I set off for the game recalling last seasons 3 -7 debacle and thinking to myself that this season could not be anything like as bad and I was right. 3 points against a side doing well and all the top sides bar Brighton having been played. This really was the cliched 'game of two halves' . A confident flowing display in the first half , followed by a ragged back to the wall display in the second. The team itself was a bit of a surprise with Peltier and Lees being switched between the normal centre and right back positions, with both effectively playing out of position - but it worked , we looked pretty solid for the time they were both on the pitch (Peltier got a knock and was subbed midway in the second half). Even more surprising but deserved was a first start for Dom Poleon, deserved following some decent cameos but surprising since it was at the expense of both Varney and White and even Andy Gray (who could have been up top with Diouf on the right). Poleon did show some touches and flair to indicate he may have a bright future - he took his goal with a crisp low drive from the edge of the area , right into the bottom corner. At other times he looked out of place and was easily muscled out of it. I am sure Colin would be sending him out on loan to get experience and toughen up a bit if it were not for our injury crisis and small squad. He certainly looks promising though. An evenly matched start saw Austin and Lees both come close before we got the only thing that Durso gave us all afternoon - a cross and a scramble saw the ball end up in out net - as Forest celebrated we realised that the goal was disallowed , I have not seen it on TV but watching live none of us knew why, although it was noticeable how muted their complaints were. Then followed half an hour of the best free flowing exciting football seen this season (OK it was not that great but it was pretty good) Diouf given a free role totally ran the show with good support from Austin , Byram and Becchio in particular. The upshot was we got to half time and were 2 goals to the good and worthy of it. The first a long ball from defence went to Diouf on the right wing - he, not for the first time, had the beating of the full back (?Dan Harding) and put in a lovely cross, Byram and another Leeds player both went for it in the air and it fell kindly to Becchio on the edge of the six yard box and he hit it into the roof of the net (take that Rich W i thought- everything Becchio does has me thinking of Rich, his obsession with Becchio has got to me too!) 10minutes later and Becchio was put through - go on son bang it in and silence Rich I thought- but instead of getting his shot off he cut back accross the defender allowing him to get a tackle in, but the ball fell straight to Poleon who hit it home. For Rich and the Becchio haters he messed up a good chance, for the pro Becchio fans and the OS "Becchio was the architect ...his perseverence.." Both arguments have some merit. What cannot be denied is that on the stroke of half time another chance came his way , one that he should have scored and one that would have settled the game but he blasted over. Again take your pick - Becchio is rubbish/ he got himself in a good position and everyone misses chances. At half time I said to my mate that I thought Tonge had been anonymous - he said he thought Tonge had been one of our better players and had done well . It really is a game of opinions. Under Grayson (at least in the last couple of seasons) 2 0 never felt enough, under Warnock 1-0 up had been enough to see off Wolves so surely 2 0 would see us win the game? Well it did but only just. I think that possession has become, in the eyes of pundits and 'experts', the most important statistic. The team with the most possession deserved to win.This is not a view I agree with, to me it is where you have possession and what chances you create with it that is most important. Having said that, no team can afford to give the ball away as often and as carelessly as we did second half. We seemed totally incapable of passing to each other or controlling the ball. We were not helped by Durso blowing for every challenge and for the vast majority of the time giving the free kick against us, but really there was no excuse. If you invite a team to come at you time after time then someting has got to give, and indeed it did. A long throw into the box was headed in by the Forest forward as Kenny stood rooted to the spot and flapped at it. In fairness to Kenny he did make up for it with a couple of good saves and he did give up his kicking duties (deadballs etc) so clearly he was carrying an injury - although I do not know if that was to blame for the goal. We defended resolutely even with Kenny limping and Peltier joining an ever increasing and worrying injury list, and kept them pretty much at bay. They never really looked like getting the equaliser although there was an element of panic in the crowd at least when the ref somehow found an amazing extra 6 minutes of 'time added on' But we held on and got what was just about over the 90minutes a deserved and hard fought victory. News of the take over kept the Bates Out stuff to a minimum and a decent 25k crowd got behind the team. They are not the best players to have graced the white shirt but to be fair they all giving it 100% and that is all we can ask for. Everton could be embarrassing on Tuesday both in terms of the result and the size of the crowd but League wise at least things should get a bit easier, in terms of opposition, in the next few weeks. The aim now is presumably to stay in touch with the play offs and significantly strengthen the squad in January with our new investment. Having said that I do feel this season has been a wasted opportunity and we needed to sort the takeover before the end of August Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
