Sheffield United failed to take advantage of their rivals Birmingham dropping points at home to Plymouth by similarly failing to see off lowly opponents; with Forest taking a point away from Bramall Lane despite playing for over 70 minutes with ten men. In truth the visitors deserved their draw despite excruciatingly negative tactics punctuated by timewasting of the most blatant degree and an ultra defensive formation.

Despite this Forest limited United to barely a chance all afternoon as the Blades turned in their worst performance for some time in a game that was starved of width, creativity or subtlety. United continued to play long balls both straight and diagonal and failed to get in beyond Forest or even stretch their rearguard. As the scores flashed up from around the division the reality hit home in that United had thrown away a golden chance to solidify themselves in the automatic promotion race.

The Blades began without Matthew Kilgallon, with Leigh Bromby coming on but were relieved that Jamie Ward had shaken off an injury to start. There was another start for Brian Howard and David Cotterill came in for Jon Joe O'Toole as United reverted to a more orthodox 4-4-2. Forest were without both Rob Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson and started with loan striker Dexter Blackstock up front with Joe Garner. They also recalled keeper Paul Smith for loanee Iain Turner who had broken his toe.

Ward had the first effort but his long range effort sailed over the bar and Halford's low shot was blocked. Forest tried to go forward themselves though and Cohen had two free kicks after fouls from Bromby and Montgomery out wide. Breckin was booked for a clumsy foul on Cotterill as the winger sought to sprint away.

The game was fairly even with the visitors very much in the game but disaster struck when an off the ball incident led to them being reduced to ten men. As United were about to take a throw in, Wilson seemed to floor Halford with a headbutt and the United man collapsed to the ground. The brandishing of the red card was instant from referee Jones and the lack of appeal from Wilson's teammates told the sorry story of the stupidity of his actions.

Soon after the scoreboard flashed up the news that rivals Birmingham were losing and the crowd wasted no time in relaying this to the players. Halford headed over whilst Naysmith had to clear a dangerous looking cross from Gunter. United's best chance came when Howard centered and Halford headed the ball powerfully towards goal but Smith turned the ball away. Kenny then saved from a Blackstock header just before the interval. Cohen was booked for timewasting that had become evident from many Forest players in the opening period.

The second half began with the Forest tactics clear. They were packing their defence and stifling the play in midfield. Already keeper Smith was taking as much time as he could over goal kicks that further annoyed the United crowd. It quickly became a game of attack v defence but United were struggling to create any clear chances of note.

Cotterill was replaced by Beattie and Anderson came on for Blackstock. It was not long after Hendrie came on for Howard. Halford blazed badly over and then Beattie headed wide when well placed at a corner.

United had won a number of corners but could not seriously test Smith and made the final change when Lupoli came on for Ward. It was still all huff and puff from the Blades with little quality or subtlety. Forest had a rare breakaway but Garner smashed his shot well off target and United were soon back on the attack. The frequent timewasting from Forest continued but keeper Smith had still not been booked so continued to employ this tactic successfully.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, the Blades were now virtually camped in the Forest half but still could not find the breakthrough. Henderson had been controlled well for the most part but was held by Morgan leading to a good opportunity. Halford took the free kick but it was driven straight at Smith. The game entered 5 extra minutes of time and Beattie headed wide from a corner to the frustration of the crowd. Bromby was booked for a cynical foul on McGugan but the same player fired over from his own free kick opportunity.

United continued to throw bodies forward and after Lupoli seemed to have been hacked down outside the box, the referee played on and Beattie tried a lobbed effort which went over. The same man then tried to curl in a shot but Smith held comfortably. The final whistle went not long after with the frustration clear on many of United's players at not taking the three points.

United

This was the poorest we have been for some time. We were not awful but even before the sending off we were not playing well and seemed unable to use the flanks. We tried to go down the middle and go long for most of the game and this became employed even more after they went down to ten. We actually looked a desperate and clueless side for most of the game with players switching positions (Cotterill - Halford, Ward - Halford, Naughton - Halford, Beattie - Lupoli etc) and no clear evidence of how we were going to break Forest down. We simply did not pass the ball and did not create chances. We looked really nervous and as the Birmingham score filtered through just after the red card this seemed to make the players even more panicky.

The crowd did their best at every opportunity to lift them but it was always going to be something from a throw in or corner if we did score but in reality even from those situations we did not look like getting a goal. I would have liked us to have passed and passed and passed until we tied Forest by getting the ball from flank to flank and back again. We needed to stretch them but just seemed to panic and ended up just hitting long high balls into the centre backs. If Henderson did not win the ball it just came back and we humped it forward again.

Of course it did not help that Halford and Cotterill were poor today and Ward did not have the same zip as in previous games. However, I would have still liked us to have got the ball wide. I lost count of the number of times Halford and Naughton had it on the angle and hit a diagonal cross instead of one overlapping or attacking the full back themselves. We barely had a shot on goal all game and it was as if the players did not have belief we may score.

It is a big shame as if we had won today we would have been in a great position but now I feel Brum (and Cardiff) with the games they have left will pick up more points than us. Our next two are incredibly tricky and we need to take 6 points to be in with a chance going into the final game. I think anything less and we will be out of it. If Brum do win next week and we fail to win at Burnley then we are going to be 3 points behind with only 2 left and that may be too much to overhaul I feel. We simply have to go to Burnley and win.

Kenny 6.5/10
Had nothing to do all game really. Saved a few tame shots and his general handling was sound. For the most part his main contribution was his kicking both from hands and from ground. This was quite poor once again with two or three kicks late on barely reaching halfway.

Naymsith 7/10
Another solid and consistent game where he defended sensibly and tried to get forward when he could. Tried to always keep the ball today and played a lot of simple passes to feet to try and keep our attacks going. Wish more of our team had followed his example instead of pumping the ball long.

Naughton 6/10
Feel his standard have continued to be so-so in recent games despite the defence generally being excellent. He got away with an error in the first half when the attacker slipped and his general passing and balls were poor. He does not keep the ball as much as he was earlier in the season and seems to have a penchant for the long diagonal ball or the quick cross instead of getting down the line and past opponents. He was one of the main culprits of knocking the ball high and long instead of retaining possession.

Bromby 7/10
I am always concerned when he plays due to his lack of pace but fortunately Earnshaw did not play and then the subsequent red card meant Forest only had one up front. Thus for most of the game he had a comfortable time and his main job was to recycle possession for us but was another who went too long at times. Committed a bad foul which rightly led to a booking near the end.

Morgan 7/10
Yet another really consistent game. Forest actually did ok early on in the game but he won a lot of headers and clearances and then after Forest went down to ten this made his job even easier. Did his best to lead from the front as he attacked every long throw and corner but unfortunately Forest defended well against him and Henderson.

Halford 5.5/10
Was not at his best today. Of course he was involved in the sending off but I felt he did not impose his quality on proceedings enough. He showed one or two nice touches but his passing was off today with a number of short balls or misplaced crosses. Swapped with Naughton quite a bit but we did not get many crosses in or really overlap enough to say we faced ten.

Montgomery 7/10
Our best midfielder yet again. Worked really hard, picked up the scraps, won the tackles and helped us back on the attack. Unfortunately he still lacks the ability to deliver the killer ball but you would hope others could probably do more in that regard.

Howard 5.5/10
Still flatters to deceive. If ever a game was made of him it was this one as Forest had ten men for the most part and Howard had lots of time on the ball but he failed to make any kind of decisive contribution and did not get on the ball enough. Not strong or quick and thus if his passing is not up to scratch he does not offer much. Will probably not be involved again this season due to suspension.

Henderson 5.5/10
Felt sorry for him as we just pumped high ball after high ball towards him. A few balls to his chest or feet might have been nice. Felt Morgan and Breckin coped with him aswell as any centre backs have in recent times. He did not win as many headers and also his hold up/link up play was not as strong as other games. With him not winning his individual battle it meant it was hard for us to keep the ball in the last third. This made the continual long ball approach even more frustrating. The ball to Henderson was not working so we had to surely try something different? We didn't.

Ward 5.5/10
Another one who did not hit the same standards of recent weeks. He had one or two nice touches and runs but overall he was not really in the game and did not look the goal threat he has in recent games. He was switched to the left when Beattie came on but saw even less of the action after this and was then taken off.

Cotterill 5/10
Had a bit of a nightmare really. One or two good crosses but a number of awful ones and his overall crossing and passing was really poor. Just did not seem interested today which was a shame as against ten with width needed a firing Cotterill could have made the difference. He was rightly taken off.

Subs

Beattie
A player who just does not convince me at all. He is all arms and legs and looks lively but his actual touch and end product has been ineffective. He seems unable to get the ball under control and then when well positioned he is very wasteful as he showed on Good Friday and today. The occasion at the end summed it up after Lupoli had been fouled and the ref played on and he tried a ridiculous lobbed effort. A chipped shot-cross at the end was also another wasteful moment.

Lupoli
Unlike Beattie he may not be as noticeable in terms of how much he runs around but always seems to have a chance on goal or shot on goal no matter how long he is on the pitch. Had a nice piece of skill and drilled effort which just went past the post.

Hendrie
Thought he may be able to come on and make the precision through balls or open Forest up but he got sucked into the war of attrition and never really got on the ball to make anything happen. Would have liked to have seen him have the free kick near the end that Halford hit straight at the keeper.

Forest

They were ugly, physical, negative and timewasted all game. However, they did defend well despite this with the two centre backs Breckin and Morgan outstanding and their midfield covering well all over the field stopping us taking advantage of the numerical situation. They actually started the game reasonably well and were matching us up to the red card. After this they basically had two banks of 4 and left one man up front but they limited us to any real chances all game. They definitely deserved a point. The keeper Smith played well, catching and punching high balls and their full backs stopped any deliveries from wide although I feel we helped them in this regard.

Up front it was a thankless task for Blackstock who was left up alone. After an hour they actually did not have a forward on the pitch with a 5 across midfield and sub Anderson being asked to just chase loose balls. They barely had an effort on goal all game themselves but worked very hard and did not make any mistakes, kept their shape, discipline and organisation. Looked an improvement on Barnsley in this regard with our Yorkshire rivals shipping goals routinely most weeks and this may see them going down rather than Forest, but like at the top there is a long way to go yet.

Referee

Another really poor referee. He was so fussy all game. Yet the blatant time wasting Forest employed was often ignored despite the booking he awarded early on. Do not think he had much choice with the red card as he seemed to just headbutt him. Think Halford went down very easy but even Forest assistant David Kelly acknowledged it was a red card. Just a moment of madness. As for the rest of the game, he did not seem to give us that much at all but generally he was so petty giving nothing fouls and penalising good honest tackles by both teams. Another referee who wanted to be the star of the show.