Yeovil Town 2 Sheffield United 0: Morgan wants chance to lift defeated Blades

After being watched on Friday night by a crowd almost 6,000 down on the semi-final leg at Bramall Lane a year earlier, the Blades failed to sell their allocation for yesterday’s return at 
Huish Park.

Expense and an early kick-off in Somerset on a Bank Holiday may have put off a few, but it is also a fair bet that the pessimistic mood evident among supporters since United’s play-off place was confirmed last month was a major factor in just 1,119 making the trip for such an important fixture when around 2,000 places had been up for grabs.

By the final whistle, those who had trekked south probably wished they were somewhere else, too, after goals from Kevin Dawson and Ed Upson helped the Glovers overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and end United’s hopes of reaching the League One final for a second consecutive year.

In the process, another chapter was added to United’s miserable tale of woe in the play-offs as the Yorkshire club suffered heartache in the end of season promotion deciders for a seventh time.

That defeat came late on – Upson’s winner arrived five minutes from time – increased the sense of frustration, though in the aftermath interim manager Chris Morgan made clear his desire to remain in charge next season.

“I want to be the one that leads them,” said the former Blades defender, who stepped up to the role following Danny Wilson’s dismissal last month.

“It is not my decision, but I have told the board and the chairman that I want the job.

“Obviously, the decision is up to them. But I want to be the one who comes back next season and works hard to get us up.”

Asked when he expects a decision to be made as to who will lead the Blades next term, Morgan replied: “I don’t know. There are big decisions to be made, but I think over the three weeks I have had the job that we have done well with it. But that is up to the board.

“A quick decision would help because we have to plan. This season is now over. I said that to the players straight after the game. We will learn from this year, but the planning starts now.

“We are back in for pre-season at the end of June. I do have thoughts in my head as to what the team needs and what the club needs to go forward to make us challenge again next year.”

United’s afternoon got off to the worst possible start with Yeovil taking just five minutes to wipe out the first-leg lead given to Morgan’s men by Callum McFadzean’s first goal in senior football.

A neat passing move was the Blades’ undoing, as Dawson timed his run to perfection before coolly rolling the ball past the on-rushing George Long.

The United goalkeeper may not have been able to do anything about Dawson’s effort, but he did keep out Joseph Edwards in similar circumstances after the visitors’ defence had again been breached.

It was a big let-off, and one that the Blades heeded for the rest of the half as they started to exert some pressure of their own as both Michael Doyle and Jamie Murphy tested Marek Stech with long-range efforts.

Murphy then went even closer when, after intelligently creating space for himself on the edge of the area, he curled a shot that crashed against the crossbar with Stech beaten.

Joe Ironside was the next to threaten, as United finished the first half strongly, with a header that Stech saved only for play to be halted for an offside flag before Chris Porter was unfortunate to see a looping header land on top of the net.

If Porter could bemoan his luck over that miss, the same cannot be said about the two chances he squandered in quick succession when played clear of the Yeovil defence early in the second half.

The profligacy soon spread to the other end as Patrick Madden, League One’s top marksman in 2012-13 with 23 goals, made a hash of two great chances in quick succession.

First, he cleverly nipped in front of Darryl Westlake only to then scuff a shot that Long had no trouble in saving.

Then, Madden somehow headed over when presented with an open goal by a searching Sam Foley cross that the leaden-footed United backline had failed to cut out.

United rode their luck once again nine minutes from time when James Hayter also headed wide with the goal at his mercy following more excellent work by Foley.

As the former Doncaster Rovers striker looked to the heavens in frustration, the tie seemed destined for extra-time only for the Glovers to deliver the knockout blow when Upson headed in from close range.

Ryan Flynn had a late chance but, in truth, the lack of a cutting edge that has been apparent for much of United’s season meant an equaliser looked unlikely to leave the dejected fans facing not only a long and miserable trip back to Yorkshire, but also at least another year in League One.

Yeovil Town: Stech; Ayling, Webster, Burn, McAllister; Dawson, Edwards, Upson, Foley; Madden, Hayter (Hinds 90). Unused substitutes: Balanta, Blizzard, Williams, Stewart, Maksimenko, Young.

Sheffield United: Long; Westlake (Higginbotham 55), Maguire, Collins, Hill;McFadzean (Flynn 87), McDonald, Doyle, Murphy; Ironside (Kitson 64), Porter. Unused substitutes: Whitehouse, Chapell, Barry, Coyne.

Referee: P Gibbs (West Midlands).