Sheffield United 2-0 West Bromwich Albion
Tuesday, 26th December 2000
Nationwide League Division One
Venue: Bramall Lane
Attendance: 22,281
Referee: W.C.Burns (Scarborough)
| SHEFFIELD UNITED | 2 (1) |
| Bobby Ford 25 (pen), David Kelly 53 | |
| WEST BROMWICH ALBION | 0 (0) |
| SHEFFIELD UNITED | -V- | WEST BROMWICH ALBION | ||
| Simon Tracey | 1 | Brian Jensen | ||
| Robert Kozluk | 2 | Igor Balis | ||
| Shaun Murphy | 3 | Neil Clement | ||
| Lee Sandford | 4 | Jason Van Blerk | ||
| Curtis Woodhouse | 5 | James Chambers | ||
| Georges Santos | 6 | Tony Butler | ||
| Paul Devlin | 7 | Tony Grant | ||
| Michael Brown | 8 | Richard Sneekes | ||
| Bruno Ribeiro | 9 | Ruel Fox | ||
| Patrick Suffo | 10 | Lee Hughes | ||
| David Kelly | 11 | Jason Roberts | ||
| Substitutes | |
| 27mins | Matt Carbon for Van Blerk |
| 50mins | Des Lyttle for Balis |
| 66mins | James Thomas for Suffo |
| 75mins | Bob Taylor for Fox |
| 84mins | Phil Jagielka for Santos |
| Unused | ||||
| Wayne Quinn | – | Chris Adamson | ||
| Nick Montgomery | Jordao | |||
| Kevin Blackwell | – | |||
| Managers | ||||
| Neil Warnock | – | Gary Megson | ||
Notes
No notes
Match Report
Blades Slice Through Baggies in Festive Masterclass
Neil Warnock’s Christmas preparations couldn’t have gone better as Sheffield United produced arguably their finest home display of the season, sweeping aside promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion 2–0 at a jubilant Bramall Lane.
Despite affording Albion the respect their top-six status deserves, United were anything but generous once the game kicked off. The visitors were treated with the hospitality usually reserved for cold leftovers—dismissed and devoured with ruthless precision.
Paul Devlin was back to his marauding best, while the experienced David Kelly proved a thorn in the side of Gary Megson’s team throughout. Rob Kozluk, Michael Brown, and Georges Santos also turned in standout performances as the Blades eased to victory.
The usually potent pairing of Lee Hughes and Jason Roberts, one of the division’s most feared strike-forces, was all but anonymous as United—roared on by another strong crowd—controlled the game from back to front.
Warnock made two changes from the side that drew 0–0 at Portsmouth: the seasoned Kelly and the dynamic Santos returned, while Nick Montgomery and Wayne Quinn dropped to the bench. Albion, fresh from a 3–0 win over Nottingham Forest, remained unchanged.
The visitors started brightly and controlled the opening 20 minutes. A sliced clearance from Shaun Murphy nearly let Hughes in early, before Simon Tracey tipped a Tony Grant drive over the bar, and Neil Clement narrowly cleared the crossbar with a powerful free-kick.
United’s first opening came in the 19th minute when Patrick Suffo was denied by a superb last-ditch challenge from James Chambers. Moments later, Brian Jensen almost fumbled a Devlin shot into his own net, but was rescued by his post and forced to concede a corner.
Then came the breakthrough. In the 23rd minute, Kelly used his experience brilliantly, collecting the ball on the left side of the box, nudging it past Tony Butler and anticipating the inevitable mistimed challenge. Referee Bill Burns pointed straight to the spot, and Bobby Ford stepped up to hammer his penalty into the top corner—replicating his strike against Sheffield Wednesday just ten days earlier.
Buoyed by the opener, United enjoyed a strong spell. Ford headed wide after more excellent work from Kelly, and Jensen came under increasing pressure, though Albion managed to avoid conceding again before the break.
United signalled their intent early in the second half with a sweeping move involving Kozluk, Santos, Devlin, Ford, Curtis Woodhouse, and Kelly. On 54 minutes, it was rewarded. After a flowing exchange of passes, Kelly played a neat one-two with Devlin and clinically swept home a superb first-time finish, bringing Bramall Lane to its feet.
Albion struggled to recover. Butler nearly turned a Devlin cross into his own net, and substitute James Thomas and Devlin both forced Jensen into saves in quick succession midway through the half.
Clement and Roberts tried to offer resistance for the visitors—Clement heading over, Roberts volleying tamely into Tracey’s hands—but the spark that had seen Albion dismantle Forest days earlier was missing.
In the final minutes, Brown’s deflected effort forced another stop from Jensen, while Albion’s last hope fell to substitute Bob Taylor, only for Woodhouse to snuff out the danger with a perfectly timed tackle.
A performance full of power, purpose, and poise ensured that for Neil Warnock and the Blades, Christmas came early at Bramall Lane.
UP THE BLADES 
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