Blackpool vs Sheffield United. Sky Bet Championship.
Bloomfield RoadAttendance11,915.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackpool and Sheffield United at Bloomfield Road as Paul Heckingbottom's Blades missed out on a chance to return to sixth in the table after a goalless draw
Wednesday 16 March 2022 23:01, UK
Sheffield United's promotion bid continued to stutter as they were second best in an entertaining 0-0 draw at Blackpool.
The Blades remain on the fringes of the Championship play-off places, sitting one point off the top six, but have now won just once in five matches.
Blackpool, meanwhile, will take plenty of positives from their performance even though their run of three straight victories came to an end.
Neil Critchley's 100th game in charge of the Seasiders did not get off to the most encouraging of starts on a bitterly cold evening on the Fylde coast.
It was the Blades who looked by far the more threatening, with skipper Billy Sharp firing inches wide after latching on to Iliman Ndiaye's smart through-ball.
Minutes later the visitors went close again, with Norwegian Sander Berge this time finding space in the box before lashing a shot disappointingly high and wide.
The Blades had clearly been ordered to produce a positive early response on the back of the weekend's thumping at Coventry.
Oliver Norwood was next to go for goal, with his dipping effort forcing Blackpool goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw into an alert stop.
Blackpool finally gained a foothold, and their first opportunity came midway through the first period when Gary Madine rose highest to head Callum Connolly's cross just over the top.
At the other end Connolly was soon called upon to produce a superb block to keep out Rhys Norrington-Davies' well-struck shot.
The woodwork saved the Blades in the 39th minute when Josh Bowler's curling 20-yard strike crashed against the crossbar after he had played a neat one-two with Madine.
The hosts created the first chance of the second half when James Husband headed the ball back into the path of Connolly, only for the defender to flick a close-range effort into the side-netting.
It was Blackpool who were getting on top as the hour mark approached, with the dangerous Bowler looking most capable of prising out an opening.
He clipped in a curling shot which had to be expertly palmed away by the outstretched arm of Wes Foderingham.
Bowler then teed up CJ Hamilton, though he ought to have done better when he blazed wildly over from 12 yards.
The Blades were struggling to build any real momentum, though they thought they had scored in the 74th minute, only for Norwood's deflected strike to be ruled out by a linesman's flag.
Any late Blades winner would have been mightily harsh on a determined Blackpool, however.
Blackpool's Neil Critchley: "I thought it was a really entertaining 0-0 draw. I thought Sheffield probably edged it in the first half and maybe we were lacking that bit of self-belief. Throughout the second half, though, we were in the ascendancy, and if any team was going to go on and win it, it was us. We're disappointed with a point against a side like Sheffield United, but that just goes to show how far we've come in recent seasons.
"I was really energised myself with our second-half performance - I could see us growing into the game with each passing minute. I then rolled the dice in the last 15 minutes and changed the formation, but it didn't quite come off. We definitely tried our best to win it, and we nearly did I thought, but it just wasn't to be. We gave it our best shot, but we just fell a little bit short."
Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom: "It was a mystery decision in my eyes. We knew it would be a tough ask here and it could turn into a war of attrition, but I've seen the late one back and the linesman has apparently seen one or maybe two of our players in the way of the shot. There are times when a linesman just shouldn't get involved in big decisions, and this was another instance tonight.
"It just goes to highlight again, though, that you have to work hard and earn every single point in this division - you have to earn everything. We deserved to get the three points and we earned the three points, but tonight we didn't get them and that's a big disappointment. Maybe the quality you need just wasn't there at the top end, but that's something we go away and work on."
