A 14th minute goal from Billy Sharp was enough to give Sheffield United victory over Longford Town as Bryan Robson's new-look side made a first ever visit to an eircom League club.
The crowd of 2,000 were not disappointed with their side's performance. However, Robson will be disappointed with his troops who failed to have a single shot on target in the second half.
The Blades got off to the perfect start. After soaking up some typical underdog pressure they hit the front in the 14th minute. Keith Gillespie's cross was directed towards Billy Sharp, and his fine header sailed past home keeper Shay Kelly.
Longford enjoyed plenty of early possession. Dave Mooney had three shots on target inside the opening 20 minutes. However, visiting keeper Ian Bennett was scarcely troubled by any of them.
Indeed, the home side created more scoring chances than their more illustrious opponents throughout the game but, at the other end of the field, Shay Kelly was also kept busy making good saves from Sharp and Matthew Kilgallon before the break.
Longford continued to press for an equaliser after the re-start as United faded out of the game. A four-man move culminated with Dessie Baker watching his shot deflected away for a 52nd minute corner.
Within two minutes Longford's Dave Mooney saw his exquisite shot cannon off the crossbar while Gary Deegan’s follow up was narrowly off target.
Deegan was again denied by a fine Bennett save soon after while the keeper was called into action again to block away Pat Sullivan's fine strike.
Longford Town: Kelly (Dempsey 45); Sullivan, Prunty, Brennan, O’Riordan (Kelly 66); Martin (Doherty), Freeman (Lynch 87), Deegan, Duffy (Wexler 79); Baker (Reilly 79), Mooney (James 66).
Sheffield United: Bennett; Bromby, Kilgallon, Lucketti, Armstrong; Shelton, Quinn (Leigertwood 64), Ashmore, Gillespie; Horsfield (Naysmith 67), Sharp.
Referee: Richie Winter (Wicklow)
