Warnock era begins with Devlin delight

Neil Warnock, Sheffield United's sixth manager in five years, got off to a winning start when the Blades beat their fellow strugglers Portsmouth 1-0 at Bramall Lane. Warnock, who quit Bury to take up the Sheffield challenge, had said, "I want the fans to see we are going through brick walls to try and stay in this division."

Neil Warnock, Sheffield United's sixth manager in five years, got off to a winning start when the Blades beat their fellow strugglers Portsmouth 1-0 at Bramall Lane. Warnock, who quit Bury to take up the Sheffield challenge, had said, "I want the fans to see we are going through brick walls to try and stay in this division."

Paul Devlin certainly got the message and lit up a dull first half when he outpaced the Pompey defence over 60 yards in the 20th minute before firing a low, hard, right-foot shot past Aaron Flahavan. The win kept the Blades out of the bottom three. Just.

Below them, the bottom club, Swindon Town, had urged fans to turn up for the game against Walsall, the club's income being so low that it could very soon go out of business.

The 7,186 who braved the cold saw the team's shortage of players summed up by the sight of their 40-year-old player-manager, Jimmy Quinn, in the starting line-up, his first full game in 16 months.

But Town dominated for 34 minutes, failed to convert chances, and fell behind when Darren Wrack was left unmarked to head in. Four minutes later Michael Carrick equalised, a glancing header from Bobby Howe's cross. They stay bottom.

The financial constraints at Crystal Palace, Dario Gradi believes, have helped the Londoners build a strong team spirit. Or maybe the Crewe manager was lulling them into a false sense of security before his side beat them 2-0. After 12 minutes Paul Tait, late of Northwich Victoria, picked up the ball on the edge of Palace's penalty area beat two defenders and lobbed Fraser Digby. When the centre-back Steve Macauley joined the attack 22 minutes later he was on the spot to volley in Shaun Smith's free-kick.

At the top of the division, Charlton (third) and Barnsley (fourth) drew 1-1 at Oakwell. The Londoners' promotion challenge had faltered in recent weeks - beaten by Manchester City and Blackburn, letting slip a two-goal lead over Port Vale, all at home - but after falling behind to a Steve Chettle shot following a Barnsley corner, Charlton had the better of the exchanges and deserved the equaliser courtesy of Keith Jones' half-volley.

Tranmere and Bolton both reached the last eight of the Worthington Cup in midweek and when they met at the Reebok Stadium, Rovers' Andy Parkinson latched on to Alan Morgan's 18th-minute pass and drove it in to emphasise Rovers' first-half domination. After the break Dave Challinor made it 2-0, Eidur Gudjohnsen pulled one back and then Rovers' Gareth Roberts was sent off after a second booking, Tranmere's sixth dismissal of the season. Bob Taylor made it 2-2 as the pendulum swung in the home side's favour, but Scott Taylor confirmed Rovers' fighting form with the winning goal 11 minutes from time.

And Blackburn's traditional improvement under the stewardship of the caretaker manager Tony Parkes continued with a point from their 0-0 draw at Port Vale.

In the Second Division, the expected trouble between supporters of Millwall and Cardiff City at the New Den duly materialised after Neil Harris had scored twice to make it nine goals in seven games. The 2-0 win lifted the Lions to sixth. There were 25 arrests before and during the match and fighting continued after the match when supporters clashed with police in south-east London.

Meanwhile, Bristol Rovers' Jason Roberts scored twice, his first goals in nine games, as they won 3-0 at Brentford.

Form was turned on its head in the Nationwide Conference where the top side, Nuneaton, trailed 3-0 at home to the bottom club, Forest Green, goals coming from the former England winger Tony Daley and a pair by Dennis Bailey, who as a Queen's Park Ranger scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford. Nuneaton recovered but still lost 3-2 and dropped to third.