Well the 3 points should just about do it, one more and I think we are safe, none and it may come down to goal difference, but I am sure we will pick up a few more, needed or not
In some ways this was a game of two halves, but in some ways we were the better team both halves. Injuries and suspension (Lees) led to a few changes and we started with a strange looking back four, with Warnock being moved to centre back and Drury making a surprise but welcome return at left back. In midfield we had Austin recalled to play alongside Green and Norris with Varney on the wing. Up front it was another chance for the Mccormack / Morison combo. We bossed most of the first half without really creating much of note, Morison had a shot on the turn blocked and towards the end Drury was brought down, according to the ref on the edge of the box to me at the opposite end it looked inside. McCormacks free kick was cleared off the line. At the other end they did not do much but did cause us problems and we looked very shaky. So it was sort of against the run of play but not a great surprise when a long kick was allowed to bounce and Warnock allowed the striker to shrug him aside and chip Kenny who had come off his line. A soft goal. Things could have been worse as we needed Kenny to make a couple of saves The ref was a real bottle job, aside from the possible penalty shout on Drury he also failed to send off one of theirs who had already been booked for another definate yellow offence. In fact he let them get away with no end of little, niggly fouls. A lot of them nothing in themselves but added together they really made the game stop / start and prevented us from playing any football In the stands we showed Dave Jones that the feud was not actually over with a number of peadophile chants and one against Kirkland about him getting a slap. Wednesday fans retaliated with the hilarious 'Brian McDermott looks like an egg' and the side splitting 'he fell off a wall, McDermott fell off a wall' So 20 (?) games without us scoring first half I do not know what McD said at half time but if all his half time team talks have the same response then we will be OK with him/ He swapped Norris with Diouf and we began like a team possessed, we really took it to them and ripped them apart. In the first ten minutes of the second half we hit the post, had a couple scrambled away, had Kirkland pull off a save, missed a couple and then put it on a plate for Morison to score but our future Leeds legend totally fluffed it - bring back Becchio - the crowd already anti Morison really got on his back and this led to McD subbing him for White and sending Varney up front. It paid off quickly, and boy did it pay off. First a great cross by Ross was met by Varney and his header hit the bar and bounced away. The lino gave a goal, Wednesday players did not moan and they did show it again on the big screen - indicators that the ball had crossed the line, I was not so sure but others around me said it was in. A few minutes later and then a great run by Ross ended with another cross, another Varney header and another goal. We all went wild and even Varney, who has had stick off Leeds fans for not celebrating went mad. We carried on trying to play and to go for the 3rd but as the game wore on we went deeper and deeper , even though we had a makeshift defence that got even worse as Warnock went off (injured) and Austin dropped into centre back and Tonge came on. We fell back into bad habits as only Diouf seemed able to keep the ball and pass to a white shirt. A snap shot from a Wed player hit the post, Kenny pulled off a good save and then Lita pulled a shot wide when he looked like he must score So we survived, even the 3 extra minutes and that was the cue for the ground to erupt in delight and relieve. Surely we are safe now So well done McDermott - he made changes when we needed them - Diouf and White coming on and moving 2 goal Varney up front in place of the new 'boo boy' the ineffective Morison. Someone pointed out that Warnock in his first game went into the dressing room at half time and changed a losing position into a win , so we cannot read too much into one game , but McD did the right things today and seems to have the crowd on his side. He has 4 more games to assess the players and the squad so lets hope he gets it right, but a good start to his (hopefully long and successful) Leeds career. Whatever, we can all sleep soundly tonight , the threat of relegation almost banished dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
