Sheffield United elation as bravery is rewarded with an FA Cup trip to Wembley

Blackburn Rovers were feeling it at the end of their dramatic 3-2 defeat, Tommy Doyle and James McAtee a few hours' later.

The Premier League teams Sheffield United hope to face regularly next season will punish the lack of ruthlessness they showed early in the second half, but Rovers fell just short of doing so.

But Sunday was not about the future, "priorities" or fretting about weekend rumours – swiftly rebutted by chief executive Stephen Bettis – of impending administration. When 90 gloriously noisy and entertaining minutes ended, it was only about enjoying the present.

The Blades needed a bit of luck because this was the FA Cup and they got it because they were so brave.

Finding out a couple of hours later Doyle and McAtee, on loan from Manchester City, will have to watch from the stands because United drew their parent club was a bit of a downer, but that is for another day.

As the home fans lingered after the final whistle to sportingly applaud Blackburn and throw themselves into celebratory songs, it was a reminder of what football is about.

Wins that send you to Wembley are special, even more so when you think they are being snatched away in front of your eyes.

Having recovered from a penalty awarded against them – rightly – by a VAR review, the Blades were on the floor after Sammie Szmodics' 60th-minute goal.

Ryan Hedges’ shot came off the inside of one post and nearly clipped the other, and when Ben Brereton Diaz fizzed over a centre, Gallagher was inches from scoring.

But Paul Heckingbottom's side worked far too hard to get this far in the competition to leave it quietly.

"I was thinking, 'Is it going to be our day?'" admitted the manager. His players refused to yield.

With eight minutes to go, Oli McBurnie dribbled through two defenders, and made space to set up extra time.

Daniel Jebbison was ready to come on. With Billy Sharp already introduced and Iliman Ndiaye dribbling around far too well for bringing him off to be an option, it seemed McBurnie was about to make way.

Heckingbottom admitted it was McAtee who would have made way but twinkled: "It probably didn't do any harm if Oli thought it was him coming off, did it?"

He regularly demands bravery of his team, but it is a two-way thing.

"After that second goal, especially after they went five at the back, I felt it was worth the risk to keep that attacking intent because I felt the momentum was with us," he reflected.

Doyle has history with the FA Cup. His grandfathers Glynn Pardoe and Mike Doyle were Manchester City team-mates in the 1969 final.

But last week especially, Doyle was writing himself large into Sheffield United's here and now.

Seven days ago Oliver Norwood was an immovable object at the base of the Blades' midfield but Heckingbottom's bravery in dropping him and asking Doyle to do the job instead was rewarded with an inspirational performance and winning goal at Sunderland on Wednesday.

He repeated the trick on Sunday, capping a brilliant display by cracking the ball in from 30 yards half a minute into stoppage time. Ashley Pears, who twice denied McAtee in one-on-ones, had no chance.

It was no less than a proper cup tie deserved as both sets of players and fans rose to the occasion.

Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was in tremendous form and Blackburn ensured he had to be. Slightly unbalanced backpedalling across his line, it did not stop him tipping Gallagher's first-half effort over.

But in the build-up, Jack Robinson's left arm followed as he leant his body towards the ball.

His refereeing namesake Tim did not spot it until video assistant Paul Tierney recommended the pitchside monitor only available at Premier League grounds in earlier rounds.

Rovers have a poor penalty record against the Blades but Brereton Diaz smashed in the kick awarded.

Robinson was booked but might have had a caution for a later foul.

There was fortune in the equaliser too, Max Lowe's volley massively diverted in by Gallagher's knee.

Foderingham tipped over brilliantly again, from Dominic Hyam, before half-time.

If he would have expected to keep out Harry Pickering's shot shortly after, picking himself off the floor to deny Brereton Diaz from the rebound was less plausible.

"I actually had to ask him after the game if he'd saved that because I wondering if it was the post or a block," admitted Heckingbottom.

Generally, though, the start of the second half was Sheffield United’s without making it count – a poor McAtee touch in the area, a George Baldock shot into the side netting, his return pass just beyond Ndiaye, whose ball to McAtee was cut out.

When Szmodics broke the offside trap to score, it felt like a blade through the heart. It was actually just setting up the elation to come.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson (Sharp 70); Baldock (Bogle 88), Doyle, Berge, McAtee (Basham 90), Lowe; Ndiaye, McBurnie. Unused substitutes: Davies, Fleck, Norwood, Coulibaly, Arblaster, Jebbison.

Blackburn Rovers: Pears; Rankin-Costello (Brittain 79), Carter, Hyam, Pickering; Morton (Dolan 90); Hedges (Wharton 79), Travis, Szmodics, Brereton; Gallagher. Unused substitutes: Kaminski, Edun, Garrett, Phillips, Wharton, Leonard.

Referee: T Robinson (West Sussex).