IN THE end, there was a grim inevitability to a result which condemned Sheffield United to relegation and an instant return to the Championship.

When these teams met at Bramall Lane in September, The Blades were on the wrong end of an 8-0 rout. In the 28 games since they’d lost 19, winning just three. The 92 goals they’d conceded in the league during the season was an unwanted record. With three games still to play that tally will almost certainly reach a century.

So, when Anel Ahmedhodzic stole in to beat Martin Dubrvka with a close-range header after just five minutes, no-one seemed to know quite what had happened, or what to do. This wasn’t in “the script.”

Organised and adventurous, they bossed the first half, the near certainty of relegation seemingly releasing them from their shackles, giving them freedom.

Newcastle, by contrast, played within themselves. This was not the aggressive, confident team that had won three of their last four home games and made Spurs look like a pub team just a fortnight ago. Instead, it was the nervy, ponderous team that had lost to Nottingham Forest and struggled to a draw against Luton during their winter slump.

The visitors could have — indeed should have — taken advantage. Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz both had opportunities to double their lead before something else inevitable happened: Aleksander Isak equalised.

Yet the floodgates did not open, as many might have expected. The Blades continued to have the better of the exchanges. Mason Holgate hit the post; Andre Brooks squandered the rebound. The visitors should have been ahead at the break. It was anyone’s game.

The second half was as if from a different game. Within 10 minutes of the restart, Newcastle took the lead, Bruno Guimaraes scoring with a close-range header. The roar that greeted the goal was more relief than celebration.

The visitors’ season-long defensive frailties became all too apparent, they deflated like a balloon at the fag end of a bad party.

Now it was the home side playing with freedom. Isak added a third from the penalty spot after one of Anthony Gordon’s trademark marauding runs was illegally curtailed by Mason Holgate.

A scramble in the area ended with Ben Osborn bizarrely back heeling into his own net. Substitute Callum Wilson added a fifth. The extra seven minutes of added time seemed cruel.