Yorkshire Evening Post 3/10/11
Whites silence the Pompey chimes
By Phil Hay
In the wake of Leeds United’s draw at Brighton, Simon Grayson pleaded in desperation for a plain and overdue 1-0 win. Here it was eight days later, earned by Danny Pugh’s early goal and the will to withstand the tenacity of Portsmouth.
So basic had Grayson’s request been that entertainment was not even part of the bargain. “I wouldn’t mind being boring from time-to-time,” he said, reflecting on a game against the Seagulls which was drama personified. His players disregarded that comment and wore Pompey down with their usual flair before edging over the line in an anxious second half.
Pugh’s clinical header was all United’s pressure would yield but it mattered not while the opposition remained goalless. After 12 games and two months of waiting, Grayson has a clean sheet to savour and a viable defensive line to cling to during a fortnight-long break for international fixtures. In that respect, United’s victory over their Fratton Park rivals was perfect.
It depended firstly on a precise finish from Pugh in the 14th minute, showing the nose for goal which saw the midfielder strike six times in his first season with Leeds, and latterly on resistance in which United’s defence broke a trend by playing a consummate part.
The crossbar aided them before the half-hour, and goalkeeper Andy Lonergan did likewise more than once, but credit was widely shared. Portsmouth felt aggrieved, as well they might, as their manager, Steve Cotterill, bemoaned his team’s failure to make anything of the first half.
Leeds’ victory completed what in Grayson’s mind is a productive, helpful passage of matches, worth 10 points from the 12 on offer between the season’s first international break and its second. Home games against Crystal Palace, Bristol City and Portsmouth looked eminently winnable, and Pompey were the least ambitious of the recent visitors to Elland Road. With their Zimbabwe international, Benjani, isolated up front, the wisdom in pushing the pace of the match was obvious and Leeds did not hold back before the interval.
The factor that neither Grayson nor Cotterill could pre-empt was the heat of the sun, climbing to around 30 degrees on the first day of October.
United’s groundstaff hardly expected to be scraping snow from the pitch this early in the season but the temperature was unprecedented and a burden on the energy of the players involved. “They looked fresher than us,” said Cotterill said after his side’s third game in eight days.
Grayson’s own squad had been given a clear week of preparation after the postponement of their game at Birmingham City, and United’s boss used the time to “iron out a few problems”. One in particular stood out, and the movement in Grayson’s defence was novel: Tom Lees appearing in a central role for the first time, 24 hours after signing a new contract, and Paul Connolly resuming his duties at right-back.
Lees’ selection was, in a sense, the last throw of the dice, utilising the one remaining centre-back who had not been employed in his preferred position. Grayson will not be inclined to look back.
The presence of two wingers and one forward in Portsmouth’s team promised more trouble down either flank than it did through the middle of United’s defence but, for the best part of half an hour, Leeds experienced problems in neither area as the game played out at their chosen pace.
Adam Clayton engaged the crowd with neat touches in the centre of midfield and Ross McCormack’s enthusiastic attitude was that of a striker with nine goals on his record. A 10th eluded him in the 14th minute when Greg Halford’s leg prevented McCormack from lashing Robert Snodgrass’ cut-back into the net.
Deflected
The chance was reminiscent of McCormack’s injury-time equaliser at Brighton and narrowly resisted by Portsmouth’s defence. Their organisation crumbled again, however, when Pugh met the resulting corner with a firm header which found the corner of Stephen Henderson’s net.
Lax marking has been one of Grayson’s regular curses and Cotterill had a bone to pick with Halford, who failed to follow Pugh’s well-timed run. The visiting boss stood hands-on-hips, looking suitably unimpressed.
The opening goal began a concerted onslaught in which Snodgrass tied Bjorn Helge Risse in knots and rattled a shot beyond Henderson’s far post, and Jason Pearce deflected Pugh’s strike behind. At the other end of the pitch, Benjani grasped for a touch of the ball under the watch of a pro-active Lees.
But when Portsmouth found a path to Lonergan, the disorder which followed was typical of Leeds, lacking only the gift of a concession. Halford’s header from a Liam Lawrence free-kick found Lonergan waiting to react with an excellent one-handed save, and Halford met a second cross with another header which crashed against the bar as Jonathan Howson tried to cover his line. Grayson has come to expect the worst from moments like those.
On this occasion his players were worth their luck. Two minutes later, normal service resumed with Hayden Mullins hacking the ball over Henderson’s bar after McCormack anticipated Snodgrass’ quick free-kick and steered a pass into the six-yard box. The balance of play allowed Connolly to press relentlessly on the right wing, paired with a catalyst in Snodgrass who, trick by trick, is starting to resemble his usual self.
Lonergan saw off the final chance of the first half by punching away Halford’s free-kick after Lees flattened Lawrence but Cotterill saw the need for a change at the break and replaced the anonymous Risse with the tall frame of Nwanko Kanu, now 35 and a veritable wild card. It had the desired effect.
David Norris failed to beat Lonergan by no more than a yard when Lawrence’s cross curled in behind Lees in the 49th minute, and Kanu’s first act was to wrong-foot Clayton and dink a cross towards Benjani who could not get his head to the ball. Already United’s players were sinking deeper towards their own goal, as if in anticipation of pressure to come. Aidan White’s sliding tackle blunted another attack led by Lawrence, and Pearce should have done more with a 70th-minute opportunity than glance it wide with a wayward header. Joel Ward might also have scored when he appeared inside United’s box and flashed Halford’s through-ball over Lonergan and the bar, and Grayson attempted to quell the tension with three quick substitutions.
The appearance of two strikers, Luciano Becchio and Mikael Forssell, was not an obvious means of closing the door, but it took a fine save from Henderson to prevent Forssell from putting the result beyond doubt after Becchio played him in. With a minute remaining and the crowd baying for the final whistle, even Connolly was found sprinting up the right wing, the Leeds United way. “It’s not in our nature to be negative,” Grayson said. “But we were professional with it.”

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