor all round. We battled back and soon had an attempt, but not much of one, as Mayenda’s header went well wide. In the thirty-third Sheffield United won their first corner, though it looked to me like a goal-kick. When it came over, Ballard headed strongly away but it fell to Burrows outside the box and he slammed it into the net. It looked like 2-0 and I wondered how we could get back into it as we hadn’t really got going yet.

Then, amidst the gloom, I noticed that the distant screen was saying that the goal was being examined by VAR as there may have been an offside attacker. That was my first experience of VAR and it took maybe three minutes before we got a decision. Emotions among our fans erupted and died down before it was signalled that the goal had been ruled out and a great roar went up among our half of the stadium. At that moment I loved VAR. That decision gave our players and fans a boost though our attacking play continued to be ponderous with far too many sideways and backwards passes. There was clearly going to be a good deal of added-time and eight minutes were duly announced. This period proved to be our best so far and we won another corner and actually had a shot on target, though Rigg’s bouncing effort was never a serous threat. Anyway, it remained 0-1 as the half-time whistle went.

We were the first side out for the second period and there’d been no further changes. We started with a lot more purpose and won two more corners in the opening five minutes. Cooper in goal was getting whistled by our fans for timewasting. The Sheffield United defence was starting to look wobbly now and my confidence increased. Just before the hour-mark we made another change, bringing on Roberts for Rigg. Goalscorer Campbell was yellow-carded and next thing he was subbed by O’Hare with Brewster also being replaced by Brooks. Soon we won another corner that resulted in a casual-looking lob by Roberts nestling onto the roof of the net. Mundle hadn’t been as effective as I’d hoped and he was yellow-carded in the sixty-eighth. Just after that some terrible fumbling at the back looked like it was going to cost us dearly but we manged to get the ball cleared. Our passing had left a lot to be desired but with twenty minutes still on the clock I hoped that we could pull something out of the hat. 

Our fans upped their game and made extra noise as we entered the final straight. Hamer was replaced by Brereton Diaz and my heart sank a bit as I vaguely remembered him getting a goal or two against us before. However, he picked up a yellow and was actually subbed himself after being on the pitch for less that twenty minutes. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. We made a double switch in the seventy-third, bringing on Isidor and Watson for Mundle and Neil.

Finally we started to look a real threat and within a few minutes we were level when Roberts fed Mayenda and he shot home to send half of Wembley wild. Red flares burned out on all sides as we raised the roof. With ten minutes on the clock a good shot by Jobe went narrowly over the bar and the momentum was with us. We had to have a new ball just after that for some reason. A United player was down for three minutes or so as the final whistle loomed and our fans serenaded theirs with, “Your support is f*ckin’ shit.” Seven minutes of added-time were announced but almost immediately another Blades player was down injured for a while so I lost track of quite how much time remained.

In the ninety-fifth everyone around me went doolally when we took the lead. Dads and their young sons whipped their tops off, flares gushed redness everywhere while everyone jumped around shouting and waving their arms in the air. Watson received the ball near the right angle of their box and curved a low shot into the bottom right corner out of Cooper’s reach. We brought on Hjelde for Mayenda, Cirkin was yellow-carded, we all chanted. “We are Sunderland…” and soon Mr Kavanagh blew his whistle and we were in the Premier League.

I stayed for well over twenty minutes to watch the Lads make their way up to receive their medals and the trophy. The opposite side of the stadium was soon deserted. We could see the faces of Quinny, Peter Reid, Kevin Phillips and others on the big screen opposite and they all got a big cheer. We could also see O’Nien with a sling on his right arm but grinning through it all and he got a special cheer. The team came down to the pitch again for much champagne-spraying, vertical flames and exploding sparkly bits all over the place. There was a huge mock trophy behind them and I was hoping a few players would end up in that but…you can’t have everything. We headed off back to Wembley Central feeling delightfully numb.