Yorkshire Evening Post 28/10/09
Becks brace puts Whites clear at top
By Phil Hay
Serious about being champions? As if there was any doubt. Back on the wagon after three days of reflection, Leeds United have not dithered over the answer to that question.
It required a response, if for no other reason than the question was posed by one of their own. Michael Doyle's analysis of last night's game at Bristol Rovers, 72 hours after Leeds' first league defeat of the season, was to view it as an examination of how capable the club were of not merely heading their division but of winning it. Very, came the reply.

Leeds were entitled to explain their loss to Millwall on Saturday as a blip on an upwards trajectory – precisely what it is with 14 matches played – but a similarly poor result in Bristol would have given rise to the thought that United were faltering in a month when five of nine available points had already been dropped.

Doyle spotted that scepticism hiding around the corner and knew how best to negate it. "People are going to love the fact that we've been beaten," he said. "There's a point to be made now." Four unanswered goals at the Memorial Stadium made it perfectly.

The Irishman it was who created United's first in the ninth minute and helped nip a single result in the bud before it had the chance to become a streak. When Grayson said on Saturday that he was delighted to be talking about a first league defeat of the season with November coming into view, he was not putting on a brave face. He was rather considering the possibility that Leeds might stand four points clear of the rest of their division this morning.

When Sam Vokes added to Jermaine Beckford's ninth-minute goal early in the second half, that immediate target was realised, though not before Beckford and Tresor Kandol plugged the Pirates for a third and fourth time. Leeds were free to journey home with the feeling that six points gained from three recent games against clubs with ambitions as high as theirs might be more than an acceptable return.

United are no longer unbeaten but they are, conversely, more secure in their leadership than they were before Norwich City came to Elland Road last Monday. So trusting was their manager that he did not feel it necessary to take retribution for the adverse result at the New Den.

Grayson is scarcely renowned for changing his line-up at the best of times, and Saturday's defeat did not break that philosophy either. All 11 players fielded in Bermondsey were used again last night, every one of them avoiding what might have been viewed as inevitable consequences of Leeds' first loss of the league term.

A hint at that continuity came from Grayson's demeanour at Millwall and his apparent satisfaction with the performance of his players at the weekend. The defeat, however, begged the question of how tempted he would be to rethink his line-up. "I thought about it," he admitted, "but I made the right decision."

The worry beforehand was, in any case, as much Paul Trollope's as his, fresh from three successive defeats and a sharp reality check. Rovers have struggled to sustain the sharp pace they picked up at the start of the season, and Grayson had the assurance of realising that last night's opposition were not in particularly fine shape.

Another thrashing will hardly help.

The vote of confidence he applied to his own players was vindicated inside nine minutes by the simplest of goals, created by a delicate through-ball from Doyle and claimed with finish which bore Beckford's hallmark.

Doyle's pass from a benign position split Rovers' defence and rolled to Beckford inside the box.

The striker's first touch was sound enough to tee up a shot across Mikkel Andersen and into the goalkeeper's net with the help of his right-hand post. So quickly was the goal conceived that three-quarters of the stadium echoed with shocked silence.

If it seemed then that the night would be United's, the events of the 22nd minute, when Stuart Campbell struck the crossbar, did not dispel that mood.

The midfielder struck a speculative volley at Casper Ankergren and looked on as the Danish keeper misjudged the ball, allowing it to slip beneath his arms and ricochet off the turf before striking the underside of the bar.

Andy Woolmer, the referee, took a long look as the ball bounced down onto the goalline and, without any useful assistance from his linesman, he let the game continue. Those close enough to see implied that Leeds had dodged a bullet and a clear goal.

That was the first half in a nutshell, without recanting the countless fouls and debatable decisions that disrupted the flow of the game.

Steve Elliott was booked for pulling Beckford's shirt in the first minute and Doyle received a caution towards the end of the half after catching the ankles of Jeff Hughes. With the exception of Ankergren's moment of suspect concentration, Rovers teased little in the way of space or chances out of Leeds' watertight defence.

Ankergren's error, however, was no more severe than Andersen's failure to collect Bradley Johnson's cross in the first minute of injury-time.

His mis-timed jump knocked the ball to Beckford's feet but the striker was not expecting such charity and could not hold his balance for long enough to turn it into the net.

A goal in those circumstances would have been fortuitous. Vokes' strike 10 minutes into the second half was sublime. Beckford sparked panic in Rovers' defence with a clever pass to Robert Snodgrass who rampaged towards goal and generously laid the ball off to Vokes six yards from goal.

A striker of Premier League stock could not have asked for a simpler chance.

With that finish and the match sown up, United's confident swagger returned, apparent in a way that it has not been since Gillingham were routed at Elland Road last month. Their penultimate goal oozed as much quality as their second, created by a long ball from Jonathan Howson that set Beckford's pace and skill against that of Byron Anthony.

The full-back attempted to contain the striker but was wrong-footed by Beckford's quick feet. Andersen could only dive helplessly as Beckford curled a shot to his left, a finish of enough brilliance to draw polite applause from the home crowd.

Not for the first time, Rovers were at risk of a severe flogging and Tresor Kandol lashed them again by converting Max Gradel's cross in the 87th minute, almost his first touch.

With the final throes upon them, Leeds were happy with their lot, a phrase which could be applied to the club's season.

In amongst so many good results, last night's stood out.

Some would call it the mark of champions.


Leedsunited.com 26/10/09
GRAYSON - MILLWALL WASN'T MEANT TO BE
Leeds United manager Simon Grayson reflected on his side's first league defeat of the season by admitting: "Saturday just wasn't our day."
The unbeaten league start came to an end with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of old rivals Millwall after Gary Alexander scored a late winner for the home side.
Paddy Kisnorbo had cancelled out an early goal from Neil Harris, but it was Millwall, our Play-Off conquerors last season, who emerged victorious from a tight contest.
"I was disappointed because the game was finely balanced," said the Leeds boss.
"We'd gone 12 unbeaten before Saturday and we'd have taken that run, but it was disappointing that we were undone by two balls into the box.
"I felt we were well and truly in the game. They were hard working and organised, but we created some decent chances and both sides had some half-chances.
"It was end to end and there was some decent football, but unfortunately we came out on the wrong end."
With the score locked at 1-1 at half-time, Grayson felt his side could go on and win the game in the second period, but it was Millwall who enjoyed the best spell of the game late on and were rewarded with the winning goal.
"I thought we could win the game at half-time," said the Leeds boss. "We kept it tight for a long period which we had to do and I didn't feel we would be too far away.
"It's a fine balance sometimes. We had one off the bar and one cleared off the line, but it wasn't our day.
"We huffed and puffed, and there were half-chances. It was the same both ways. It was finely balanced and one ball into the box and a good header and we've lost the game.
"Sometimes you look at the opposition. Maybe we could have defended better, but give them credit.
"Our tempo was decent, but our decison making at times wasn't."
The United boss could have felt justified in complaining about Millwall's opener which appeared to come after a push on defender Andrew Hughes, but Grayson was loathe to point any fingers.
"I don't think the ref could see the push," he said. "It's clever forward play. These things happen.
"Paddy felt we had a penalty shout as well when there was a shirt pulled, but I don't go on about decisions because you accept over a season your quality will see where you want to be.
"We didn't get the breaks on Saturday, we have no complaints after the start of the season we've had.
"It's the first time we've lost and that's credit to the players. We move on though and get ready for Bristol Rovers."

Yorkshire Evening Post 26/10/09
Den of gloom strikes again
By Phil Hay
Millwall 2 Leeds United 1
Thirteenth time unlucky, so perhaps it was fated. Typical, certainly, that Millwall of all teams should have the satisfaction of chalking the first stroke in Leeds United's column of league defeats.
Incentives are not necessary when Millwall's guests for the day are arriving from Elland Road – "I can't wait for the game to start," wrote their captain, Paul Robinson, in his programme column – and the unbeaten record that Leeds waved in front of them was the sporting equivalent of a red rag to a bull.
For 12 consecutive league matches, reaching back to August 8 and the first day of the season, United maintained a level of resilience that no other English club were capable of, but it went without saying that the trend would be bucked eventually. Were he a betting man, Simon Grayson would not have looked far beyond the New Den for the likely location of Leeds' first loss.
As a venue, Millwall's stadium is beginning to niggle at United for more reasons than simply the inhospitable aura it prides itself on. Twice before in the past 12 months Leeds have visited the New Den and twice they have been beaten, each result a fair reflection of the 90 minutes that went before. Saturday was no different.
Grayson claimed after full-time that his players were better than the scoreline, a case of "two decent teams having a decent go at each other", but United's manager was swimming against the general consensus which said that Millwall had deserved to win. Where Norwich City failed a week ago, Kenny Jackett's players chipped away with enough persistence to realise the victory that 12 other League One clubs were unable to achieve.
United's squad lack the time for serious reflection on the outcome in Bermondsey – their relentless season continues at Bristol Rovers tomorrow night in another game drawn from the division's top drawer – and the speed of the turnaround may serve them well.
The club's afternoon at Millwall was not one to dwell on, nor was Grayson in any mood to allow it to detract from the sublime results he has basked in this season.
In their performance, though, were elements of uncharacteristic weakness. Two cheap goals, conceded to free headers 10 yards from goal; a tentative attacking line that flourished only when the game was lost; and a midfield that lacked the authority and cohesion to pin Millwall down as it had against Norwich.
The header from Gary Alexander that separated the teams on 83 minutes had been on the cards for some time.
They are critical observations of a collection of players who have been largely above criticism this season. For that reason alone, Grayson must have slept soundly enough on Saturday night. One point clear at the top of their division with a game in hand, the club's advantage over Charlton Athletic could grow to four by tomorrow evening. Jackett would gladly trade places.
It was Millwall's manager who dictated the crucial half-hour of Saturday's game by involving Alexander as a substitute with 60 minutes played, an astute decision made at the appropriate time.
Prior to that, Jackett had watched with increasing concern as the control his team were exerting amounted to no more than badly-missed chances.
Alexander's introduction in place of the sluggish Steve Morison gave Millwall a more bullish streak, provided by a player whose appetite for Saturday's game seemed as ripe as the crowd's. His close-range header met the expectations of the biggest turn-out at the New Den for around five years.
The atmosphere instilled by an attendance in excess of 14,000 was typical of the New Den, though nothing that Grayson's players have not seen before.
What seems now to be an obligatory Turkish flag was flown provocatively to the left of the visiting end before kick-off and an indistinguishable object was thrown at Casper Ankergren early in the first half. The incidents were isolated and the flag was quickly confiscated by a diligent steward; Millwall as a club are nothing if not proactive when addressing problems associated with their supporters.
For Leeds, the opportunity to deflate the crowd was not even offered to them.
With three minutes gone, Richard Naylor bundled Neil Harris to the ground 10 yards outside United's box and invited Chris Hackett to test the organisation of Grayson's defence with a hanging free-kick.
The instinct of United's players should have been to smother Harris, a player who scored three times against Leeds last season, but space opened around the striker as Hackett's set-piece glided towards the penalty spot.
Grayson argued later that Harris' marker, Andrew Hughes, had been slyly nudged in the back and replays supported him, but Mark Clattenburg – by some distance the best referee that Leeds have played under this season – saw nothing. Harris saw only a glorious chance and nodded it gleefully to Ankergren's right.
As United's manager admitted, it was a woeful start and an unusual position for Leeds to find themselves in. Cowed they were not. Eight minutes later, Patrick Kisnorbo met Robert Snodgrass' corner with a header which Jimmy Abdou could only block on the line, leaving Kisnorbo to crash the rebound into David Forde's net.
An improvised save from Forde had dealt with a looping shot from Jonathan Howson in the attack which preceded the corner and Grayson might have hoped that his players had gained the measure of Millwall's defence.
Only one further chance followed before the end of the first half, a half-hit effort from Sam Vokes that Forde parried. Vokes was otherwise peripheral, tightly marked by Jackett's defence and lacking a clear understanding with Beckford. After one previous game together, their partnership was always likely to have its flaws.
Beckford’s freedom was equally limited and on the one occasion when his pace took him beyond Millwall’s centre-backs early in the second half, Robinson pulled his shirt cynically and received a yellow card. Had keeper Forde not already run out to gather the ball on the edge of his box, Clattenburg would have thought seriously about dismissing Jackett’s captain.
Soon, however, Millwall’s opportunities were mounting. Morison headed weakly at Ankergren after meeting Marc Laird’s cross and Tony Craig’s far-post finish was a dismal waste of a perfect delivery from Danny Schofield, bouncing wide.

Composed
Former Huddersfield Town midfielder Schofield was no less culpable when Alexander worked himself into space on the right wing and cut the ball back to Schofield’s feet, inviting a more composed finish than the shot which swung away from Ankergren’s goal and disappeared into the stand behind.
Grayson was encouraged to send on Tresor Kandol and then Max Gradel, a repeat of the substitutions that masterminded Leeds’ injury-time victory over Norwich, but they were beaten to the punch by Alexander. With 83 minutes gone, Gradel lost his footing as Jack Smith attacked the left wing and he teed up Schofield for a cross that Alexander anticipated before any of Grayson’s defenders and nodded into the net.
If United’s pride was dented by the situation that stared them in the face with seven minutes to play, it showed in their reaction.
A deflection off Kandol’s body was cleared from Millwall’s goalline by Laird and a vicious shot from the striker shook Forde’s crossbar in injury-time.
In those anxious moments, United fought with the air of a team whose season depended on the result. Two outstanding months have ensured that it does not.

Times 26/10/09
Gary Alexander puts Millwall back in touch
Millwall 2 Leeds United 1
Dean Jones, The New Den
Gary Alexander, the Millwall forward, has promotion in his sights after ending Leeds United’s record as the only remaining unbeaten side in the country.
Alexander, who steered home a headed winner seven minutes from time, now believes that the South London side can produce a run of form that will help them to cause more agony for Simon Grayson, the Leeds manager.
“Talk that Leeds and Charlton are running away with it [the league title] is premature,” Alexander said after his first league goal of the campaign. “It’s still tight up there and it doesn’t take long to climb this division. So it’s not over by a long shot.”
Leeds must hate travelling to this part of London because it was here that they suffered their previous defeat. That came in last season’s play-off semi-finals, and 14,165 fans, the biggest crowd at The New Den since November 2004, witnessed this success for Millwall.
There is always a threat of violence when these opponents meet, too, and despite an intimidating atmosphere it passed without any big incident. In the first half an object appeared to be thrown in the direction of Casper Ankergren, the Leeds goalkeeper, and late in the game two seats were thrown on to the field from the visitors’ section. However, the huge police presence ensured that the real action was kept for the game itself.
Neil Harris, the forward, scored his tenth goal of the season for Millwall after only three minutes when he turned home a cross by Chris Hackett from the left flank. Patrick Kisnorbo, the Leeds defender, equalised soon afterwards, however, ramming home from close range after Jimmy Abdou had blocked his initial effort.
Millwall dominated the second half and Alexander’s goal, after coming on as a substitute, was no less than they deserved. “We’re their bogey team, and to turn them over is a brilliant feeling,” he said.
Leeds go to Bristol Rovers tomorrow when Grayson will discover how his side respond to adversity. “I’ve a lot of confidence in these players,” he said. “We need to go on another 12-match unbeaten run.”

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