United edge Wednesday in Sheffield derby thriller

Sheffield United ended a three-year winless streak against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday with a 3-2 English Championship victory in a pulsating Steel City derby here on Friday.

Hosts United looked home and dry after racing into a 3-0 half-time lead but Wednesday struck twice in the second period to set up a frantic finish in front of a raucous sell-out crowd at Bramall Lane.

United lost their unbeaten start to the Championship season when they went down to Coventry in mid-week, but victory over Brian Laws’s men sends them up to fourth in the table ahead of the weekend’s matches in the English second tier, two points behind leaders West Bromwich Albion.

Northern Irish striker Jamie Ward spun to fire United into a seventh-minute lead following a left-wing corner and Darius Henderson doubled the Blades’ advantage in the 15th minute.

Lewis Buxton headed past his own goalkeeper three minutes before the break to put United further ahead but Marcus Tudgay dispatched a crisp volley from the edge of the area in the first minute of the second period to spark hopes of an Owls fightback.

It was Tudgay’s third goal in five Sheffield derbies but he then blazed over the crossbar after half-time substitute Etienne Etajas’s free-kick was diverted into his path.

The visitors continued to press and Dutchman Etajas struck a wicked 35-yard free-kick past Blades goalkeeper Mark Bunn in the 65th minute to pile further pressure on Kevin Blackwell’s side.

Wednesday goalkeeper Lee Grant kept his team in the game with a tremendous save from Henderson’s 74th-minute header, with Etajas fizzing a long-range effort narrowly over at the other end shortly after as Wednesday pushed for an equaliser.

Wednesday recorded their first league ‘double’ over United in 95 years last season, but in the end they were indebted to Grant for preventing first Ched Evans and then Blades captain Chris Morgan from extending the home side’s lead.

The two Sheffield clubs are two of the oldest in English football, but United are beginning their third season at this level following relegation from the Premier League in 2007 and Wednesday have not appeared in the top flight since 2000.