For a while it looked as though Leeds were going to drop a couple of points in our mission to combat the forces of darkness at League HQ, but a late rally saw us claim our third victory in succession.
So many Yorkshire folk have been captivated by our struggle to reach the dizzy heights of nul points that the game produced the day’s largest attendance outside the Premiership, with queues snaking round Elland Road in all directions at 3pm. Of course the problem was that the club could sell tickets by credit card before the day, so a larger portion of the crowd than usual were paying cash on the day and the kick off had to be put back by 15 minutes.
As well as credit card facilities, there were a few other things missing from Elland Road due to the financial crisis. Bet 24 denied me the chance to waste my money on a bet by leaving the betting booth closed, while the scoreboard was switched off throughout the game. And ‘United Fisheries’ failed to open, despite their poster in the window promising great things, so have they gone into administration as well?
There were a couple of changes from the last league game at Tranmere, with Hughes dropping to left back to replace the departed Eddie Lewis, Prutton coming in on the right hand side and Douglas playing in the centre.
I don’t know if anyone was still outside when we opened the scoring in the first couple of minutes, but it came when Beckford was fouled 25 yards from goal. (And not for the last time either, Southend obviously had his card marked as a bit of a threat). As Thompson struck the free kick a couple of Leeds players peeled out of the wall to distract the defence, but the free kick would have beaten the keeper even without their efforts, dipping under the bar and just inside the post.
But Thopmson could have gone from hero to zero a couple of minutes later, when he tried some fancy footwork at the other end of the field and lost the ball to McCormack. We were fortunate that the Southend man’s shot came back off the inside of the post and then bounced across the face of goal rather than going in.
Southend continued to look dangerous at times during the rest of the half, and Casper was forced to make a good save to keep out a shot from Harrold. Beckford could have put Leeds two in front when a defender missed a through ball from Thompson to leave him clean through, but he opted to hit it first time and could only put the ball wide of the post.
Heath also went close, but was denied when the keeper just managed to tip his header over the bar. Just before half-time Westlake went off injured, and Carole came on to play out of position on the left.
During the interval a plane flew overhead with a ‘Bates Out’ message, while a lone protester held up a banner on the Kop, but nobody seemed willing to wave the red cards that had been handed out in the Peacock garden before the game.
Southend continued to have their moments when the game resumed and Casper was forced into a couple of decent saves, while Kandol headed just wide from a great cross from Prutton. But with 20 minutes left Southend grabbed the equaliser they just about deserved through their share of possession. They by-passed the right hand side of our defence, and although Casper got down well to save from Bradbury, he was left helpless while Barrett kneed the rebound up to comfortable height to head home.
At that stage I thought we would be held to a draw, but I had reckoned without our now customary storming finish. Hughes limped off to be replaced by Parker, and we went close again when Flavahan beat Beckford to a through ball from Prutton and a defender got in the way of Kandol’s header from the rebound.
Then with ten minutes left Prutton was taken off (after a generally disappointing debut, with most of his passing off-target) with Carole switching to his best position on the right and Flo coming on as an extra striker. And these changes bore fruit four minutes from time when Carole put in a great cross and when a defender intercepted to keep it out of Kandol’s reach, the ball fell kindly for an unmarked Flo, who hammered the ball into the roof of the net.
And at the end of normal time, Rui got to a Carole corner to flick a delightful back-header over the keeper, which dropped just under the bar. And as we moved into injury time Leeds produced a fourth goal. Kandol barged into a defender as they both jumped for Casper’s long ball down the middle, but the ref allowed play to continue as it ran on for Beckford, who hammered the ball under the keeper’s body.
Of the seven goals we have scored in the three games so far, no fewer than five have come in the last ten minutes, so it could be that Wise’s fitness regime is starting to bear fruit. If it hadn’t been for the points deduction we would now be top of League 2 after two games, as it is we are still nine points adrift at the bottom. Such is life.