This game had all the cliches 'end of season stroll' 'game of two halves' 'goal worth the admission fee on its own'and my view / opinnions reflected that. One of my mates on entering the pub asked who we were playing - that pretty much givens an idea of our level of enthusiasm We spent most of the pre match talking about the new ST deal - all 5 of us thought, on the face it is great but a bit worried it will not work out, but since 2 of us own 20yr ones and the other 3 were going to renew whatever it makes little difference to us and we could not decide if other fans would be persuaded to buy one. Anyway on to the game and a paltry crowd of 17k were treated to as poor a first half as you could get. We were awful, no passion, no pride, no passing no movement, no anything. Coyle was a fish out of water at right wing, Erwin looked like he had never kicked a ball before and the whole team played as if they had never met. We were terrible and looked like they thought the season was already over. Thankfully the Wolves strikers had the same malaise as they missed a couple of great chances, on one occasion the lad falling over when it looked easier to score.
So thanks to their profligacy in front of goal we managed to go in at 0 0 - those who could be bothered did boo, most of us just stood numb and uninterested thinking at least there is only 45minutes of this dross left. Then an amazing transformation - Cook suddenly became the player of the season that he is, Murphy turned up and the whole team got a new lease of life. We looked lively and were running into space, finding passes and generally looking good. Then the icing on the cake, on came Dallas, a player for whom the jury is still out really, and he was brilliant, making runs , wanting the ball and delivering crosses and passes into the danger area. Not sure what Evans said or put in their tea but this was (cliche) chalk and cheese from the first half. Then with about an hour gone the goal worth the admission, a looped cross over the top (Dallas?) fell to Bamba and he took it on his chest and absolutely lashed it into the top corner - an amazing goal from him (in some ways , perhaps cos I thought it would go miles wide /over in both cases , reminded me of Bradley Johnson v Arsenal Then a few minutes later game over, or it should have been, A decent move and Cook put it a hard low cross that was met by Diagourara on the penalty spot and he hammered home - a goal machine. One in 5 years for Brentford or something, 3 already for us. We continued to play and create and both Botaka and Bridcutt came on. Before he was subbed the first half hapless Erwin did a couple of turns and passes that made me think he can play a bit Then the inevitable - they broke forward, the defence stood and watched and they pulled one back. Cue a nervy finish ? Not tonight. We carried on as if nothing had happened and Dallas hit the bar and in a brilliant, what would have been goal of the season, Cook won the ball, beat 4 or 5 defenders as he sprinted forward, he fed Wood whose lay off to Botaka was perfect and Botaka hit a lovely strike that clipped the bar - sublime stuff. So when the final whistle went it was applause and cheers all round - a great second half - more please. Dallas made the real difference but all of them were good second half - Botaka again showed in flashes that he does have something special but also showed he is a bit too lightweight at times - he could become a real star for us. So lets see if the ST innovation and 3 wins in a row (with 5 goals in two home games) does enough to convince the doubters to stay / come back and for the anti Cellino boycotters to take him at his word (yeah, I know) and take a chance, as my son who renewed yesterday said it is win, win , winIf we get top 6 - winIf we fail top 6 - money back - winIf we do not get the money back - Cellino cannot survive - win Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
