(if you can ignore the obligatory "who have thought 9 years ago, that Leeds would be so deep in the shi*" opening)
(there are errors - the volley back into the centre for our opening goal was from Kilkenny - Ritchie Jones doesn't play for Leeds. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/26/football-league-one-leeds-hartlepool Glamour boy Jermaine Beckford is guiding light for Observer report Leeds United 3 Beckford 38, Becchio 45, Beckford 69 Hartlepool 1 Bjornsson 25 David Hopps at Elland Road guardian.co.uk, For a club who reached the Champions League semi-final only eight years ago, the lure of Hartlepool on Boxing Day is not guaranteed to quicken the pulse. But around 30,000 left Elland Road in good cheer as Simon Grayson marked his one-year anniversary as Leeds United manager in satisfying fashion. This was a good, honest win in a pleasingly open game. The belief in West Yorkshire is that finally this club are in good hands again. Leeds famously specialised in financial own-goals after the turn of the century as they imploded in an orgy of over-spending and eventually went into administration. But on the field they prospered today due to Hartlepool's fondness for putting the ball in their own net. The visitors – whatever the official verdict might say – scored two own‑goals before half-time, before Jermaine Beckford, the nearest thing Leeds possess to a glamour player, assured them of victory with a third after 69 minutes. Beckford will claim Leeds' first goal – the equaliser – as well as their last. Robert Snodgrass's free-kick from the left was repelled at the far post, but Ritchie Jones volleyed back and a deflection two yards from goal, where Beckford and Ritchie Humphreys stood together, took the ball past Scott Flinders. Beckford sheepishly raised his arms; his 13th league goal of the season his most fortunate. If Beckford claims that goal, news agency suggestions that his strike partner, Luciano Becchio, scored Leeds' second were surely the stuff of fantasy. Jonathan Howson's cross from the right was headed away from goal by Becchio – helped by a clear handball – only to strike Gary Liddle on the back of the head and fly past Flinders. A Boxing Day singalong of "1-0 to the Hartlepool" had not been what Elland Road had in mind, but that is what they heard when the visitors took a 26th‑minute lead, a double flick-on from a corner allowing Armann Bjornsson the chance to head in from no distance at all at the far post. They had their moments and had they scored a second two minutes later from an Adam Boyd shot, Leeds might have been facing their first home league defeat since Carlisle in January. Instead, Leeds go six points clear in League One. It would have been more had it not been for Charlton's equaliser against Swindon in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but Norwich's dangerous presence in third place ensures that Leeds' fears of the play-offs and another near-miss will lurk for a while yet. Grayson happens to be a Leeds fan, but not a fan in the unsustainable manner of the former chairman Peter Ridsdale, the man who "lived the dream". Grayson, who can still walk around Skipton relatively unnoticed, cringed at Leeds' fall from grace and since being given the job has displayed a level-headedness now respected throughout the city. His handling of Beckford is a case in point. Against Southampton a week earlier, Beckford sulkily brushed aside Grayson's handshake when substituted; the entire crowd booed Beckford up the tunnel. That is quite a reaction against a player who had scored 69 goals in 107 Leeds appearances; Grayson's authority had been underlined. If Beckford's subsequent apology seemed to be a convenience, that suspicion was allayed against Hartlepool when the striker, more a scorer of great individual goals than a team player, turned in a thoughtful, team-orientated display. He also struck the bar early in the second half with a rasping volley and scored legitimately when set free by Becchio's header. Grayson has even put a smile on the face of old Scrooge himself, the Leeds chairman, Ken Bates, who at 78 has seen a thing or two. "In my experience you hope for the best and plan for the worst, but he's been magnificent," Bates said. Praise indeed. _______________________________________________ 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 Volame vsechny Cechy
