By Andy Baggott
January 4 2005

Leeds rounded off a hugely successful festive period with a 2-1 victory over Coventry at Highfield Road. The win made it 3 wins out of 4 for Kevin Blackwell’s men, and with Butler, Kelly, Bakke and Johnson all to come back soon, things are looking a little brighter for the men from Elland Road. The first half was a scrappy affair – which suited Leeds better. Coventry struggled to break Leeds down, whilst the visitors looked comfortable soaking up the early pressure. Once the home side were subdues, Leeds pushed forward, and won a succession of corners. From one of them, Lennon and Wright combined to cross, Carlisle headed down, and Blake did well to rifle into the top corner from around the penalty spot. Leeds continued to look the most likely to score, and ex Leeds boss Peter Reid must have been happy to get his men in at half time. The second half though saw more of the same. Midway through Jermaine Wright played a good ball to Healy on the left. He moved forward, cut inside, and curled a lovely shot into the far bottom corner to put Leeds 2 up. It was a moment of class from the former Preston man – something the Leeds fans are beginning to get used to. Leeds still looked in control, and in youngster Aaron Lennon, had a real outlet. I have been watching the winger since he was 13, some 4 years ago, and he has a real talent. He has quick feet, is lightening fast, and works hard. A little more experience, and some filling out, should see him become a real star before long. It’s no coincidence that Lennon’s first start was 4 games ago – the same time that we have had an upturn in fortunes. He continued to push the Coventry defence back, whilst Healy on the other side was proving to e one of the signings of the season.
It was not all plain sailing though – Coventry got a consolation with 8 minutes to go, John chested down a free kick, and Mcsheffery rocketed the ball home. Minutes later, it got worse as Clarke Carlise was dismissed for his second yellow. Skipper for the day Gregan went to centre half, and did well, as Leeds held out for a deserved win, as the Coventry faithful made their feelings known at the final whistle with chants of ‘Reid Out’