Leeds get Duffed Up


By Longsider
November 5 2004

Press reports of our victory at Leeds last night. Today we bring you reports from the Mirror, Independent, Guardian and the Times.

LEEDS GET DUFFED UP

Daily Mirror

 

NEIL SULLIVAN and Clarke Carlisle pressed the self-destruct button as struggling Leeds handed Burnley their first win at Elland Road for 30 years.

Kevin Blackwell's outfit have now picked up just six points from their last eight league games.

But they only had themselves to blame as Burnley fought back from Jermaine Wright's 12 second opener to bag the points with goals from Lee Roche and Richard Duffy.

Sullivan and Clarke's cock-up for Roche's strike handed Burnley a lifeline and a series of missed chances by the home side ensured that the visitors ended a winless streak in the league stretching back to September.

Yet Leeds could not have got off to a better start. Matthew Kilgallon's long ball from defence was laid off to Wright by veteran striker Brian Deane. And former Ipswich midfielder Wright beat stand-in keeper Brian Jensen with a right-foot effort from six yards. with just 12 seconds on the clock.

But Leeds defender Carlisle gift-wrapped Burnley the equaliser with a suicidal back-pass on nine minutes.

Keeper Sullivan was caught short by the weak pass and full-back Roche pounced on the loose ball to slot home his first goal of the season.

Despite their nightmare start, Burnley grew in confidence following Roche's equaliser. And Cotterill's side deservedly grabbed the lead on 30 minutes when Duffy struck his first senior goal.

Sullivan had done well to keep out James O'Connor's diving header, but the ball fell to Duffy who sent a left-foot strike in at the far post.

Julian Joachim almost netted a freak equaliser for Leeds three minutes into the second-half when he got in the way of Frank Sinclair's attempted clearance.

The ball rebounded powerfully off the former Aston Villa star and struck the Burnley crossbar and post before bouncing onto the line and out to safety. Leeds continued to the pound the Burnley goal and keeper Jensen was forced to pull off two fine saves to keep out Wright's cross-shot and a close range header from Deane.

But with his side struggling to make the breakthrough, Leeds boss Blackwell handed Michael Ricketts the chance to make himself a hero by throwing the former Bolton hitman on in place of Deane on 55 minutes.

However, Robbie Blake spurned a golden chance to seal the game for Burnley moments later when he sprung the offside trap only to shoot wide from six yards.

 

DUFFY STRIKES AS TAKEOVER TALK ADDS TO LEEDS GLOOM

Independent

The consortium led by Sebastien Sainsbury is expected to complete a £25m takeover of Leeds United within the next few days. For the sake of the West Yorkshire club, it is to be hoped that negotiations are at too advanced a stage for the prospective new owners to abandon the deal after watching this abject defeat to Burnley last night.

Now down to 17th in the Championship just four points clear of the relegation places, Leeds currently look anything but an attractive proposition.

Even the tonic of taking the lead inside 15 seconds failed to inspire a team that has now scored only 12 goals in 16 league games this season.

Burnley's first league victory at Elland Road for over 30 years was rarely in doubt once they went ahead on the half hour as Leeds succumbed to their fourth successive defeat.

Richard Duffy added to Lee Roche's equaliser on 10 minutes and from then on Burnley protected their advantage in parsimonious fashion.

"Our good start lasted exactly 12 seconds," said a furious Kevin Blackwell, the Leeds manager. "We thought it was going to be a cake-walk after that early goal.

"I will not defend the players for an inept performance like that. The goals we gave away were comical. We were poor and I apologise to the fans." Considering the Lancashire club are commonly viewed as possessing the smallest squad in the Championship and were without five first-team regulars, it was a particularly satisfying three points for Steve Cotterill, their manager.

"To come here with the problems we had and win made it a great night," he said. "To manage a side that's won here makes me very proud." Yet it had started so well for Leeds. After just 12 seconds, Mathew Kilgallon's long ball fell into the path of Jermaine Wright and the onrushing midfielder finished comfortably.

Burnley equalised within 10 minutes. Clarke Carlisle and Neil Sullivan contrived to create danger when there was none, enabling Roche to make a block tackle on the goalkeeper before tapping the ball in.

They went ahead when Sullivan's excellent save from James O'Connor fell to Duffy, the on-loan 19-year-old turning the rebound home.

The nearest Leeds came after the break was when Julian Joachim challenged Frank Sinclair and the ball looped against the crossbar and then upright before bobbling away. But for all the home side's possession, the best chance fell to Robbie Blake, who raced clear only to drag his shot wide.

Leeds ended the game with five forwards on the pitch but it made little difference. To the end, Leeds appeared to have no idea how to break down Burnley's unyielding defence.

 

Duffy adds to Leeds suffering

The Guardian

Right now, all the talk at Elland Road is of mooted take-overs, but relegation could soon become the principal subject matter.

Without a win in five games, Kevin Blackwell's steadily sinking young side were out-manoeuvred by an under-strength Burnley and, despite starting well, look poised to endure a harsh winter.

Goodness knows what Sebastian Sainsbury - the public face of one of two rival consortiums aiming to buy Leeds and believed to be here last night - made of it but Blackwell must trust he will not have taken fright.

"We showed contempt for Burnley," said the manager. "We thought it was going to be a cakewalk. I will not defend the players for such an inept performance; I apologise to our magnificent fans.

"But the Elland Road pitch is too big for kids like ours. My squad lacks football knowledge but our trouble is we're still paying out too much money in wages to players no longer playing here and managers no longer managing here. It's a sad indictment of where we have fallen to."

Leeds were ahead after 10 seconds courtesy of Matthew Kilgallon's long ball, flick-ons from Brian Deane and David Healy and Jermaine Wright's dipping right-foot finish.

The equaliser was largely attributable to goalkeeper hesitancy. When Neil Sullivan - put under pressure by Clarke Carlisle's back pass - was challenged by the on-rushing Lee Roche for a loose ball, the Leeds keeper exhibited debilitating uncertainty. Roche pounced on the ball and directed it into the empty net.

Burnley had crossed the Pennines nursing so many injuries that Steve Cotterill feared he might not be able to fill his substitutes' bench. Nevertheless, with Robbie Blake, Tony Grant and John McGreal particularly impressive, they deservedly took the lead.

Once again Sullivan was culpable, failing to hold a header from the unmarked James O'Connor after a Frank Sinclair free-kick and allowing the ball to squirm free as far as Richard Duffy, who slid it low into the net from an acute angle on the left.

With Duffy deployed wide on the left and Roche stationed wide right alternating between supporting Blake and stifling Julian Joachim and Danny Pugh, Cotterill boasted an effective game plan.

Home strategy appeared confined to the boardroom. The Leeds directors are examining £25m offers from an American-backed consortium fronted by Sainsbury and another lodged by a quartet of Yorkshire businessman, as well as exploring the possibility of selling Elland Road and leasing it back. But Blackwell is experiencing unwelcome deja vu.

"I saw all this happen last year and it can have a damaging effect," he said. "Speculation and counter-speculation only serves to eat away at morale. It upsets players and it destroyed us last season. I just wish people would either put up or shut up because I don't want us to have the same scenario."

Watching Blake spurn three viable second-half chances, you saw his point. But Leeds might have claimed a bizarre equaliser when Sinclair's attempted clearance struck Joachim on the head and rebounded off the woodwork.

Indeed, with Michael Ricketts making minimal impact after replacing Deane, such a comedic chain of events represented their sole hope of salvaging a point.

Leeds continue downward slide
Times
THE Arab sheikh, the Ugandan businessman and the Yorkshire haulage magnate sounds like the preamble to a joke, but the fortunes of Leeds United have not raised a smile for almost three years. None of those suitors parted with their money and, although the fallen giant is nearing yet another attempted takeover, the club is in more pressing need of win.

Manchester United fans can afford to be selective, but their Leeds counterparts will take anyone with a piggy bank and a cash card as the slide towards relegation trouble continues.

“I will not pussyfoot around and hide behind bulls*** because the players took liberties tonight,” Kevin Blackwell, the manager, said. “I will not defend them for an inept performance. The challenge at Leeds is too great for kids, but the financial situation has severely hampered me.”

The scale of the change at Leeds is reflected by the fact that Peter Ridsdale’s old office is now a sandwich shop. This habit of making a sow’s ear from a silk purse extended to the team last night as they squandered a lead gained after just 12 seconds. Ten minutes after Jermaine Wright had slid home the opener, Burnley were level. Clarke Carlisle’s back-pass was underhit and Lee Roche brushed aside Neil Sullivan ’s weak challenge to score.

Burnley capitalised on Leeds’s fallibility and forged ahead by the break. Again Sullivan might have done better, parrying James O’Connor’s header into the path of Richard Duffy. “If I was a fan, I’d have booed myself,” Blackwell said.

LEEDS UNITED (4-3-3): N Sullivan — G Kelly, C Carlisle (sub: A Lennon, 67min), P Butler, M Kilgallon — J Wright, S Gregan, D Pugh (sub: S Johnson, 77) — J Joachim, B Deane (sub: M Ricketts, 57), D Healy. Substitutes not used: S Carson, S Walton. Booked: Pugh, Butler.

BURNLEY (4-5-1): B Jenson — M Duff, F Sinclair, J McGreal (sub: A Sanokho, 80), M Camara — L Roche, T Grant, M Hyde, J O’Connor, R Duffy (sub: M O’Neill, 85) — R Blake. Substitutes not used: J Pilkington, P Scott, M Yates. Booked: Sinclair, Duff.

Referee: P Dowd.

 

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