Ha. Decent Rob. On Sat, 11 Apr 2020 at 13:00, Robert Heath <heathpalai...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The old stadium could not have looked lovelier on this perfect Easter day, > packed to the rafters in glorious spring sunshine. The mood has been > nothing but celebratory, of course, ever since the 7-0 demolition of > Fulham, but we were all nevertheless outraged by the news that the FA had > banned Kalvin Phillips for the rest of the season as his hairstyle brings > the game into disrepute. Most people around me were in general agreement, > but found the timing highly questionable. > > As expected, Berardi came in for Phillips, but not as expected, he actually > occupied KP's berth, leaving White in his normal spot. I was a bit confused > about the Stoke lineup as they seemed to be playing with 12 men. I wondered > if the FA had granted all teams a special disposition to field an extra > player against Leeds because otherwise Bielsa's boys just overwhelm > everybody, but then a lad behind me told me that Martins Indi is actually > one player with two names, not two players. > > Stoke pulled the pathetic, infuriating and inevitably backfiring stunt of > making us kick towards the Kop first half. This seemed to annoy the lads, > and they were snapping into tackles right from the off. Berardi was booked > after 4 mins for upending both Martins and Indi with one plough. Stoke were > under the cosh, but finally ventured upfield and even registered quite a > good shot from the edge of the box. Meslier was forced into the first real > save he's had to make as a Leeds player and tipped it round the post > competently. The 19 optimists in red-and-white scarves got all excited, > although what the point of their Harry Potter chant was I couldn't fathom. > You fools, I thought..........and sure enough, someone managed to head the > ball away from around the penalty spot, Klich touched it to Costa who raced > away with the ball. He spotted Harrison sprinting up the right wing and > played it on to him. Harry took it on a bit, cut inside onto his left foot, > and slid a lovely ball into the box for an onrushing white shirt, who swept > it imperiously into the top corner. > > To everyone's amazement, the wearer of that shirt turned out to > be........Berardi! > > We kept on dominating, pinging the ball about, switching positions, working > not just triangles but complete bloody dodecahedrons. One Stoke player had > to have a new top brought on because he had been dragged about so much that > the stripes on his shirt were all twisted. > > Harrison hit the bar. The lad behind me reckoned that this was the 13th > match in a row that Harrison had hit the woodwork and was sure it was a > World Record. > > Butland in the Stoke goal was, of course, having the game of his life. > > But eventually, on about the half hour mark, the second came. We swung a > corner into the mixer, it pinged about a bit before falling to, yes Berardi > again, and he lashed a volley into the roof of the net. > > Two minutes later, after another lovely move saw the ball switched back to > Pablo, he touched it on to Berardi, about 35 yards out. Shooooot, cried the > crowd, predictably. What was not predictable was that he did shoot, and it > bent into the top corner like Billy's famous goal at Hampden Park. 3-0! Get > in! > > Two minutes later, Berardi again tried to separate Martins from Indi and > received his second yellow card. He tried to get the ref to give him the > match ball before departing, but the bastard in magenta refused. > > So, a lot to talk over at halftime. I was surprised to see that everyone > was drinking corona beer. I asked one lad why, and he said he wasn't sure, > but it seemed that one person kind of got the bug to drink it, and then it > seemed to spread like, er...........a virus? Weird times. > > In the second half, our 10 men were still too good for the 12 of Stoke, but > with a crowded easter programme ahead, we sensibly elected to just knock > the ball about and cruise home without any major alarums. > > Scores on the doors: > Berra 10 > Everyone else 8.75 > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
