What a game. I thought the standard of the football throughout was really poor
and there were more individual, unforced errors than any game I’ve seen this
season, however the second half was fantastic entertainment and I was on the
edge of my seat as Scunny took control and ran us ragged.
First half was shocking from both teams. We played with a 4-4-2 with Delph on
the left wing, Howson and Kilkenny central and Robinson on the right. Douglas
filled in a right back. It didn’t work and we struggled to create anything
despite some good movement from Snodgrass and Beckford up front. I must admit
though I was thinking I hope we get Scunny in the play offs ‘cos they looked
like a team of cloggers with a decent bloke up front. They’re a big team and
they have a big lad up front who causes problems but I just thought it was a
question of time before we started playing and took control. Well, I was
completely wrong. First of all we didn’t start playing well and take control
although we did go 2 up and secondly Scunny showed second half that they’re a
decent side and in Hooper they really have one of the best players in the
league.
Robinson went off injured – I think this will be the story of his career from
now until he has to retire through injury. He’s too big. Johnson came on to
play on the right wing – very strange choice although he did put himself about
a bit and did have our first shot after about 30 mins. Our first goal came from
one of the few bits of skill in the 1st half. A lovely ball from Snodgrass to
put the lively Howson through. He crossed to Beckford who seemed to side foot
it without much pace. I really can’t say what happened from the NE but it
looked like their keeper made a complete arse of it.
Scunny didn’t improve and we pushed forward. Johnson hit a speculative, low
shot which got a wicked deflection and ended up in the back. 2-0. Their heads
then went down and I could only see us going on win by easily, but in typical
Leeds style we imploded. Throughout the first half we had been making
elementary mistakes. I lost count of the number of times that we gave the ball
away or even worse just passed it in to touch or miscontrolled the ball whilst
not under pressure (Douglas and Naylor being the main culprits). The midfield
didn’t function. Delph is too good to stick on the left wing and Kilkenny and
Howson are definitely too lightweight as a central pairing. I think Kilkenny
can play – more than anyone else in a white shirt he can pass a simple ball
effectively and also has excellent awareness. He also did his fair share of
running today, but ultimately there is something missing. It’s too powder puff
and I don’t think the others in
the team are on the same wavelength as him.
Up front I didn’t think the Snodgrass / Beckford really gelled however I think
it might be worth persevering with because Beckford is … well Beckford and
Snodgrass has ability but really works his arse off. I thought Snodgrass was
the man of the match today. That’s not to say everything he did came off – it
didn’t but he’s such a 100% player who also has ability.
We let Scunny back in to the game with a disastrous bit of defending. I
completely disagree with Eddie Gray who blamed it all on Casper. Rubbish.
Parker was the defender who was in control. He was running back to the goal. He
had 2 options
1) Head it out for a corner / throwin.
2) Head it back to the keeper.
He did neither and ended up just getting in the way. Casper was unconvincing
admittedly but Parker dithered like a school boy leaving the ball to sit nicely
for the Hooper who just rolled it in to the net. It was a really bad goals.
This changed the game completely. Second half they came out with much more
confidence and looked like a completely different team. They looked sharp, they
passed it well and in Hooper had someone who frightened the life out of us. We
played on the break but were second best for most of the half. Parker just lost
all confidence which put a lot of pressure on the other defenders who seemed to
bail him out on many occasions. Hooper’s second was class. He got the ball, ran
at Rui, made him look like a twat, ran into the box and whacked it on the top
corner. Great goal.
At this point it looked gloomy. We were on the back foot but in Beckford and
Snodgrass we still had options up front. Grayson made his intentions clear
though by putting on Trundle for Kilkenny – a brave move. The winner came when
Snodgrass made a good run and played the ball into Beckford who did well to
draw the keeper and put it past him. Fantastic goal. Scunny came forward
repeatedly, Howson go himself sent off for a ridiculous challenge – he was on a
yellow card for God’s sake !
There were a few nervous moments but overall I thought we defended pretty well
in those dying stages. Lubo came on for Trundle, it’s always funny to see a sub
get subbed and he didn’t look impressed.
Scores:
Casper – 5. Dithered for their first goal. A few good one arm punches from
crosses and one good save from a great Scunny volley.
Douglas – 5. Piss poor. Out of position and it showed.
Parker – 1. It’s like watching Ian Harte. He can’t defend, he has no pace
especially when he’s on the back foot. He looked completely out of his depth
second half. He suffered badly due to the first goal. He’s just not good
enough.
Naylor – 7. Defended pretty well, however he showed that he’s not a great
footballer. I don’t think that really matters too much for a centre back at
this level.
Rui – 7. Lots of good defending. Hooper made him look stupid but he will do
that to a lot of defenders this season.
Robinson – 5. Didn’t do much before he got injured.
Howson – 6. Not his best game although he did make a good run for the first
goal.
Kilkenny – 7. I thought he played well. He’s not the answer but he can play.
Delph – 7. First half looked out of sorts. Lots of effort second half and
really put a shift in (that’s Grayson speak).
Beckford – 9. You can’t ask for more that he did. 2 goals, should have had 3
but his pace and his runs always gives us a chance and the opposition can never
relax. We don’t win when he doesn’t play.
Snodgrass – 9. Good performance.
Subs:
Johnson – 6. Limited but got stuck in.
Trundle – 4. Just looks fat.
Lubo – 7. Good contribution for last 10 mins.
Crowd – nearly 25,000. Tense second half.
Grayson – you can’t argue with the team’s effort. It was 10 for effort, 2 for
ability. Great win though.
_______________________________________________
the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators
accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors.
Leedslist mailing list
[email protected]
http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist
Sorry Macca - it's the curse of Bates old lad
