Billy Sharp netted against his old club as Doncaster beat Sheffield United 2-0 to rise to 11th in the Championship.
Sharp nets against his old club as Rovers ease to victory
Billy Sharp netted against his old club as Doncaster beat Sheffield United to claim the South Yorkshire bragging rights and rise to 11th in the Championship.
Rovers went ahead in the 33rd minute via James Coppinger after he had played a one-two with Sharp.
Nine minutes later, Joseph Mills crossed from the left and United keeper Steve Simonsen could only parry James Hayter's shot into Sharp's path and he made no mistake.
The Blades improved after the break but Richard Cresswell headed wide when unmarked from a Mark Yeates' free-kick on 75 minutes as Rovers deservedly finished with the three points.
Defenders James O'Connor and Shelton Martis, midfielder Martin Woods and striker Hayter returned for Doncaster, while Ritchie De Laet, on loan from Manchester United, was back for his last game for the Blades.
Rovers twice threatened to take an early lead, with Woods dragging his shot from the edge of the penalty area just wide after 41 seconds and Coppinger forcing Blades goalkeeper Simonsen into a low save soon after.
Off target
John Oster then stepped off his left foot on the edge of the area to create space, but his right-footed shot curled off target.
The Blades had to wait until the 16th minute for their first effort on goal, with Yeates' weak kick comfortably gathered by Rovers goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.
Rovers striker Hayter required lengthy treatment after being caught accidently on the nose by Blades skipper Chris Morgan midway through the first period but he was okay to continue.
The hosts took the lead in the 33rd minute when Coppinger ran on into the box after laying off a cushioned header to Sharp and, when the return pass fell invitingly into his path, the Rovers winger buried an angled shot beyond Simonsen into the bottom corner.
Rovers doubled their lead nine minutes later with another quality goal.
Oster set full-back Mills free down the left and his pinpoint cutback was met first time by Hayter.
The striker's shot was parried by Simonsen, but only as far as Sharp and the former Blade lashed home the rebound.
Fat lad
Blades fan Sharp, signed from his hometown club in a £1.1million summer deal after spending last season on loan at Rovers, was muted in his celebrations, although the 24-year-old revealed the words 'fat lad from Sheffield' on his undershirt
But Sharp's joy was short-lived as the striker, who failed to live up to his billing during two spells at Bramall Lane, limped off due to a hamstring strain on the stroke of half time and was replaced by Dean Shiels.
The Blades sent on Jamie Ward for Daniel Bogdanovic six minutes into the second half and then Matt Lowton replaced Johnny Ertl as the visitors tried to come back into the game.
But all the cohesion was Doncaster's and that was underlined by a sweeping move involving marauding right-back Mustapha Dumbuya, whose fine ball to the edge of the area was laid off by Hayter for Woods to curl a shot over the crossbar.
At the other end, Cresswell headed wide with the goal gaping and Yeates' right-footed Curler was then comfortably gathered by Sullivan late on as Rovers run out easy winners.
