Daily Mail 15/4/07
Heath raises Leeds hopes
Leeds United 1 Burnley 0
By COLIN WOOD
Matt Heath won it by a nose for Leeds to keep alive their hopes of Championship survival, but admitted he had no idea whether he had a long-term future at Elland Road.
The central defender followed partner Lubomir Michalik, who headed a late winner against Plymouth a week earlier. Heath's golden goal came after 21 minutes and he was denied a quick second to make his side and their fans sit more comfortably by an astonishing save from Brian Jensen.
Heath, who Leeds first took him on loan from Coventry in November before signing him in January on a short-term contract to the end of the season, knows it's still going to be tough to get out of the bottom three with two difficult away fixtures at Southampton and Derby and a home game against Ipswich left.
"We need to win the home game and pick up as many points as we can away," he said. "We probably need another away win to be safe and that's what we'll be looking for in the next match at Southampton. I think we can do it - of course, we can.
"It's a little bit frustrating that we're still in the bottom three, but there are four teams now who have concertinaed up. There's just two points between us now. It's a case of holding your nerve.
"Nobody has said anything to me about a new contract. I'm just taking each game as it comes. It doesn't affect me when I'm playing. All I'm looking at is to help keep Leeds United up. We've given ourselves a hell of a chance now. It's just a must that Leeds stay up."
Heath was unlucky not to have scored for his third goal for Leeds with a "perfect" header when he rose to meet a corner from Alan Thompson but he confessed: "I nosed it." The contact drew blood and he played the rest of the match in a shirt that had no name or number on it. "It's a bit sore. I got a bash on it last week and the ball hit it and set it off again," he explained.
"I thought I'd scored a second, but the 'keeper made a great save. I thought it was going in and I was a little bit disappointed because that would have taken some of the pressure off."
Full-back Frazer Richardson was even closer with a 40-yarder that bounced off the top of the bar in a dominant first half for Leeds.
Burnley, however, took control in the second half but created few clear chances and couldn't maintain the momentum from three consecutive victories following their winless run of 19 games stretching back to their success against Leeds at Turf Moor in November.
Burnley manager Steve Cotterill was disappointed to see the end of the recent revival, but was philosophical about it, to the point where he had no complaint about the goal even though he felt goalkeeper Jensen was blocked off. His view is that his own players would do it if they felt they could get away with it.
It was the first goal conceded in five outings since the defeat at Preston almost a month ago. "We said going into the game that we had to head it well because they will stick balls in your box, create havoc and look for the knock-downs," said Cotterill.
"The 'keeper got blocked for the goal, but we could have dealt with it. That's the disappointing part because we have worked hard on set-plays, but it's undone us. We missed out on three headers and one of them has ended up in the back of the net."
Heath raises Leeds hopes
Leeds United 1 Burnley 0
By COLIN WOOD
Matt Heath won it by a nose for Leeds to keep alive their hopes of Championship survival, but admitted he had no idea whether he had a long-term future at Elland Road.
The central defender followed partner Lubomir Michalik, who headed a late winner against Plymouth a week earlier. Heath's golden goal came after 21 minutes and he was denied a quick second to make his side and their fans sit more comfortably by an astonishing save from Brian Jensen.
Heath, who Leeds first took him on loan from Coventry in November before signing him in January on a short-term contract to the end of the season, knows it's still going to be tough to get out of the bottom three with two difficult away fixtures at Southampton and Derby and a home game against Ipswich left.
"We need to win the home game and pick up as many points as we can away," he said. "We probably need another away win to be safe and that's what we'll be looking for in the next match at Southampton. I think we can do it - of course, we can.
"It's a little bit frustrating that we're still in the bottom three, but there are four teams now who have concertinaed up. There's just two points between us now. It's a case of holding your nerve.
"Nobody has said anything to me about a new contract. I'm just taking each game as it comes. It doesn't affect me when I'm playing. All I'm looking at is to help keep Leeds United up. We've given ourselves a hell of a chance now. It's just a must that Leeds stay up."
Heath was unlucky not to have scored for his third goal for Leeds with a "perfect" header when he rose to meet a corner from Alan Thompson but he confessed: "I nosed it." The contact drew blood and he played the rest of the match in a shirt that had no name or number on it. "It's a bit sore. I got a bash on it last week and the ball hit it and set it off again," he explained.
"I thought I'd scored a second, but the 'keeper made a great save. I thought it was going in and I was a little bit disappointed because that would have taken some of the pressure off."
Full-back Frazer Richardson was even closer with a 40-yarder that bounced off the top of the bar in a dominant first half for Leeds.
Burnley, however, took control in the second half but created few clear chances and couldn't maintain the momentum from three consecutive victories following their winless run of 19 games stretching back to their success against Leeds at Turf Moor in November.
Burnley manager Steve Cotterill was disappointed to see the end of the recent revival, but was philosophical about it, to the point where he had no complaint about the goal even though he felt goalkeeper Jensen was blocked off. His view is that his own players would do it if they felt they could get away with it.
It was the first goal conceded in five outings since the defeat at Preston almost a month ago. "We said going into the game that we had to head it well because they will stick balls in your box, create havoc and look for the knock-downs," said Cotterill.
"The 'keeper got blocked for the goal, but we could have dealt with it. That's the disappointing part because we have worked hard on set-plays, but it's undone us. We missed out on three headers and one of them has ended up in the back of the net."