Salisbury City can enjoy profits of FA Cup run now the dream is over

It might have been thought that the Salisbury City chairman, William Harrison-Allan, was joking when said he expected to see his Blue Square Bet South Division side start this match in a 9-0-1 formation. That, however, was very much the impression during a first half in which the Whites' sole ambition appeared to be damage limitation, or as the player-manager, Darrell Clarke, later put it "to still be in the game after 60 to 65 minutes". It was unfortunate then that United, having converted only one of perhaps eight good chances they created during the opening period, should get a second on the hour mark, just when Salisbury were beginning to come out of their defensive mindset and remind their League One opponents that an upset could yet be on the cards. If the first, an unmarked Chris Porter rolling his shot under Salisbury's outstanding young goalkeeper, Mark Scott, after being found by Lee Williamson, was straightforward, the second was fortunate, Scott saving well from Lecsinel Jean-François only to be wrong-footed by Ched Evans's inadvertent deflection of Kevin McDonald's shot. Even so, United's weight of possession meant there was an inevitability about it, and on a poor pitch, you couldn't help wondering whether Salisbury might not have been better having a go at the Blades from the start. Clarke disagreed. "If we'd gone 4-4-2 from the beginning it would have been suicidal, we'd have been three down after 20 minutes and it would have been game over," the former Mansfield and Hartlepool midfielder argued. "Unfortunately Sheffield United passed the ball very well and the second goal killed us, though let's be honest, it would have been an injustice if we'd won." A third United goal, deflected into his own goal by Danny Webb, meant Lloyd Macklin's late drive was never going to be anything other than a moment of deserved joy for the 2,000 or so Salisbury supporters who travelled up from Wiltshire, but Clarke was happy with both his players' prodigious physical effort and what the Cup run would mean for a club still recovering from being demoted two divisions after going into administration. "We're lower down the league than we'd like to be, it hasn't been an easy season after getting promoted last season, but the beauty of getting this far means we might be able to strengthen a little bit," he said. The United manager, Danny Wilson, was pleased enough to progress, but is becoming increasingly concerned about a Bramall Lane surface which he acknowledges is not conducive to the style of football he wants his promotion contenders to play.