Andrew Davies & Richard Cresswell
Blades-Mad give our account on Stoke City loan duo Andrew Davies and Richard Cresswell who both participated as used substitutes during the Blades 3-3 draw with Ipswich Town
It was a night never to forget as the Blades fought back to draw three-three with the Blues; Darius Henderson had given the home side a 1-0 lead when a mistake by keeper Richard Wright allowed Henderson to head home (9 minutes), but Ipswich found a breath of resurgence and with goals from Jonathan Walters (24), Grand Leadbitter (34) and Gareth McAuley (70) sprung themselves into a 3-1 lead.
United, never beaten clawed a goal back by a swift move from Henderson (77) and four minutes into stoppage time another mistake by Wright allowed Chris Morgan (90+4) to stab home at the far post, moments later the game could have been won when James Harper shot agonisingly wide with the keeper beaten.
In the first half centre-half Matthew Kilgallon was forced to leave the field of play early through injury with the Blades trailing two-one and was replaced by Andrew Davies. The defender returned to the side after missing the humiliating 2-1 defeat in Swansea - he had made his debut in the historic 3-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
The former Middlesbrough defenders performance against the Blues on Tuesday can be nothing more than described as average; overall the whole team were poor and unprofessional against an Ipswich side whom had failed to notch a win this season.
However Davies wasn't at fault for Town's third goal which was scored by McAuley with twenty minutes remaining of the match. With Kilgallon now likely to be out injured its expected that Davies will return to the fold alongside captain Chris Morgan in our South Yorkshire derby against Doncaster Rovers at Bramall Lane this Saturday.
Meanwhile striker Richard Creswell's performance against Ipswich was indescribable; he was thrown onto the pitch under difficult circumstances with thirteen minutes remaining after Darius Henderson had netted his second goal in the hope that a leveller could be found.
Though Cresswell himself could have had an opportunity to score shortly before Morgan sent the home crowed into disarray. The ball was crossed into the box with Cresswell lurking at the far post unmarked, but the ball was flicked on by a United forward and took the ball away from a sliding Cresswell whom no doubt would have found the net had he connected. He will most probably once again be selected for the substitutes bench in our game against Rovers this weekend.
Ben Marshall
Marshall returned to the Cobblers starting line up and returned to top form, helping the hosts to a welcome win to move them out of the bottom four.
The winger was everywhere during the game and received positive comments all round from the Northampton faithful.
The Hotel End message board rated him a 7.8 out of ten and here are a selection of comments about his performance
tony_yeboah 'Class act as usual'
Razor 'His pace and skill caused them problems throughout on the break but then again that's what i've come to expect from him.
I think his performance was summed up by a crunching block he put in on one of their defenders near the half-way line with about 5 minutes to go. He looked shattered by the end but he never stopped running for the team. Great performance tonight.'
ntfc nut 'After a few poor performances he was back to his old best today. Tied a very poor Rotherham defence in knots for most of the second half. When the team plays well, he plays well, when the team around him is poor, his head drops and he fades into the background and makes silly mistakes. Luckily though, the team clicked tonight and so did he. 8/10'
hertsCobbler 'Another good performance - if I am being a little picky, Ben does need to work on judging when to run past 6 players or pass the ball! But overall, a real asset to us as his scares most L2 defences.'
SteveRiches 'He needs to learn the right time to get rid of the ball, but his enthusiasm and drive were great'
Greek 'For me our best player. He is simply a class above everyone else on the pitch last night. Still things he needs to add to his game but a very exciting prospect for the future'
T.F.A.M.H. 'He has heart the size of a Lion Buxton. Still a raw talent, but I'd imagine he is a pleasure to coach.'
abington_Cobbler 'I think that Sammo derserves credit for dropping him against Shrewsbury because it fired him up and he was back to his best after a few poor performances'
Carl Dickinson & Ryan Shotton
Rob Miles of TykesMAD rounds up the pairs performance after the Oakwell sides unexpected victory over promotion chasing West Brom
'Ryan Shotton- WOW!!! Absolutely outstanding! Was a bit shaky in the first 10 minutes but after that he was immense. In the second half, he won every single challenge. We havent had a proper full back for ages, but he was MOTM by far for us! Carl Dickinson had a solid game but should have been sent off after nine minutes. Went in two footed on one of the WBA players and nearly took his knees off. Somehow only got a yellow and that probably slowed him down because he didnt want to get booked again, but he looked solid.
Impressed with them both!'