Sheffield Utd 1 Portsmouth 1: O'Neil finds answer to questions posed by Quinn
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Your support makes all the difference.For all the glamour newly promoted Premiership teams attach to the visits of the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, it is games like this one that tend to decide the success or otherwise of their seasons.
A week after losing heavily to lower-League opposition at home in the FA Cup, Sheffield United looked set to return to winning ways in a physical encounter at a windswept Bramall Lane. But with 10 minutes to go, and leading through Irish midfielder Stephen Quinn's delightful first-half free-kick, a moment of defensive ineptitude from Claude Davis presented Gary O'Neil with an equaliser for Portsmouth. With that, United had squandered two points that would have gone a long way to extending their top-flight status into a second season.
"It feels like you've lost the game when that happens," said Neil Warnock, the United manager. "We never seem to make things easy for ourselves."
Quinn put United ahead with a free-kick of quality from 20 yards. Seven years younger than his team-mate and brother, Alan, whom he has confined to the substitutes' bench, the midfielder will not turn 21 until April but seems destined for a career at the highest level.
Portsmouth looked taken aback by the sheer willingness of the home players to pursue apparently lost causes, particularly Rob Hulse. Even Nwankwo Kanu was subdued and it was not until the second half that they created any serious chances. Matthew Taylor's low shot was deflected wide, Andrew Cole forced Paul Gerrard into serious action with a rasping shot and Nico Kranjcar sent a drive skidding past the far post.
But just as it seemed the game was beyond them they were handed an equaliser. Davis and Gerrard made a horrible mess of dealing with a routine through ball and Kanu's challenge provided O'Neil with a simple side-foot finish.
"I wish it had been Chris Lucketti on the ball - it would have ended up in Row Z," said Warnock. "I just hope Claude learns from it - he's got all the attributes but he needs to learn some of the bread-and-butter stuff." Davis almost made amends in injury time - but it was not quite enough to restore his side's precious advantage as his header rebounded off the crossbar.
"It was a good point in the end and it keeps us going," said Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, whose side now have 37 points, one short of their final total last season. "It's no mystery why we're doing so much better - we've got better players." True enough - but Redknapp will know that this particular result came courtesy of his opponents' shortcomings rather than any brilliance from his own team.
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