SHEFFIELD UNITED 1 (Kilgallon 64)
BARNSLEY 0

BARNSLEY'S derby day woe continued as Matt Kilgallon settled a keenly fought and hotly contested clash at Bramall Lane.

Reds boss Simon Davey made one change to the side that drew with Crystal Palace as Marciano Van Homoet made his full debut at left back and replaced Dominik Werling, who served a one game ban. Sheffield United includes former Reds skipper Chris Morgan amongst their substitutes.

After a scrappy opening United finally showed some quality in the final third on seven minutes when Keith Gillespie lofted the ball over the Reds defence towards James Beattie but Stephen Foster was well placed to head over his own bar from six yards.

Phil Bardsley then found a fine pass to split the Barnsley defence wide open on ten minutes and send Beattie clean through and the former England man looked odds on to score but for Brian Howard's fantastic last-ditch tackle. The United players and fans were incensed but referee Phil Dowd stood strong and waved away their protests.

Barnsley responded and put the hosts under pressure with Anderson De Silva crashing a shot against Michael Tonge and away for a corner just two minutes later. Martin Devaney's inswinger had Paddy Kenny all over the place but the Blades keeper did well to claw the ball out from under his cross bar.

De Silva was then caught on the ball by Tonge on 14 minutes and had to thank Heinz Muller as the big German did well to hold the midfielders' effort from 20 yards out.

Foster was then caught late by Carney on 14 minutes and left in a bloodied heap on the ground although referee Dowd opted to play on and give United the advantage. Carney failed to make the numbers count and twice wasted decent shooting opportunities. Foster was forced out of the action for treatment and the Reds went close to an opener despite being down to ten men as Jon Macken met De Silva's cross but just could not put his effort on target from 12 yards out.

Barnsley were caught short on 19 minutes as Nick Montgomery played the numbers game and found space in behind the Reds defence. The midfielder drilled in his cross and his effort took a big deflection but Muller was able to clear.

Montgomery almost got in again on 25 minutes as he found a yard of space but was well closed down and smothered out of it by Dennis Souza. Montgomery showed that he had learned a lot from United's year in the Premier League when he hit the deck way too easily under De Silva's challenge on 28 minutes. Gillespie swung a great free kick into the area but Foster was able to scramble it clear under pressure. Gillespie was again causing problems seconds later as he planted a cross on Carney's head but the midfielder put his effort straight at Muller from six yards.

Defender Gary Cahill found himself on the edge of the Reds area on 35 minutes and managed to turn and shoot but his low drive was well wide of the target. Bardsley then had Muller scrambling a minute later as his cross dropped right on the crossbar but the big German was able to claw it over.

Bardsley earned himself a caution a minute later after his scything challenge left Howard in a heap right on the edge of the area. Howard took the free kick himself but smashed his shot against the top of the wall and over the bar.

Barnsley fired the first shot in anger after the break on 48 minutes when Istvan Ferenczi almost got hold of Macken's knockdown but his wayward volley flew through to Kenny.

The first real opportunity of the game came on 54 minutes when Macken nodded Devaney's cross into the six yard box. The ball bounced up for Ferenczi to volley but Kenny was somehow over to pull off magnificent save to deny the Reds striker from point blank range. Macken then had Kenny guessing on 59 minutes as he turned well before curling the ball a yard or so over the top from 30 yards.

The Reds could have had a penalty on 62 minutes as Foster's cross struck the arm of Gary Naysmith right on the edge of the area. The referee gave the free kick but it was hard to see whether Naysmith was inside the box when the offence took place.

United grabbed a lead they really did not deserve on 64 minutes as Kilgallon rose to meet Carney's freekick and his header smashed into Foster and wrong-footed Muller to land in the far corner.

Howard then led the Blades all round the pitch as he looked to drag his side level. The midfielder turned Tonge and Montgomery easily on 67 minutes before shooting high over the bar from 25 yards.

Bardsley had a sight of goal on 68 minutes as he broke onto a loose ball on the edge of the area but slammed his shot into the advertising boards with Muller stranded.

The game finally boiled over on 70 minutes when Nyatanga went through Lee Hendrie on the touchline. Hendrie reacted and both players were shown a yellow card.

Hendrie's foul on Miguel Mostto gave the Reds a chance on 93 minutes but Howard hammered the free kick against the wall and over.

SHEFFIELD UNITED: Kenny, Naysmith, Bardsley, Beattie (Shelton 71), Carney (Hendrie 65), Kilgallon, Montgomery, Tonge, Gillespie, Cahill, Sharp.
Subs: Morgan, Stead, Armstrong.

BARNSLEY: Muller, Van Homoet, Foster, Souza, Nyatanga, Campbell-Ryce, Howard, De Silva, Devaney (Odejayi 72), Macken, Ferenczi (Mostto 83).
Subs: Togwell, McCann, Christensen.