Mooney tunes up Blades in off-key encounter

Sheffield United 2 Walsall

If you are going to wear white boots, make sure you wear them to good effect. In a game which suffered from more miscues than a bad night at the nearby Crucible Theatre, where the World Snooker Championships are hosted, Michael Tonge's footwork – and footwear – provided rare moments of illumination.

On a rutted pitch he and fellow midfielder Michael Brown occasionally flickered into life, while Peter Ndlovu showed glimpses of the pace which once made him a Premiership player. He may soon be one again with his side, at worst heading for the play-offs. They can now add a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup to their not inconsiderable achievements this season.

It may be some time before Walsall, who struggled throughout, ever reach that stage of the competition. In their 115-year history they have failed to do so and there is every reason to believe they will have to wait as long again.

If only the match was as lively as the post-match comments. Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock – in a whirlwind two-minute cameo – revealed that his club will still lose £1m this year despite also reaching the semi-finals of the Worthington Cup. "I don't know how others do it," he added ruefully.

Tommy Mooney, on-loan from Birmingham City, and the scorer of the first goal here, then announced he had played his last game for Steve Bruce – "that has been made clear" – but that Warnock couldn't afford to sign him.

To cap it all Colin Lee, Walsall's manager who was sent off by the referee in the second half for "persistent misconduct" (in other words swearing at the officials), then refused to talk to anyone and banished his players from speaking as well.

The goals owed everything to United's midfield triumvirate of Tonge, Ndlovu and Brown. For the first, after 38 minutes, Tonge cleverly played in Brown, who attempted to curl his shot around James Walker. The goalkeeper only succeeded in turning it into the path of Mooney who scrambled it over the line.

The second, which quickly killed the game, came 11 minutes into the second half, when Brown's deep left-wing cross evaded the goalkeeper only for it to fall to Ndlovu two yards out who headed home.

The Blades, perhaps still suffering the effects of their battles with Liverpool, have faltered lately although Warnock fielded his strongest line-up for the first time in this year's FA Cup competition. Talk of the League could be shelved for an afternoon – £800,000 (or so the manager estimated) was at stake.

Surprisingly, it was Walsall, with League priorities of their own as they struggle at the other end of the table, who settled first. They boast a reasonable record at Bramall Lane, being only the second team to have won here in 22 league games.

Their best hope lay in the bleach-blond Brazilian Junior – all comparisons with the 1982 World Cup midfielder stop there – and he fluffed it as early as the first minute when he mistimed his shot from the edge of the area.

Walsall made a double substitution at half-time, losing captain Martin O'Connor to injury, and making a tactical switch in defence. But they remained on the back-foot and Mooney should have done better when the ball broke to him 12 yards out after a misplaced back-pass.

The visitors did rally. United's goalkeeper Paddy Kenny caused confusion after his weak punch struck Junior, but the striker was slow to react and the danger passed.

Warnockwithdrew both his main strikers and Tonge almost added a third in the dying moments only to be dispossessed by his own team-mate Paul Peschisolido, who was running back. "But at least we are in the hat," said Warnock knowing no one will relish being pitted against his hard-working side.

Sheffield United 2 Walsall 0
Mooney 37, Ndlovu 56

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 17,510