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Leeds United 1-1 Town
Tuesday, 28th Jan 2014 21:42

David McGoldrick netted his 14th goal of the season as Town drew 1-1 with Leeds United at Elland Road. McGoldrick opened the scoring on 57 but the home side equalised five minutes later via a Ross McCormack penalty, Luke Chambers having fouled Cameron Stewart.

Jay Tabb and Paul Anderson replaced Stephen Hunt and Carlos Edwards in the wide roles in an otherwise unchanged Town line-up.

Hunt — who started only his third game since last April on Saturday - dropped to the bench, while Edwards was left out of the 18 having been subbed at half-time against Reading on Saturday with a groin problem. New loan signing Frazer Richardson was on the bench.

Leeds striker Luke Varney was missing from their squad with Blackburn having been linked. El Hadji Diouf replaced him alongside top scorer McCormack.

Town, in their red and black, started brightly, Daryl Murphy hitting a shot against a defender in the opening minute. But after that there was little action of note at either end in a scrappy opening quarter of an hour.

McGoldrick volleyed a Murphy cross wide having been found in space on the left of the area in the 19th minute, although the game was increasingly being played in the Town half but with Leeds so far unable to create an opening.

As the game moved towards the half hour the Blues began to get on top, winning a couple of corners on the right, Cole Skuse seeing a 30-yard strike deflect wide off Christophe Berra from the second.

On 31 Tabb crossed from the left and Anderson beyond the far post nodded it down to McGoldrick, who scuffed a shot on the turn which Jason Pearce cleared from just in front of the line.

A minute later, McGoldrick played in Ryan Tunnicliffe but the ball got caught under his feet and Tom Lees — wearing a bandage having cut his head — put it behind for a corner.

From the resultant flagkick, the ball was half-cleared back to Anderson, who teed up Tunnicliffe 20 yards out. Leeds keeper Paddy Kenny did well to get down to his right to save the on-loan Manchester United man’s shot and then to block from Murphy as he looked to cut the ball back across the box. Eventually the ball was played back in and skipper Chambers headed over.

Blues keeper Dean Gerken made his first save of the evening in the 37th minute when he got across to his right to push Rudi Austin’s low 25-yard strike wide.


McCormack should have put his side in front in the 41st minute but the ball flicked off his head when six yards out having been found by Stephen Warnock’s cross from the left with the impetus now very much back with the home side.

That was as close as either side would get before referee David Webb blew his whistle to signal the end of the first half.

After a very quiet first 20 minutes both teams had had spells on top and created a couple of openings.

Overall, the half-time scoreline was probably a fair reflection, but McCormack will feel he should have put his side in front with his header.

At the other end, Kenny saved well from Tunnicliffe and then Murphy, while McGoldrick failed to connect properly with his two opportunities.

Tunnicliffe went close shortly after the restart, volleying not far wide from the edge of the box after a Cresswell cross from the left had been half-cleared.

The Blues were starting the second period strongly and in the 50th minute Tunnicliffe beat Kenny to Anderson’s ball over the top on the right of the area but Lees cut out his pass across the box towards McGoldrick. A minute later, Cameron Stewart shot over for the home side.

Town were a whisker away from going in front in the 54th minute when Murphy rolled Jimmy Kebe and hit a low ball across the six-yard box but just in front of McGoldrick and Tabb.

The Blues finally gained the lead they deserved in the 57th minute, although in somewhat fortunate circumstances.

Tunnicliffe regained possession from Kebe having given it away moments earlier and found McGoldrick on the left. The Town top scorer cut inside Sam Byram before hitting a 25-yard shot which Kenny completely misjudged and allowed to creep past him to his right, just inside the post.

The ball appeared to bounce awkwardly just in front of the keeper but even so there was little power in McGoldrick’s shot and the Town striker really shouldn’t have been celebrating his 14th goal of the season.

However, the lead was to last only five minutes. Stewart took the ball round the outside of Chambers on the left of the area, the Blues’ skipper slid in and took the winger’s legs from under him. Referee Webb pointed straight at the spot.

Whites’ top scorer McCormack took the spotkick and slammed his 19th goal of the season straight down the middle, the home side’s first shot on target.

The momentum swung back towards Leeds after their equaliser, the Blues coming under pressure from a number of corners, one of which led to a goalmouth scramble. Austin saw an effort blocked, then McCormack’s net-bound strike deflected wide.

Frank Nouble replaced Anderson in the 72nd minute as Town went to 4-3-3, then a minute later McCormack hit 25-yard shot which Gerken did well to push past his left post.

Nouble almost seized on Warnock’s hesitation on the edge of his area in the 79th minute, then Skuse was booked for a foul on Byram on halfway.

Warnock sent a dangerous ball across the Town box as the match moved into its scheduled final 10 minutes, but too far ahead of McCormack, sub Dominic Poleon and Kebe.

Neither side was able to grab the three points in four minutes of injury time, McGoldrick curling a late freekick from the left into Kenny’s arms.

A draw was probably a fair result. After an even and not overly exciting first half, the Blues were the better side during the early stages of the second and had threatened on a number of occasions prior to McGoldrick’s rather gifted goal.

Once the home side had got back on terms through McCormack’s penalty, they dominated but only seriously tested Gerken on a couple of occasions.

Boss McCarthy is unlikely to be too disappointed with another point on the road, the Blues having picked up all three at home against Reading on Saturday.

Leeds: Kenny, Byram (Peltier 88), Pearce, Lees, Warnock, Kebe, Brown (Mowatt 63), Austin, Stewart, McCormack, Diouf (Poleon 63). Unused: Cairns, Murphy, Pugh, Wootton.

Town: Gerken, Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Anderson (Nouble 72), Skuse, Tunnicliffe, Tabb, Murphy, McGoldrick. Unused: Loach, Mings, Richardson, Hunt, Wordsworth, Taylor. Referee: David Webb (Lancashire). Att: 20,461 (Town: 500).


Photo: Action Images



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Jaamo11 added 21:47 - Jan 28
A good point and if we win on Saturday that will be 7 points and it will have been a tremendous week COYB!
1

Jaamo11 added 21:47 - Jan 28
A good point and if we win on Saturday that will be 7 points and it will have been a tremendous week COYB!
3

JohnB13 added 21:49 - Jan 28
Good point. Difficult place to get anything.
-1

ChrisMakin2012 added 21:50 - Jan 28
Nouble as a subtitute? Have you gone mad MM. Taylor or Hunt are crying out to play for us!
18

tractorboy12341234 added 21:50 - Jan 28
win against Reading and Leeds draw make up for the disappointments against Charlton and Millwall, three winnable games on the bounce now! COYB
0

BillBlue added 21:53 - Jan 28
I wish somebody could explain that substitution to me and what happened to Huntie (again) is he injured or ill?
10

Hobbsy11 added 21:55 - Jan 28
A good point away from home but bit disappointed we couldn't hold on to a lead but now we look on to our next game Bolton COYB
1

warktheline added 22:03 - Jan 28
Would of been happy with point before game,of course some won't be satisfied with it,they know who they are.Never mind some of us are easily satisfied.Continued progress in my book.Well done boys.
-7

Cloddyseedbed added 22:04 - Jan 28
Billblue, I'm sure Mick will say he's resting Hunt for Saturday! If Hunt does not start on Saturday I for one will be disappointed. It is a good away point but if your in the lead and give away a bad penalty it does leave a bad taste. I can not see for the life of me why Nouble was brought on to try and win the game. Sounded like we didn't play very well in the secondhalf - was that true any supporters that went?
5

RegencyBlue added 22:05 - Jan 28
We just cannot hold a lead regularly.

That is why we will finish outside of the top six this season but fair play to MM, progress is being made!
3

isitinthemiddle added 22:06 - Jan 28
All day long!!!! Positive result that!!!
0

StochesStotasBlewe added 22:06 - Jan 28
Should have gone for it from the off. Leeds were short of confidence, Hunt on the left, run at their back four, put the pressure on. BUT, set up not to lose, got the draw, 2 points lost IMO. Shame, could have been 2 points off 6th tonight.
10

bluemikey100 added 22:06 - Jan 28
hunts legs must be shot 2 games in few days too much shame
1

TractorCam added 22:09 - Jan 28
Not too bad of a result, it's just a shame we can pressure up until we hit the net and then the game completely switches. However we have a good set of fixtures coming up so really need to take advantage of those.
1

runaround added 22:11 - Jan 28
I would have settled for that before kick off but they hadn't had a shot until the penalty. 2 points dropped but a heartening performance. Next 3 matches are very winnable & I would say must win if we are serious about top 6. If I'm being honest Zi don't think we are quite good enough for top 6 but it's nice to be in the hunt & I'm hoping we give it a right go in last 3 months of season
9

ashska added 22:12 - Jan 28
Why did Hunt not feature tonight? Is he still 'goosed' from Saturday? Would have been good to see if he's spark could have made the difference tonight. Still... Decent point tonight. COYB!!
2

Keaneish added 22:17 - Jan 28
Good point. However, if we're being positive and going for the win, why Nouble instead of Hunt or Taylor? Surely Taylor and Hunt will run at defenders and stretch them with their ability. A weird one from MM but that said, a win Saturday and its been a great week.
4

blueboy1981 added 22:21 - Jan 28
warktheline - your normal style of comment - nothing changes there then.

Of course you would be happy with point - as if we would think otherwise !!
1

blueboy1981 added 22:27 - Jan 28
pinewoodblueboy - agree with you - not a disaster by any means, but I think this was MM slipping back to his 'a point is all important ' thinking again.

Leeds were low in confidence for several reasons tonight - we should have had enough confidence to attack them from the off and secure the win.

But we must not say such things - shame on me.
3

sereneblue added 22:29 - Jan 28
Nouble- McCarthy's pet poodle!!!
7

Lord_Mac added 22:32 - Jan 28
Back at the Travelodge. My First time at EllAnd road since the riot when Alan lee relegated them. Good game. Fair result, both goals defensive errors. Soaked up a lot of pressure after they scored, but had best chances. Leeds are not as good as their supporters think they are! I agree we should have pressured them from the off, same as millwall. But reading scored another 5 tonight, so we did well there.

Talk before the game was about Leeds latest buyout hitting the rocks.
6

purplealien added 22:32 - Jan 28
I think Nouble was the right substitution once legs started to go and MM had decided to settle for a point. He occupied their back four and made a nuisance of himself as usual stopping them from throwing extra bodies forward.

Not much good bringing on creative players if the rest of the team are flagging and can't get forward to join the attack.
0

HarryfromBath added 22:35 - Jan 28
This is a small side point I know, but Leeds did not have a game on Saturday, and had nine days to fully train and prepare for this game. Leicester escaped out of Elland Road with a narrow late-goal win in an evenly contested game last week.

I think that we will see this as a point gained in hindsight, as Stewart and Kebe will be much more of a handful on the flanks for Leeds once they get properly into their stride in the coming months.
13

Jimmy86 added 22:42 - Jan 28
Taking a point from leeds away is not a disaster, bearing in mind we have quite a bad record up there, just a shame we couldn't take all 3 points having gone 1 nil up. I'm perplexed as to why hunt didn't play at all, he may be still feeling the effects of saturday, but only way he is going to get match fit is to play, he would have provided a different dimension to our play. Leeds were no doubt fresher, having not played on saturday, but they were there for the taking. Saturday will be fairly tough as bolton still have a good team on paper. COYB
7

bohslegend added 22:43 - Jan 28
Very important to acknowledge that Harry.

Unfortunately a point away to Leeds United is just not good enough for people like Blueboy and chrismakin. They always have a gripe about something.

Would have been delighted with a point before the game started, chuffed now.
-3


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