It was a dramatic night at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, as Sheffield United fought back from the dead to salvage a sensational late point with a stoppage time header from Captain Chris Morgan against Cardiff City.

Earlier in the game United had taken the lead though their prolific talisman James Beattie but were undone by a crazy spell in which Joe Ledley had volleyed home to equalise before a controversial penalty saw ex Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler give the visitors the lead. Early in the second half Gavin Rae had seemingly sealed the points for the Bluebirds but a long range effort from full back Chris Armstrong led to the late heroics from Morgan. Despite a much-improved performance another defeat would surely have heaped more pressure on troubled manager Bryan Robson but for a few days, the ex England captain can breathe again thanks to United's courageous comeback when all had seemed lost.

Under Robson had made a number of changes to his starting line up once again as he brought in Leigh Bromby, Michael Tonge and Alan Quinn in an effort to bring United the much-needed three points. Cardiff were without the injured Trevor Sinclair but started with much vaunted ex Premiership strikers, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Robbie Fowler. United began the game impressively with Quinn to the fore in driving United forward. The Blades forced a number of early corners and were winning the key battles in midfield. Quinn had the first effort at goal but his effort was deflected wide.

United had half hearted appeals for a penalty turned down before Cardiff had their first chance, a free kick which Hasselbaink drilled into the wall. United were soon back on the attack and after clever link up play from Beattie, Quinn drove at goal and forced a corner. Gillespie drilled the corner over to the near post where BEATTIE met it on the full to power home an unstoppable header past Oakes to relieve the pressure on the United management team.

Buoyed by this goal United continued to attack and forced Cardiff further onto the back foot but were hindered by a forced substitution when Gillespie had to hobble off, replaced by home debutant Carney. The Australian went onto the left side with Hendrie moving onto the right hand side. Suddenly out of nowhere Cardiff were level. Three United players went to close Parry down but the ball fell to McPhail who looped the ball into the middle. The centre of United's defence hesitated and LEDLEY was onto it as quick as a flash to volley the ball home past Kenny's left hand to stun Bramall Lane.

United tried to recover from this blow and Morgan's header was cleared from under the bar by defender McNaugton with Oakes struggling with the aerial delivery from Carney. On the stroke of half time another flighted ball into the box from a free kick was not cleared and as the ball dropped Morgan swung to clear but seemed to make partial contact with Johnson. As the Cardiff man fell, D'Urso blew and pointed to the spot without delay. The appeal did seem harsh but as at Crystal Palace, Morgan should have known better than to make a challenge with the danger to the United goal seemingly minimal. As he did on three occasions last season, FOWLER feigned to shoot one way committing Kenny and then stroked it into the opposite corner. The half time whistle came not long after but it was D'Urso rather than United who was the subject of the crowd's anger as the players and officials headed down the tunnel.

The second half began with United determined to try and restore parity in a game that they had dominated for long spell but Cardiff had the first effort on goal as Hasselbaink drove wide. United then had another penalty appeal turned down as Quinn once again went at the Cardiff defence before hitting the deck. Beattie then attempted to lob Oakes but the ball landed on the roof of the net despite the striker's clever piece of improvisation.

The game was more even now and from a direct Cardiff attack, the visitors scored what seemed to be a killer third. Morgan failed to clear and RAE charged the ball down before drilling a low finish into the corner past the despairing Kenny. The big crowd in Bramall Lane were stunned and Robson had to act. He brought on Shelton and Sharp for Stead and Hendrie. Shelton showed his pace and tenacity as he fought back to make a defensive interception and then tried to make things happen at the other end as he dribbled round two defender before the ball was escorted clear. He then went round the keeper and appeared to be clipped but tried to stay on his feet but the chance was gone and the ball ran out. Praiseworthy as it was him staying on his feet, if he half gone down it would have been a penalty and a sending off.

Kenny saved well from Rae after Cardiff's best move of the match and then kept out Fowler's attempt as Cardiff tried to put the game out of reach. With the game seemingly drifting to an inevitable conclusion, the home side found a lift from an unlikely destination. As the ball fell outside the box, left back ARMSTRONG hit a low drive that swerved away from Oakes and nestled into the left hand corner of the net. Suddenly United's players and fans had new life. As soon as the game had restarted then United were back on the attack and forced a further succession of corners and free kicks with Shelton's strong running and pace causing a whole manner of problems. The fourth official had just signalled a further three minutes stoppage time when Beattie earned a corner. Carney took the kick and MORGAN rose highest to power an unstoppable header past Oakes into the net at the Kop end for the dramatic late equaliser. United celebrated but still had time to go for the winner and were on the attack when D'Urso finally brought this pulsating game to an end.

United

United played far better than they did on Saturday and it was hard to be too critical even when they were 1-2 down at half time. They had started the game very positively and really took the game to Cardiff. They then went in front and looked to build on this but suddenly two sucker punches and they were unbelievably behind. It was similar to Saturday in the score line but whilst they had played well for 15 minutes on Saturday they had played very well tonight for 30-35 minutes and it was a half time score that was hard to fathom. One moment of half hesitation and a half chance and it as in the net and then a controversial penalty and they were behind.

The only boo's at half time was for D'Urso not for United. The second half was a different story as Cardiff scored fairly early and then the players started to lose confidence and the crowd started to become restless. For 20 minutes we then looked poor and I feared the worst. It looked as if it would be another twist of the knife for Robson for suddenly when it did not look like we would even have an effort at goal, we scored and then it was game on. After this I think most in the ground felt we would snatch a draw and although it came late it was a deserved point. United played with a lot more spirit tonight and definitely deserved something from the game.

There are still major question marks, as the shape, organisation and solidity in the side is sorely lacking. Also, there are too many passengers making bad mistakes game after game and the likes of Bromby, Morgan and Tonge surely must be wondering whether they will remain in the side after poor performances once again tonight. On the positive side, Cahill carried on from Saturday, Shelton looked very lively when he came on, Carney showed some promise and I felt Alan Quinn had a decent game tonight and hopefully can put a run together in the side.

Kenny 6/10
No chance with any of the goals. The first was a great finish, the second a penalty (although how easily does he sell himself to Fowler penalties - he must love taking penalties against Paddy) and the third was right in the corner. He made one good save that would have made it 1-4 but other than that he had little to do really.

Bromby 4/10
Thought he looked very poor. First goal came as a result of him not cutting out the play and he generally looked slow and undecisive throughout the game. He is slow to react to defensive situations and lacks the strength and speed to stop his opponent. Furthermore, he rarely gets forward due to lack of foot speed. Only positive he offers is his long throw at the moment.

Armstrong 6/10
Up and down game. At times stretched defensively and seemingly always having to dive in instead of positioning himself correctly originally. Did put a lot of effort in tonight and scored a very good strike that gave us a chance at a point.

Morgan 5/10
Really surprised again he got the start. The penalty may have been controversial but Morgan's challenge was still daft. He should not have given D' Urso a chance to make the award when there was no real danger. It was similar to the one at Palace. For the third goal he missed a block tackle and then let the man run unopposed and strike home. A very poor performance overall but the late bullet header which was a superb effort got him and United out of jail somewhat.

Cahill 6.5/10
Like Saturday he looked steady enough and always looked to show composure as he sought to being the ball out of the back. At times he too got caught up in the defensive hesitancy, especially in the awkward spell in the second half. He looks a quality player though and will be a good acquisition for United.

Hendrie 5/10
A player I thought would make a real difference in midfield when he came in but he has offered next to nothing. He has either been injured or played for a half, flitting in and out of games, then run out of gas and had to be substituted. He has been given a very good wage and a contract for 3 years but his performances so far have been unacceptable. He is unfit and is undisciplined, in that he only seems interested when we have the ball. I would not play him at the moment and make him earn a shirt.

Tonge 4.5/10
Very poor tonight. Given a start despite his indifferent performances thus far but did not take his chance at all. He played alright at the beginning as we started the game well but drifted out of the play as the game went on. Easily muscled out of things in many challenges and his distribution was also poor tonight on the whole. A player who is extremely low on confidence.

A. Quinn 7.5/10
Liked what I saw from Alan Quinn tonight. He tried to run at players; looked to go forward and generally tried to make things happen. Granted not everything came off but I liked the way he wanted the ball and would not hide. An improved performance in comparison to the rest of our woeful midfield this season.

Gillespie 6.5/10
he played well for the first half hour. He kept the ball well and just did the simple things. He was involved in some of our better interchanges in play and despite the criticism of him as late, our play took a big dip when he went off. Maybe it was a co-incidence and I am putting no blame on Carney, but we actually missed him when he went off tonight.

Beattie 7/10
Put himself about more than Saturday and scored an excellent header direct from a corner. He obviously worries defenders and he was a focal point of our attacks for the first half hour when we played so well and the last 10 minutes when we fought back. I think he can still play better than tonight and I am not sure about the red boots!

Stead 5/10
Poor game tonight. He was out best player on Saturday but his touch, running and overall contribution tonight was lacking. The one excuse I would give him is that he often had to go looking for the ball and come deep as the service was once again badly lacking.

Subs

Carney 6.5/10
He did alright without doing anything spectacular. He kept it nice and simple and often found a red and white shirt. He did not get back and defend though which left our full backs exposed at times and needs to improve this part of his game.

Shelton 7/10
Came on and helped change the game with his direct running, aggression and positive play. We may argue about whether he deserves a start up front or not but he can do no worse than either wingers for me and should be involved more. The guy may have a bit of a headless chicken/Forest Gump about him but heck who cares he makes thinks happen and has ability on the ball.

Sharp 5/10
Given a fair amount of time tonight but did nothing. His touch was poor and he snatched at any efforts on goal he had. Sorry to say it but at the moment he is looking a waste of 2 million pounds and a sentimental buy that just was not needed. He has still to prove he can do it at this level and simply does not look like scoring at this level.

Cardiff

Much like Southampton on Saturday, Cardiff started the game poorly and deservedly went a goal behind. For the first half hour they were not in the game and were lucky it was not more than 1-0. They did not win many challenges in midfield and basically were having to defend a number of attacks and set plays by United. They scored totally out of the blue, although it was a very good finish by Ledley and then were awarded a debatable penalty I bet they could barely believed their luck that they led 2-1 at half time in a game they had hardly been in.

In the second half they profited from a bad mistake and went 3-1 up and even though this was a ridiculous scoreline considering the balance of play, they did start to play a bit after this. For the next 20 minutes or so they had a good spell and kept the ball creating one or two more chances. Another goal and the game would have been over. At this stage it did not seem in doubt that they would win the game but the Armstrong goal gave the crowd hope and they were on the back foot after this.

They may have looked gutted when Morgan scored but another 5 minutes and they would have left with nothing. They looked a poor side for me and benefited from a home side lacking badly in confidence. I think they had 4 or 5 shots on goal and scored 3 and even though United were not great it would have been a travesty if they had not earned a point. Hasselbaink and Fowler still have great movement and a good touch but spent a lot of the game whining at their teammates, the referee, or anyone that would listen.

Referee

Andy D'Urso. Had a poor game. Regardless of the penalty for them that was a little harsh although I have seen them given, he was poor and gave a lot of free kicks for very little (both ways). He did not penalise blatant time wasting by them and did seem to give a lot of 50/50's against United. He stopped the game way too much and just did not let things flow. A classic example was when it took him an eternity to realise a Cardiff man was down near our goal when play had gone on for a good period. To be fair I thought the penalty appeals we had all were a bit desperate. Only one a possible handball early in the second half could have been given but to be fair to the referee he would not have seen this as the player had his back to him. One thing he did get right was the pass back as it was the knee that lifted the ball back to the keeper and no United players appealed. Wondered why so many fans were appealing? Do they not know the rules!

Crowd

Fair play to them tonight. Would have been easy to have got on their backs but even when 1-3 down they still kept singing and supporting them. A few Warnock chants emerged about the 70-75th minute mark but these seemed to be shouted down by many fans and to be fair for the most part they continued to get behind their teams. I think they saw that the team played alright tonight and whilst they did not get the break of the ball or decisions, it was not lack of effort or even smatterings of decent play that had seemed them look set to lose the game. The crowd roared them on after the Armstrong goal and were a massive help as we went for the leveller. Just a shame the game did not go on for another 5-10 minutes as we would have won it. Still I suppose many fans would say why could we not show the same urgency for the rest of the game?