Leeds raced to this victory over a poor Tranmere Rovers side, and in the end the win  should have been far more emphatic.

Simon Grayson decided not to change a winning team, as Crowe overcame his injury problems of the last few days and he chose to keep Hughes at left-back instead of playing a specialist in that position. But any possible defensive frailties were never likely to be exposed in this game, as Leeds dominated Tranmere from start to finish.

In the first few minutes Becchio sent Beckford clear, only for Daniels to make a great save to keep him out, then Beckford went even closer, with the ball coming back off the post. But in the fourteenth minute Leeds got the goal that was already long overdue. Howson chipped a cross to the far post, and although Daniels beat out Becchio’s header, it fell kindly for Johnson to fire home from a narrow angle.

And still the chances kept coming, with Daniels making further saves from Beckford and Becchio, before the second goal arrived in the 35^th. minute. Rui sent a long ball forward into the Tranmere half and although Goodison jumped to try to cut it out, but could only head it backwards and into Beckford’s path. The big man raced through to side foot the ball past Daniels (who seemed rooted to the spot) and into the corner of the net.

There was no let up after the interval, and we could have further in front when Beckford hit the underside of the bar, and then even Kisnorbo got in on the act, forcing Daniels into yet another fine save. Then Beckford tried his luck from 30 yards, but hit the woodwork yet again. With ten minutes left Grayson took off Snodgrass and Doyle to give Robinson and Kilkenny a chance, and a few minutes later Beckford was removed from the fray in favour of Grella.

These changes might have indicated that Leeds were just going to coast to victory, but instead we kept up the high tempo and were rewarded with the third goal on 86 minutes. Johnson hit a free kick from 35 yards that came crashing down off the crossbar, but Becchio was on hand to head the ball past Daniels into the net.

There was still time for one more chance when Grella weaved his way through the Tranmere defence, but when his first shot was blocked he could only put the rebound into the side netting. Which was a pity, because one more goal would have put Leeds top of the table, but the players can take pride in putting in an excellent performance for the full ninety minutes.

The only disappointing aspect was the crowd of only 21,692, which was presumably down to Ken’s decision to make this a category ‘A’ game. Tranmere might have been one of the division’s better teams last season, but they’ll hardly be challenging this time under the management of John Barnes! And the Stockport game is also category ‘A’, which really is taking the piss.

Ken must be hoping that if we go top of the league the fans will come back for the top price games, regardless of the opposition. And by the end of the season we might be looking back on this match as the game when it all came together. After four uncertain performances in games we won by the odd goal, this time we could see the confidence flooding back into the team, and surely from here on we can only get better.

Photo: Action Images

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