Well, I didn’t see that coming! Once again Leeds showed a great improvement on our inconsistent league form to dump a Premier League side out of a cup competition, with Tottenham Hotspur the latest victims on a great afternoon at Elland Road.

And it made a pleasant change to have an excited crowd of almost 30,000 inside the old stadium. The attendance would have been even higher if our friends at the WYP hadn’t insisted on limiting the Spurs allocation and shutting the lower south stand, but at least the club took the opportunity to make a bit of money by draping a huge advert across the empty seats.

Neil Warnock brought Ashdown into the side for his usual stint as our cup goalie, while Becchio was left out to spend more time with his agent, so McCormack could operate as a central striker rather than being wasted on the left. Our illustrious visitors had striker issues of their own, with Adebayor at the African Nations Cup and Defoe injured, with left Clint Dempsey playing as their loan striker.

I had expected Leeds to begin the game at an explosive pace, but Spurs actually enjoyed more of the possession in the early stages. Yet just as I was thinking we needed to get a bit tighter and deny them space, we took the lead in the 15th minute as Spurs produced a slack bit of defending of their own.

Diouf tried to flick on a long ball out of defence but when he failed to make contact it ran through nicely for an unmarked Varney to race down the wing. The defence had stepped up to catch Varney offside and he would have been if Diouf had touched it, but he was free to run through on goal and cut inside to curl the ball into the far corner.

That obviously boosted his confidence, as a few minutes later he tested Friedel with a first time shot after Diouf had played him in, but after that Spurs got back into the game with some neat football. Huddlestone created one opportunity with an excellent piece of skill and Lennon and Bale were finding space on the flanks, so the defence had to be alert to block a couple of goalbound shots.

At the other end McCormack could have doubled our lead just before the break when he turned on the edge of the box and tried to direct a shot past Friedel, but the American managed to stick out a leg to divert the ball to safety. And McCormack had better luck five minutes after the break, with an excellent strike to put Leeds two in front.

Diouf played an excellent ball down the right and McCormack beat the offside trap as he raced past a static defence, before cutting inside the full back to hit an excellent shot into the far corner with his left foot. But it took Spurs only eight minutes to get back into the game, and it was clearly going to be a tense affair if we were to hold on for the win. Bale managed to find space on the left despite Byram’s best efforts and Dempsey directed his header into the far corner.

Soon after McCormack could have restored the two goal advantage when he was set free on the right yet again, but this time the angle was too narrow and Friedel was able to save with his legs once again. After that Tottenham began to crank up the pressure but Leeds showed their determination at the back and got bodies in the way every time.

Their one great chance to save their place in the cup came on 90 minutes when Obika was put through, but Peliter raced back to put in a great last ditch tackle and knock the ball over at the expense of a corner. Their final opportunity came when Michael Brown conceded a free kick by the touchline and Friedel came out of his goal to join the attack, but Leeds scrambled the ball clear.

As it came downfield Austin hammered the ball upfield towards the unguarded net, and despite hitting a balloon on the way it just about had enough power to crawl over the line. In many ways it’s a shame that this didn’t count as a third goal, but the referee had blown for time as soon as the free kick was cleared, so it didn’t matter in the end.

And our reward for all this? A fifth round tie at Man City, the only top club we haven’t met in a cup game in the last couple of years. Keep em coming!

Photo: Action Images

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