Jamaican star sends yapping Terriers back down the A62 empty handed.
Whilst it has definitely been a case of in with the new, 15 new signings to be precise, it was a Neil Warnock signing who stood out in the latest West Yorkshire derby.
Rudy Austin finally got back to his beastly best with a powerhouse midfield performance which was influential in destroying timid Town, Leeds could even afford the luxury of finishing the game with 10-men as Gaetano Berardi saw red for the second time this season.
The atmosphere built up quite nicely, although Huddersfield did not bring as many fans as they'd normally do. I understand that there was a boycott due to the ticket prices at Elland Road. Wearing a kit that looked a bit like the classic QPR away colours of red and black hoops, they were skippered by our former captain Lee Peltier who was roundly booed from the word go.
Sky Sports' Jim White was in attendance doing promotional work on behalf of the Football League's sponsors and whilst initially the crowd were a bit cynical of his attendance and semi-manic ranting down the mic he won over the sceptics by perhaps over praising the club much to the disgust of those travelling from Kirklees.
Those travellers in the west stand would have been highly unimpressed when Leeds turned a pulsating start into a deserved lead on 19 minutes. Austin was at his rampaging and marauding best following good work by Mirco Antenucci. Joel Lynch'a feeble clearance was gobbled up by the Jamaican who powered home a lifting drive beyond Smithies reach to nudge us on front.
Although Huddersfield had a fair bit of possession, Silvestre was rarely troubled in the Leeds goal however I felt we needed the cushion of a second goal and it came in first half stoppage time. Centre-back Bellusci, who opened his Leeds account midweek at Bournemouth clearly had a rush of blood to try for his second surging forward and chipping the ball over the head of Smithies, alas it clipped the bar but Antenucci was on hand to slam the rebound into the back of the net.
Antenucci was a joy to watch, I must admit I raised an eyebrow given his age and fee we paid for him but he looks an assured signing, comfortable on the ball with both feet, great positional sense and he tugged and tore Peltier and his hapless colleagues apart.
The emergence of Antenucci and Souleymane Doukara meant caretaker boss Neil Redfearn could afford to rest Billy Sharp and it was Doukara who got his fourth of the season and Leeds third on 69 minutes, moments earlier Smithies denied the big striker who was fed through by Austin but Rudy repeated the gesture and from an acute angle finished on front of the Kop and ripped his shirt off in joy leaving referee Chris Foy, waiting for the Frenchman to finish shaking hands and hugging random patrons in the Kop no option to book him.
I felt Foy, who seemed reluctant to give us anything free-kick wise as well as missing three hand-ball incidents in the penalty area, also had little option but to give Berardi a second yellow following a crunching tackle on a Town player. This is the second time the Swiss right-back has been dismissed in his short spell at Elland Road having been red-carded against Accrington Stanley in the League Cup.
However it was a minor inconvenience, other than a dipping drive from sub Danny Ward, Leeds didn't look vulnerable a man-down and might have added a fourth had Antenucci's rolling drive hadn't been turned onto the post by Smithies.
Nearly 8 months have passed since that emotion charged dramatic 5-1 win over the same opponents whereby Massimo Cellino was bundled into a taxi which barely had enough fuel in it to make the M621, as the East Stand emptied there was a sudden surge towards the central exit as it was rumoured Cellino had made a cameo appearance in the "cheap seats", a far cry from the angry mob who were baying for his blood due to the treatment of Brian McDermott the last time Town were comfortably sent packing.
Cellino appears to be on the cusp of appointing Slovenian Darko Milanic as our new head coach, fluent in 5 languages, at present the coach of Austria Sturm Graz following a glittering spell with Maribor, however I want Redfearn to continue the great work he has done this past month. It was nice to hear the crowd roar their appreciation for Redders, who clearly has the respect of the players so why not hang-fire appointing Hockaday's successor for now
Massimo?