Advantage Forest as Blades beaten in Bramall Lane

Strikes from Jack Colback and Brennan Johnson helped Nottingham Forest take a slender 2-1 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in the Sky Bet Championship play-off first leg. A raucous atmosphere greeted both sets of players on the pitch as Blades searched for a return to the top flight after two years, while Forest looked to end their 23-year absence.

Nottingham Forest opened the scoring in the 10th minute courtesy of Jack Colback's rebound effort with their first foray into the opposition half. The Reds could have been further in front but for Wes Foderingham in the Blades net, who denied clear-cut efforts from Sam Surridge and Brennan Johnson to keep the score at 1-0 going into the break.

In contrast, Forest attacks were few and far between in the second period but Joe Lolley capitalised on a defensive error to help Johnson make it two but Blades responded late to give them a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg thanks to a header from Sander Berge. The opener came when Joe Worrall sent Surridge scampering down the field, his squared ball from the byline found Philip Zinckernagel aided by a Ben Osborn slip.

His initial effort was brilliantly saved by Foderingham before Colback latched onto the rebound and finished from close range which caused bedlam among the travelling Reds supporters. Minutes later, the Blades almost responded when a corner kick floated in from the right found the head of John Egan but his goalbound header was cleared off the line by Surridge to retain Forest's early lead.

Neither side fell victim of taking a stereotypical cautious approach to a two-legged play-off tie. Frustration began to grow around Bramall Lane and the visitors came close to a second when some neat link up play