Bristol City v Leeds Utd 12th Feb 2011

Train was the preferred mode of travel for our small intrepid band of Leeds fanatics as we headed south west for our clash with the reds of Bristol.  As we left the wet miserable climes of Yorkshire behind and passed through the Midlands sunshine and blue sky adorned the passing fields and factories as we pondered the forthcoming game.  Would Eric Lichaj, the new loanee, go straight into the team?  It was difficult to see any other player in the squad preventing that happening with  Paul Connolly sidelined by injury.  The debate over which formation Lord Larry would choose dissected the various pros and cons of 4.5.1 over 4.4.2.  Killa would certainly add clarity and pin point passes from mid field in a 4.5.1 set up but how can you drop Somma from a 4.4.2 line up that served so well last week? After much iteration we decided Lord Larry's job definitely wasn't an easy one and turned our focus to who would score the first goal.  After vowing not to waste money on silly bets at the start of the season we are in danger of slipping back into bad habits but Snoddy at 10.1 to score the first goal was too good to miss as both HC and yours truly wagered a cheeky fiver on the flying Scot doing the business.

Our arrival at Bristol station was an anti climax.  Cyberspace was alive with tales of a 2 to 3 hundred Bristolian welcoming committee. In practice there was a group of 5 spotty youths who meekly sung a belated chorus of "there's only one team in Bristol" as we passed them.  "Won't be much of a match then" I responded.  Their puzzled frowns indicated they didn't really understand my dry Yorkshire humour.  Pre match refreshment was taken in the Hole in Wall pub on the waterfront along with Gary and other members of the Leeds twitterati. The "which formation" debate was reignited along with much discussion over the merits or otherwise of our new fullback.  More importantly how the hell do you pronounce his name? Lee-Hi now took precedent over my rather misguided Lee- Chi!

As we arrived at the ground the team news filtered through that Somma had been unlucky as the 4.5.1 set up had been chosen to accommodate the return of Killa. After a cuddle with the Robins matchday mascot and walking the gauntlet of the numerous riot police we were inside the old traditional surrounds of Ashton Gate.  Lee-Hi did indeed take the right back spot as the game kicked off in bright sunshine.  The 2,000 away fans were housed in half of the stand behind the goal making for a crackling atmosphere as the both sets of fans tried to out do each other with the volume and variety of songs.  On the pitch Leeds were attacking the far goal and started brightly.  Killa, fresh from his exploits with his national team, was soon prompting and cajoling with a variety of crisp passes feeding our two voracious wingers, Mad Max and Snoddy. Lee-Hi's first touch was impressive as he robbed a hesitant Bristol player and fed the ball into a Leeds shirt.  I exchanged positive glances with HC.  My optimism with our new USA international soon reached the stratosphere as he won the ball and drove past two floundering Bristolians before releasing Mad Max in the centre of the field who had a couple of jinks before he rolled the ball onto Snoddy on the edge of the box..............Snoddy danced through 360' with the ball tied to his boot and then slid the ball past the calamitous James in the home goal.  1.0 Leeds and cue bedlam amongst the away fans especially two happy Selby Whites who had just trousered £100 thanks to a combination of Skybet and Snoddy!  The match was a sell out and the pulling power of the mighty whites became obvious as the celebrations for another wonder goal from Snoddy weren't confined to the official away stand.  Pockets of Leeds fans in all stands found the urge to let out a scream of "Get in you beauty" or words to that effect too much.  Stewards and riot police? moved to eject the fans who's only crime was not supporting the home team.  One fan in the stand adjacent to the hordes of Leeds fans took exception to being asked to leave and scuffled with the police before been dragged away.  Leeds fans in the away end then surged towards the barriers between the stands in a forlorn attempt to presumably vault the high fence to come to the fans aid.  Lot's of pushing,shoving and gesticulating ensued with the police as the game continued on the pitch.  Enough of a "confrontation" to justify some highly descriptive reporting of "Riot police called into to deal with crowd trouble at Bristol"

Leeds were looking good in possession without ever getting out of 3rd gear.  Killa was revelling in his busy midfield role, Lee-Hi was impressing with his cool, controlled play supplemented by a long throw that is reminiscent of a certain Rory Delapp, O'Brien and Bruce were looking commanding at the back whilst on the wings our dynamic duo of Max and Snoddy were again terrorising the full backs.  The only blot on the afternoon was a subdued performance from Luciano.  Bristol were looking edgy and hurried in possession but as the half wore on they settled enough to create a couple of half chances that a combination of Kasper and poor shooting easily dealt with.  The Leeds team headed for their half time cup of tea with the applause of their fans ringing in their ears.

I would love to report at this stage on the usual Gents debate but this week it is difficult.  I could relate comments like "Only one f****** toilet, what a shithole" or "they treat cattle better than this" or even "f*** it I'm having a piss behind the burger van"  What I can say is that the way those of us who needed to get rid of some of the pre match refreshment were herded into the inadequately sized toilet with all the skill of the unfortunate police officer who commanded his troops on that fateful day at Hillsborough all those years ago was quite frankly a disgrace.

Leeds kicked off the 2nd half attacking the end were the majority of their fans were still singing and urging their heroes on in a simmering atmosphere of tension. It was the Robins who so nearly upset the Leeds apple cart though as Clarkson fired a stinging shot into the side netting that had half of Aston Gate thinking they had equalised. Snoddy was soon back in the groove though.  Despite his growing reputation as one of the premier wingers in the country Bristol afforded him the luxury of more often than not only leaving only one defender for him to tie in knots.So when the ball was slickly moved to his twinkle toes on 50 minutes with space and a quivering full back in his sights the Leeds fans gasped in collective anticipation.  He glided past the full back and majestically strode into the box.  His teasing cross was blocked but fellow tormentor Mad Max was on hand to gleefully fire the ball home through a crowd of players past the despairing James.  2.0 Leeds. Get in!

Bristol were now visibly rocking and when Bradders rose to meet a cross from Snoddy it looked like he'd scored the killer goal only for the ball to scrape agonisingly over the bar.  The home team pushed on looking to get a goal back  leaving gaps at the back that were eagerly exploited by Howson, Snoddy and Mad Max.  Despite this the game reached the hour mark without any addition to the Leeds total with both Howson and Max guilty of poor final decision making when a goal looked inevitable.  Bristol themselves were now looking the more likely.  The post and crossbar were rattled and even the usually reliable Kasper came flapping for the ball and was grateful for a goal line clearance.  In between he redeemed himself with his usual collection of  super saves.  Somma and McCormack came on for the last 10 minutes and the South African should have added to his remarkable scoring record as he wasted a good shooting chance and then so nearly returned a fluffed clearance from James into an empty net. But the threat from Bristol was muted and yes the last ten minutes were tense but in the end Leeds ran out comfortable winners.  Remarkably we kept a 2nd consecutive clean sheet though I suspect a team with a tad more confidence in front of goal than Bristol would have spoiled that particular statistic.

Overall it was a strong commanding performance without ever reaching the heights of full control.  Snoddy was peerless once again.  If there is a better winger in the country at this moment in time then the Pope is not a catholic. I was impressed with Lee-Hi. he was strong and dependable in defence with good distribution to the forwards...........just what we want at full back and he's got a super long throw. Becchio had a subdued game for the 2nd match running but after his heroics this season he gets my forgiveness.  Killa was in fine form in the middle and Mad Max was always trying to match his fellow winger for invention.  Lord Larry has got the team in just the right frame of mind for the difficult "squeaky bum" period ahead.

The walk back to the station was long and gave plenty of time to replay the match in discussion.  A Bristol fan  suggested Leeds were the best team they had seen this year by a long way...........just as we were discussing how we should be keeping possession better, defending better and finishing better.  We can be slightly over critical at times can't we?  We passed three Leeds fans performing a ritual burning of a Salford Yanks shirt they had bizarrely found in the hedge bottom, best place for them I suppose.  The journey home was a nightmare of slow trains and missed connections that began to resemble a reprise of that classic Steve Martin and John Candy film "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" as we utilised Trains, Shank's pony, Taxis and Buses to finally get home at just after midnight.  Still with three points tucked in the promotion vault and a nice gap opening between the top 6 and the chasing pack it was all worth it...........honest!

Norwich at home next on the agenda.  Now that will be a tasty battle.  Bring it on.
Can't wait.
MOT


Bristol City 0 v 2 Leeds 12/02/2011