Ten-man Latics earn battling point

GOAL . . . Danny Philliskirk opened the scoring for Athletic.

ATHLETIC 1 SHEFF UTD 1

JONATHAN Burn was sent off, but Athletic hung on for a point in an entertaining clash at SportsDirect.com Park.

Danny Philliskirk's close-range header had put David Dunn's side in front early on, only for the Blades to level through Matt Done on the half-hour.

The visitors missed three great chance to take the lead after the break, with Burn picking up a second yellow card for hauling back Billy Sharp.

But after going down to 10 men, Dunn will be left content with a point given the circumstances.

With the new North Stand open to supporters for the first time, Athletic put on a highly enterprising show in the first half with Carl Winchester, Cameron Dummigan and Dominic Poleon looking bright.

The opening goal came after 10 minutes, when a Mike Jones corner was flicked inadvertently towards the far post by Jose Baxter, with Philliskirk on hand to tuck it away with his head from close range.

Winchester and Jones shot off-target before Done levelled out of the blue, taking a Stefan Scougall pass and shaping a well-placed left-foot shot into the top-left corner of David Cornell's goal.

Poleon forced two smart saves from Mark Howard as Athletic ended the half as they had started it, on top.

David Cornell did well to save as a goalmouth scramble saw Neil Collins' shot heading in from close range.

Done then wasted a great chance for the visitors, shooting a yard wide of the far post after being slipped in on goal by Adams.

Then came the red card. Burn had already looked close to a second booking by the time he pulled back Sharp, leaving referee Kevin Wright with little option.

Sharp missed a golden chance for the Blades on 70 minutes, slicing wide from inside the six-yard box.

And Stefan Scougall failed with a similar chance, hitting the post from Sharp's cut-back.