S6 Bandit Country

Sheffield Wednesday U18 2 v Sheffield United U18 3

Sheffield United 1 v Fleetwood Town 2

Saturday 7 March 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Another double header today. Starting with a morning trip out to S6 Bandit Country for the U18 Derby. Pre-Game, the Blades were FIRMLY anchored to the wrong end of U18 Professional Development League 2 North with 16 points from 19 games. Leeds are above them on 21. Wednesday were mid table with 27 points.

But that "form book" was torn up as the Blades Nippers were 3 nil up after 23 minutes. The thing about this age group is that players can rarely last 90 at full pace. So, the games can swing as one team loses it a bit, while the other gets a second & third wind.

Not everyone's cup of tea. But it can make for interesting games. This one had the LOT.

Three up. Fightback. Man off on a stretcher. 11 minutes of injury time. Hotly disputed disallowed goal deep into stoppage time. Like the Alamo at the end.

The Wednesday players slumped to the deck. The United players celebrated wildly. Superb.

To be honest Wednesday were in it throughout. Three nil up hugely flattered The Blades.

Recent first team sub & hopeful starlet Dominic Calvert-Lewin was out there up front with Daniel Cockerline. Dom has surely been pushed down the pecking order by new loanee Steven Davies. Work hard & come again fella.

And, dropping down two levels he has to shine at U18, or none of it will have been worth it.

Fair play. He's bagged two in the first 15 minutes. The first was from a good cross from the left. Calvert-Lewin was unmarked and got a calm powerful header past the keeper

You'd have to go a long way to see a better goal than his 2nd.  Superb interplay between Cockerline & David Brooks (?was it?). Back heels & layoffs. Set Dominic up to calmly fire home.

After 23 mins, a defensive mix over on the left & United nicked the ball. It was rolled across the box & Cockerline knocked it from maybe 3 yards.

But. From there. It was all Wednesday. A spectacular misfield by Ramsdale, and matey has slipped it into the empty net. With 22 minutes left they got a second. A lovely powerful header from a free kick

Manny Adebowale got a whack of some sorts. It didn't look good. Carted off all braced up on the golf cart stretcher. It looked like they were waiting for paramedic/ambulance at the end. Hope I'm wrong. Good luck fella.

Two goal prototype hero Dominic Calvert-Lewin then switched to makeshift Centre Half. United hit the bar. Confusion reigned near the end of 11 minutes stoppage time. The Owls scored. Flag went up. But the ref went over to discuss it with the lino, before confirming it wouldn't stand.

I'm liking Cockerline more & more. He's all arms & legs. But in a controlled way. Good touch stretching those long legs up down & round & round to the ball.

I stopped off at the Hillsborough Hotel. Its got an S6 postcode. But it's hardly what you'd think of as Deep Hillsborough is it? Effectively in town.  Wood Street Brewery. 4 of their own 4 guests on cask.

I had their Blacklocust Treacle Stout on cask at 4.6%.  Quite a thin mouthfeel. Slight hint of sourness leading into deep red fruits. Some richness Delightful thin latte head. More bitterness than I expected. More in Porter territory. Nice beer.

And then on to the Big Show at The Lane. There are Jacks. There are Socket Sets. But, currently, the Wheels Are Off. I prefer consistency. So I'm not for sacking the Manager. But, he don't make it easy & needs to meet me halfway. Constant signings. Loanees. Players he knows from former clubs. That's not breeding consistency is it?

At 2-0, I feared we might get overrun. I quietly thought "they've got no option but to just keep playing & working to get back into it". Which they did. In parts.

Thing is. Because other teams want to win as well, this is already a cling on season. Cling on for 6th. I don't think it's sensible to sack him in those circumstances.

But, Open Message to Phipps. The way it works is - if people call for his head & you do nowt, then they come for your head next .... and quickly. There is a storm to be weathered.

We're in a loop. We can't get up & running with the mob we've got. Clough can't get it out of them. So, we replace those with more players, who quite frankly are no better. There's a honeymoon, new Messiah period when they sign. But then their names just go on the list.

98/228