The League One clash of Blades and The Iron, two resurgent sides, at Bramall Lane ended in a vibrant, heavy-metal 1-1 draw
Scunthorpe could take a leaf out of Lincoln City’s book. At Burnley the Imps had the nous to score in the 89th minute. At Bramall Lane The Iron, the county’s only League club for five seasons before Grimsby’s return, had the cheek in League One’s top-of-the-table match to take the lead straight after an interval they had reached in ragged relief at level terms. Two minutes later Sheffield United equalised and so it stayed, with each side hitting a post in the closing minutes, Scunthorpe again first, and honours even from a contest fit for a fine old stadium and 27,980 crowd, way above anything in the Championship’s limited programme.
The clubs left that division six years ago together and are resurgent under managers forging their names. Chris Wilder, born and bred a Blade, is back where he belongs. A modest career as a full-back began there and, though he said he would never manage them, he fell at the first invitation last May and has invigorated them in a way that the Nigels, Clough and Adkins, had not, even reliving his ballboy days from the dugout. His CV proclaims quick results, taking up Oxford United from the Conference in his first full season with them and Northampton from League Two in his second. He failed to take Oxford further, which Michael Appleton has done, but looks well set for his hat-trick here.
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