Leeds United 1 Hereford United 0

For all our possession we didn’t create all that many outstanding chances, but we finally managed to beat Hereford through Robinson’s goal in the 72^nd. minute.

Gary Mc.Allister made two changes from the team who started the last league game at Carlisle, the first being Robinson coming in to replace Hughes. I expected him to play on the right, but in fact he popped up all over the field and sometimes worked down the left, looking as if he felt a bit miffed at being left out for a couple of games.

The other change was Howson coming into midfield at the expense of Kilkenny. I thought that playing Howson and Delph together might leave us a bit lightweight in the centre, but Douglas worked hard just behind them and stuck to the things he does well, getting some good tackles in and breaking up Hereford’s play.

From the start Leeds were dominant in terms of possession, but at times it was all too similar to the Bristol Rovers game last month, being content to pass the ball around against opponents content to sit deep, when occasionally we could do with a more direct approach to shake them up a bit. And again we were wasting Beckford out on the left, leaving Bechhio isolated in front of goal. If Macca doesn’t want to play two specialist wingers, perhaps he could try the left-footed Delph down that side.

The best chance in the first half came when Aidan White jinked past a couple of defenders on his way into the box before shooting from a narrow angle, but Randolph did well to get down and turn the ball round the post. Just before the break we had another good opportunity when Frazer’s cross found Becchio about five yards out, but although it was from virtually point blank range the keeper managed to get into position to smother his shot. Much to my frustration, as I’d backed Becchio for the first goal at 7/2.

Though we got plenty of shots on goal before the break, too many were lacking in power and directed straight at the keeper. I hope the rest of this report is OK, but I was sitting right behind the goal in the south stand, so I didn’t get a great view of play when the play was the other end during the second half, as I had to squint through the net, with the crossbar in the way whenever I had to stand up. So if I’m about to write garbage, that’s my excuse.

Leeds seemed to up the tempo and several good chances fell to Beckford, but he clipped the post and was denied on a couple of other occasions by that man Randolph. I was shocked when I glanced down at my watch and saw there were less than 20 minutes to go, so maybe it was going to be just one of those days. But finally we managed to get the breakthrough in the 72^nd. minute.

Delph’s long ball set Beckford away down the left, and Becchio stretched to get onto the end of his cross, only to find it palmed away yet again by Randolph. But this time the rebound fell kindly for Leeds, with Robinson rushing into the area to head home. Beckford could have sealed it a few minutes later when he was put clean through on goal, but he put his first shot straight at the keeper, and Randolph recovered brilliantly to complete the double save from the rebound.

Even then Leeds could have thrown it away, as Hereford put us under a bit of pressure in the last few minutes. Rui made a good interception to deny Done in the 84^th. minute, and I thought their last chance had gone when Done hilariously fell over when he had the chance to cross at the end of a promising move. But their best opportunity was to come right at the end, when Ashikodi should have scored but could only send the ball narrowly wide.

So in the end it was a relief when the final whistle sounded, as we’d held on for a win we deserved, but in a game when we could have dropped points. The win should have been more convincing, but the Hereford keeper had an excellent game, and on this evidence I’d say they are too good to finish bottom. Still, that’s now four consecutive wins, and we’re now just one point off the top. Bring on Peterborough!

Photo: Action Images

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