Ten-man Sheffield United battle past Doncaster Rovers

Sheffield United have ended a winless run of three matches in all competitions with a narrow 1-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers in League One.

The visitors started the contest in dominant fashion, but it was Donny who created the first opening when Harry Forrester shot wide with 10 minutes played.

United responded soon after as Jose Baxter fired off target before Doncaster goalkeeper Sam Johnstone did well to punch Jamal Campbell-Ryce's searching ball clear midway through a dull opening half.

The Blades were appealing for a penalty minutes before the break when Campbell-Ryce was tugged back on the edge of the box, only for the referee to award a free kick instead.

The second half burst into life with an hour played as United's Paddy McCarthy was shown a straight red card for bringing down Nathan Tyson inside the box. Harry Forrester stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but his kick was pushed away by Mark Howard.

Doncaster were made to pay for that penalty miss just four minutes later when Jamie Murphy fired a powerful drive into the top corner from 25 yards to give the visitors the lead.

The closest that the hosts came to finding the net was on 81 minutes through Kyle Bennett, whose curled effort came back off the post.