At one stage it looked like being another embarrassing defeat on Sky TV, but eventually Leeds came from behind to beat Bradford City. Two of the goals came from new cult hero Ramon Nunez.

Whilst it’s common at this stage of the competition for some clubs to rest their key players, Simon Grayson fielded as team that was as strong as he possibly could from the players available, taking account of injuries and international call-ups. Sam came in for Snodgrass on the right and Nunez replaced Gradel, playing mostly down the left. The other change saw Parker returning at left back in place of O’Dea.

There was a fairly disappointing crowd for this game, only 17,667, which included over 4,000 from Bradford, so the game suffered from a lack of atmosphere for most of the ninety minutes. But at least the away contingent were determined to do a little bit of shouting, and they had plenty to cheer in the first half as they stretched the Leeds defence with a couple of neat passing moves. O’Brien again looked well off the pace and so did Parker, so we can but hope that they will both improve once they get a bit more match-fitness.

A couple of times early on Bradford were a little too keen to get stuck in, especially when Syers followed through and caught Parker when he had no chance of winning the ball. Parker has of course spent more than enough of his career on the treatment table and it’s fortunate that his foot was off the floor when Syers made contact, else he could have suffered yet another injury. Syers was followed into the book by Guy Branston, surely the ugliest player to grace Elland Road for many a long year.

Leeds should have taken the lead when Clayton was sent down the right (and looked well offside) before his cross found Nunez unmarked beyond the far post.  It was the first chance of a busy night for the Honduran maestro, but on this occasion he tried to hit it on the volley and could only send it high over the bar. He had time to take another touch and control it, and really should have done so, as it came to him at a difficult height and slightly behind him. Nunez went closer a few minutes later, and this time his finish was a lot more impressive as he beat a defender and shot from a narrow angle, only to find the side netting.

But Bradford took the lead on 31 minutes as our defence stood back and left them far too much room, with Stewart crossing from the left and an unmarked Compton shooting past Lonegran from ten yards. The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Leeds for a few minutes, although we did have another shot from Nunez just before half time, which was deflected wide by Branston’s ample bonce.

Grayson must have given them a rollicking at half time, because Leeds came out and equalised within 30 seconds of the restart. Sam could have gone down for a penalty when he was challenged on his way into the box, but battled through and found Nunez. Jansson got a hand to the shot and it also hit the bar, but thankfully there was enough pace on the ball to take it over the line. We could have gone in front when Mc.Cormack beat the offside trap, but his finish was rather feeble, and he could only drag it across the face of goal and wide of the far post.

Just when we seemed to be getting on top, Bradford went back in front with an excellent strike from Flynn, though you could say that Parker was again at fault for letting him into a scoring position on the edge of the box. A few minutes later Syers could have doubled their lead, but Lonegran did well to come out and smother the danger. That was the signal for Grayson to make a double change, with Lees and Bromby replacing O’Brien and Connolly. It might have seemed odd to change two defenders when we were chasing the game, but it was necessary to shore things up and prevent us going further behind.

And it worked, with Lees in particular being impressive, so we will have to hope that he gets a game against Boro on Saturday. And it was his pin-point cross from the right that found Mc.Cormack unmarked in the 69^th. minute, and to the great relief of the majority inside Elland Road he headed our second equaliser to get us out of trouble. After that Bradford started to fade, and with Clayton beginning to boss the centre of midfield we could at last begin to assert some control.

And in the 74^th minute we went in front for the first time. A defender (possibly Branston) deflected a cross from Sam was towards his own goal, and although Jansson kept the ball out, he was powerless when it ran on for Nunez to knock it over the line from close range. After that Bradford rarely threatened and Leeds would have gone further in front if Jansson hadn’t made a couple of excellent saves from Mc.Cormack and Clayton.

As we approached the 90^th minute young Charlie Taylor came on for Mc.Cormack, and his debut was extended by five minutes injury time, resulting from a stoppage when Syers had to go off midway through the half. Despite the extra period Leeds held out fairly comfortably, to secure a win that looked unlikely at a couple of stages during the evening. The League Two side will be very pleased with a fine performance, but it’s Leeds who go through to the next round.

Photo: Action Images

Macclesfield Town Polls