The match lacked any passion and it was The Blades that always had the upper hand against a toothless Leeds United side.
Midfielders Alan Quinn and Michael Tonge caught out Leeds in the 16th minute from a quickly taken corner, Tonge cutting inside to slam in a low shot from 12- yards that was caught on the line by Neil Sullivan.
Michael Ricketts, looking for his first goal since moving from Middlesbrough in the summer, then tried his luck from 25-yards with a stinging drive, the ball spinning wide of Paddy Kenny's right-hand post.
Tonge found space on the right flank on 27 minutes, but slammed the ball into the sidenetting before Sullivan twice foiled the Sheffield side.
The ex-Chelsea keeper spooned away a Quinn cross with Ward waiting to pounce and blocked Ward's close-range strike after the big striker turned quickly.
Sullivan was beaten in the 35th minute as Andy Gray shrugged off Stephen Crainey's challenge to steer the ball beyond the diving keeper and inches wide of the far post.
Midfielder Frazer Richardson caught United on the break two minutes before the interval cutting in from the right.
Hardworking Ward broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, Tonge threading the ball to the striker who lashed a low shot past the helpless Sullivan from 12- yards out.
Skipper Chris Morgan was kept out by minutes later with Sullivan stretching to tip his fierce header over the top.
Harley killed off Leeds in the 62nd minute with a spectacular free-kick from 23- yards, curling his left-foot strike into the top right-hand corner after Michael Duberry had upended Gray.
Duberry hit the bar 13 minutes from time as Leeds looked for a way back, before Ward crashed a header against the woodwork from Harley's precise cross.
The Whites, still with no goals in six matches from their strikers, could find themselves in the bottom three by the end of Monday's fixtures as Kevin Blackwell is finding just how tough it is to manage one of the country's biggest clubs.