King off the mark in Blades draw

Friday 4 October 2013 23:02, UK

Marlon King's second-half goal ended a run of six straight Sky Bet League One defeats for Sheffield United as they drew 1-1 at home to Crawley.

The visitors took an early lead through Jamie Proctor's 10th-minute opener but King scored his first goal for the club after 63 minutes to earn the Blades a point and move David Weir's side off the bottom of the table ahead of Saturday's fixtures. United's Florent Cuvelier put an early free-kick straight at goalkeeper Paul Jones. Crawley then took the lead when Andy Drury's cross from the right-hand side was met with a close-range header from Proctor at the far post. Chances were few and far between in the first half with the hosts seeing Neill Collins flash a header wide and Febian Brandy having a shot easily saved. For Crawley, Proctor put a shot narrowly wide. The Blades improved after the break as Jose Baxter's shot deflected wide and Tony McMahon struck the woodwork with a long-range effort. King equalised just after the hour, slotting past Jones after a ball from Brandy found him in space inside the area. As Weir's side pressed in the closing stages, Brandy headed wide and substitute Conor Coady's shot was turned wide by Jones.