Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln City

Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln City 

Carabao Cup Second Round

Wednesday 30th August 2023

When he was six-years-old, Louie Marsh had a photo at Bramall Lane; front teeth missing (definitely too many sweets) and no doubt one day dreamed about pulling on a Sheffield United shirt and playing for his boyhood club infront of thousands of people.

Only 17 months ago, when was laid in a hospital bed recovering from surgery - complete with a D:Squared cap plonked on his head, that dream seemed distant.

But after a brilliant season last year where he was top scorer in the U21s Professional Development League, producing phenomenal performance after phenomenal performance to win both admirers and plaudits alike, whilst creating plenty of memories in the process, this was the night that he made his debut for Sheffield United and his dreams as that six-year-old boy turned into a reality.

It didn’t quite go to plan (that’s football) but this is a game he’ll remember forever - and given he was one of the players I enjoyed watching the most anywhere last year, there was no way I was going to miss this game. You only make your professional debut once in life!

In an ironic twist back when I was Marshy’s age - having grown up watching Doncaster Rovers nearly every week (back in the era when DRFC didn’t need a takeover like they desperately do nowadays), the one team I’d have always loved to see ‘Little old Donny’ play was Everton.

It nearly happened once (Aston Villa and an FA Cup replay got in the way) and it was only actually last night that Rovers and Everton went head-to-head for the first time since 1985.

Unsurprisingly, Everton won that other meeting in South Yorkshire, and in this one it turned out to be Lincoln, the plucky League One team, who were victorious and joined the Toffees in Round Three after showing loads of organisation and resilience to keep out the Blades and then win on penalties.

A good night for the Lincoln fans who packed out the end behind where the spot-kicks were taken with about 3,000 of them making up an attendance of just over 11,000, letting off a few flares too, and generally loving their night once it was all over.

Prior to that, Sheffield United really didn’t get going at any point in the game as it become one of those frustrating type of evenings that you sometimes to get.

In the first half, they played some nice bits of football and moved the ball well on occasions but didn’t get in-behind Lincoln with anything crisp or cutting and the best chance they did have was when Ollie Norwood spotted Lukas Jensen off his line and let fly with a speculative shot from the centre circle which cleared the upright.

Adam Davies was tested at the other end before the break as the Imps got a shot on target and Lincoln continued to compete well and give as good as they got after half-time - even going close just past the hour mark when they almost got in-behind and the Blades had to make a good defensive block to ensure they didn’t go behind.

When Lukas Jensen went down before a Sheffield United corner with around a quarter-of-an-hour to go, it was clear the visitors were already thinking about penalties but, even still, it was only really in the last five minutes that the Blades penned them back and applied some sustained pressure. However, every low ball into the box was defended, the threat of Will Osula (besides one downward header that was comfortably gathered) and Louie Marsh were negated well, the Imps maintained their resilience and they more than held out to get to the end.

And so it went to penalties!

Marshy was the first player to see his effort saved and although Teddy Bishop quickly followed suit for Lincoln, further Blades misses by Benie Traore and John Egan meant it turned out to be the Imps night and they’ve now been rewarded with a game against West Ham United in Round Three - one of those ties that probably has a very good chance of being selected for TV.

The Blades now play Everton on Saturday in what looks like an early-season ‘six-pointer’ and I’ve not got a clue what to expect from that one!