Sheffield United in touching distance of promotion after rampant victory over Ipswich

There's some people on the pitch ... Sheffield United are going up. And a few fans have gone on to celebrate. Congratulations. 

Jack O'Connell is Andy Hinchcliffe's choice as man of the match. 

Judge stings Henderson's palms with a 25-yard shot. It could well be the first time he's touched the ball all half. There will be trow more minutes of Blades' swagger. 

So, the only way Sheffield United could miss out on automatic promotion is if Leeds win their final two games, Sheffield United lose at Stoke and somehow Leeds effect a 13-goal swing in their goal difference deficit. So if you were planning on getting trolleyed on Ward's tonight to toast Blades' going up, I think you're safe. 

Stevens shoves Bree over, two hands in his back and is penalised with a free-kick but no booking. 

Fianl United substitution: Mark Duffy off, John Lundstram comes on in his place. 

Downes tackles Duffy out by the left touchline and Duffy turns to shout at Sharp for not giving him an easier passing option. 

Ipswich free-kick, 30 yards out. Judge whips over a cross for Nsiala but it hits him on the shoulder and United clear it out for a throw. Chorus of 'Leeds are falling apart again'. Of course there is. 

Sheffield United substitution: Gary Madine comes on for David McGoldrick. 

Ipswich try to hit United on the break and move it up to Judge who is the most advanced man in blue. He accepts the pass and lays it off straight into touch. 

Sheffield United are going up. They were already given Easter results and their goal difference and they've established the dominance to batter a relegated side today. 

Corner from the right, Sharp takes out the keeper with a block. Gerken throws himself to the floor demanding a foul and O'Connell powers a header into the empty net. Gerken was blocked but with no real force.

Sheff Utd 2-0 Ipswich (O'Connell)

In comes a menacing corner, Egan makes the perfect run, gives the distinctly nonadhesive Bishop the slip and bull-necks his header over. 

Ipswich substitution: Andre Dozzell comes on for Kayden Jackson. From Sheffield United's throw-in on the left, Stevens crosses and Skuse slices his clearance behind. 

Much better from Ipswich, they're getting it down and playing but lose the ball before they can make it into the box. Sharp is the beneficiary of one interception which sends him off on a run from 25 yards with only Chambers between him and goal. Chambers block-tackles him. 

Apt that Sharp should be on for this. Ipswich have had s mite more possession this past 10 minutes but they can't make it stick up front. Duffy harries Nsiala who stands up to it and wins a throw-in off his shins. 

Sheffield United substitution:  Billy Sharp replaces Scott Hogan. 

Hogan air-kicks at a volley from 12 yards. He is a strange hybrid of class and farce today. The finish to put United up was terrific and yet he has been hopeless with a couple of other chances.  

McGoldrick wins the ball in midfield, sprays a pass out to Duffy down the right and he torpedoes in a cross that Hogan meets by the penalty spot and smacks straight at the well-positioned Gerken's chest. When the ball rebounds to McGoldrick for a tap-in the ref blows. Hogan was offside. 

Norwood saunters forward up the inside-right, caught between shooting and crossing, then hangs up a cross to the far post and McGoldrick heads it into the side-netting. 

Apart from that momentary lapse of reason, Nsiala has done well at the back for Ipswich, racing around putting out fires. Sheffield United are ratcheting up the siege now.  

Hogan flies down the left and centres, overhitting the cross intended for McGoldrick who dives at it but was never going to get there. 

We've had the chip butty song, the Chris Wilder song but now there's a more urgent, plain, bellicose cry of 'United!' 'United!' Baldock fouls Kenlock for the second time in a couple of minutes. Surprised he hasn't been booked. 

Norwood takes right-footed, striking it with blistering whip and dip. Gerken's fingertips divert it on to the far post and away. Ipswich counter at pace but Jackson, ultimately, cannot shake off Fleck who bullocked back with hi,. 

Baldock fouls Kenlock as the Ipswich left-back tried to take it past him. Free-kick but Ipswich surrender possession from it and United counter up the left. Stevens cons the referee with a dive and is rewarded with a free kick on the left a couple of yards in from the touchline.

Ipswich kick-off, overloading on the left, launch it up that wing and knock it out for a United throw-in. 

One way  traffic and yet Ipswich have survived to be only 1-0 down. They have to do something to stem the tide down the right side of their defence or they risk being deluged in the second half. Here's s better picture of Hogan's finish:

Judge is penalised for going over the ball on O'Connell and catching his ankle with his studs. Norwood and O'Connell are livid but it is only a yellow card. One more minute of added time to come. 

Ipswich are opened up again down the left, O'Connell knocking it over the top for Hogan to run on to. Ipswich scramble it away for a corner that they defend competently. 

Ipswich free-kick for a hack at Bishop, 35 yards out on the right. Judge takes, Egan heads it out and Chalobah steers a weak header wide from about 15 yards. 

Fleck takes an unjustly awarded free-kick on the right with his left foot and balloons it over the box and into touch for a goalkick. 

Fleck is about the ninth United player to get in behind Bree and whip in a left-wing cross. He sends this one to the back post where McGoldrick nods it back to Norwood who pulls his right-foot shot wide. 

The Ipswich defence is going to need hot sweet tea at half-time after this traumatic ordeal. 

United are raiding in such numbers Ipswich are in danger  being overwhelmed. They survive the latest bombardment when Baldock is played in with a cute diagonal from inside to out By Norwood for the right wing-back. Out races Gerken who manages to dive and push it out of Baldock's stride and Skuse hooks it away. 

United corner after another Rip van Winkle episode from the Ipswich defence. Sheffield United play it to Norwood at the edge of the area and his rasping shot strikes an Ipswich player and balloons out for another corner.  

Nsiala just inside his own half, turns blind to try to pass back to his keeper. He hadn't seen Duffy behind him who accepted possession and played in Baldock down the right. Nsiala, to his credit, raced back to make a crucial block but he shouldn't have allowed that United attack to be mounted from a comfortable position on halfway with seven team-mates ahead of him 

Ipswich show their weaknesses - inexperience, lack of concentration, no punch up top - and Sheffield United have picked them off with clinical efficiency. 

Teddy Bishop goes to sleep, Duffy rolls a pass down the inside-left channel, O'Connell runs round the back to fizz in a cross, abandoned by Bishop, and Hogan turns it in with a flicked finish at the near post. Deftly done. 

Bishop drives towards the box, sells Egan a dummy and sprints into the box. Basham gets across to block his shot. Ipswich have a throw by the corner flag but lose possession from it. Sheffield United counter, Egan pole-axes Kenlock but seems to get away with it. 

Downes, looking for Chambers, passes the ball straight into touch. If they are going to build on these moments of promise, more precision is required. It almost led to McGoldrick latching on to the cross resulting from the throw-in but fortunately for Town, it bounced too high. 

Ipswich have a had a decent couple of minutes, having switched to 3-5-1-1. It has given them more of a foothold in midfield. Here's that chance that McGoldrick should have headed:

Tame shot from Downes after he dribbles through the middle from the centre circle, feints to the right, then shoots from about 25 yards. The defence melted away but he dragged his shot wide. 

Good, confident attacking thrust from Ipswich with Bishop and Judge combining well but failing to turn the defence with a misplaced pass up to Jackson. Skuse sweeps up when United counter-attack. 

United are absolutely battering Ipswich and Chambers again has the ball ripped off him. McGoldrick pelts into the box from the left and curiously, instead of shooting, tries to tee up Hogan, allowing Nsiah to slide in and knock it behind for a corner that  Ipswich and the gale defend well. 

Ipswich mess up the fre-kick, pass infield to Chambers who dawdles on it and is robbed. Fleck passes out to the left where Stevens centres and Hogan has a golden opportunity but lets it come across him and ends up slicing it with a lunge. 

Stevens runs behind Bree and floats a cross straight down Gerken's throat. Ipswich move up the left and Jackson is brought down by Baldock. 

Ipswich continue with 10 men while Chalobah sorts out his shinpads and has a brisk limber up. Chalobah will bolster midfield and leave Jackson as a lone striker with Judge in the hole. Here's the sub before the game:

At last Ipswich escape the blitzkrieg and progress into the United half. But their momentum is halted when Basham yanks Keane to the ground and the on-loan Hull forward twangs his hamstring. He is going to have to go off. Trevor Chalobah will replace him.  

This is electric from United. They have 10 players camped in the Ipswich half. Now Baldock backheels to Duffy on the right and he whips in a right-foot cross through the six-yard box that Hogan, who was offside but unflagged, missed by a whisker. 

Quick start from Sheffield United. Basham whips in a cross from the right. McGoldrick lunges in and misses it by about a yard. It was ideal for a diving header or a left-foot volley. 

Sheffield United kick off and get on the front foot straight away with O'Connell storming up the left to whip in a cross that is blocked behind for a corner that Norwood can't keep in play. The wind is up and the club flag is receiving some punishment atop the stand. 

To a raucous greeting from Bramall Lane. I've been meaning to write this for some time. Brace yourselves. But striped shirts should not have plain backs. The stripes should be on both sides. Have a word. 

We're going for a win, nothing changes. It's all about us, respecting the opposition. We have gone through the process. I believe my players will bring their A game to the table and if we don then I think we'll win. 

Sheff Utd Henderson; Basham, Egan, O'Connell; Baldock,  Norwood, Fleck, Stevens; Duffy; Hogan, McGoldrick.
Substitutes Lundstram, Dowell, Sharp, Madine, Stearman, Moore, Cranie. 

Ipswich Gerken; Bree, Chambers, Nsiala, Kenlock; Skuse;  Bishop, Downes; Judge; Jackson, Keane.
Substitutes Chalobah, Dozzell,  Elder, Emmanuel, Bialkowski, El Mizouni, Ndaba. 

Referee Tim Robinson (Middleton-on-Sea)

Sheffield United cannot confirm their promotion to the Premier League today but victory for the Blades over the Championship's bottom side Ipswich Town at Bramall Lane this evening would pile the onus on Leeds United tomorrow to match the result when they play the division's form team, Aston Villa, to keep their exceptionally slim chances alive going into the final games next Sunday.   

United's last two promotion campaigns out of this division, under Harry Bassett in 1989-90 and Neil Warnock in 2005-06, were achieved in contrasting fashion. In 1990 they were level with Leeds and two points ahead of Newcastle on the final day. They went to Leicester and won 5-2, rendering Newcastle's defeat by Middlesbrough effectively meaningless, and clinched the runners-up place. In 2006 they were up with four games to spare.

They are a tremendous side, superbly managed and very much the Championship's unsung team. The switch and whirl defence, Billy Sharp's clinical finishing, David McGoldrick's enduring quality and the excellence of John Fleck and Oliver Norwood in midfield have carried Chris Wilder's innovative attacking approach to the threshold of the Premier League. Ipswich did manage a draw against them in December but they have lost three of their last four games. Although they have won two and drawn five of 22 away games, they have scored a mere 14 goals on the road and let in 44. Their chances of denting Sheffield United's fortunes appear exceedingly slight indeed.