Leeds draw on Healy heroics
Leeds Utd 3 - 3 Brighton
Spencer Vignes at Elland Road Sunday September 11, 2005
The Observer
Kevin Blackwell knows a thing or two about managing with the bare bones. So when the Leeds boss describes Mark McGhee's job as 'difficult beyond belief' you tend to believe him.
'Brighton have got to take their hat off to Mark because you hate to think where they would be without him,' said Blackwell, who took over a club with debts of around £120 million when he came to Leeds last summer.
'It must be so frustrating because he knows what he wants to do, and how to do it, but he can't actually go ahead and do it because of the situation the club is in.'
It certainly can't be easy being McGhee, forced to sell his best players to fund Albion's long-running campaign for a new stadium on the outskirts of Brighton at Falmer.
Survival should be the name of the game. Yet despite everything the Scot has built a tidy side capable on their day of matching just about anything their Championship rivals can throw at them. Yesterday was one of those days.
Having weathered an early storm in which man of the moment David Healy was twice denied by Wayne Henderson and Rob Hulse hit the crossbar, Brighton went on to give a demonstration of why they can be such awkward opponents.
Jake Robinson had twice gone close by the time he received Henderson's long-throw on the right in the 28th minute. Two passes later and the ball was in the Leeds net, Seb Carole's low cross being swept home by the diminutive yet tireless Leon Knight.
The half-time score could well have been worse for the Yorkshiremen had Dean Hammond's header seven minutes from the break gone in instead of bouncing to safety off the crossbar.
A first home defeat of the season for Leeds looked a certainty when Knight played provider for Carole to fire Brighton two ahead after 51 minutes.
Yet Blackwell's side showed guts to fight back with two goals from close range within the space of five second-half minutes from who else but Healy, given a standing ovation by the home crowd on taking the field following his midweek exploits for Northern Ireland against England.
The first goal came courtesy of a pinpoint cross by Gary Kelly, one of only two players inherited by Blackwell last summer.
The second arrived when Brighton's defence failed to clear a high ball, allowing substitute Richard Cresswell to set up the new darling of Elland Road and Windsor Park with a downward header.
Far from content to hang on for a point, McGhee's men kept pressing and were rewarded with a third when Knight's cross from the right saw Sean Gregan slide the ball into his own net under pressure from Robinson.
'Harding, Harding what's the score?' sang the away fans, a dig at the Leeds and England Under 21 left-back Dan Harding who was one of McGhee's sales to balance the books over the summer. It was a lead Albion held until the second minute of injury time when substitute Jonathan Douglas gleefully rammed home a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble.
McGhee, who admitted a draw was a fair result, said: 'We could have nicked a win and it's a bit disappointing that we didn't. But it's a measure of how far this whole squad has come that we can come to somewhere like Leeds and be disappointed with a draw.
'You score three goals away from home and you expect to win. But give Leeds credit. They came back at us well and Healy was always a handful.' Man of the Match: Leon Knight - never stopped running.
Leeds Utd 3 - 3 Brighton
Spencer Vignes at Elland Road Sunday September 11, 2005
The Observer
Kevin Blackwell knows a thing or two about managing with the bare bones. So when the Leeds boss describes Mark McGhee's job as 'difficult beyond belief' you tend to believe him.
'Brighton have got to take their hat off to Mark because you hate to think where they would be without him,' said Blackwell, who took over a club with debts of around £120 million when he came to Leeds last summer.
'It must be so frustrating because he knows what he wants to do, and how to do it, but he can't actually go ahead and do it because of the situation the club is in.'
It certainly can't be easy being McGhee, forced to sell his best players to fund Albion's long-running campaign for a new stadium on the outskirts of Brighton at Falmer.
Survival should be the name of the game. Yet despite everything the Scot has built a tidy side capable on their day of matching just about anything their Championship rivals can throw at them. Yesterday was one of those days.
Having weathered an early storm in which man of the moment David Healy was twice denied by Wayne Henderson and Rob Hulse hit the crossbar, Brighton went on to give a demonstration of why they can be such awkward opponents.
Jake Robinson had twice gone close by the time he received Henderson's long-throw on the right in the 28th minute. Two passes later and the ball was in the Leeds net, Seb Carole's low cross being swept home by the diminutive yet tireless Leon Knight.
The half-time score could well have been worse for the Yorkshiremen had Dean Hammond's header seven minutes from the break gone in instead of bouncing to safety off the crossbar.
A first home defeat of the season for Leeds looked a certainty when Knight played provider for Carole to fire Brighton two ahead after 51 minutes.
Yet Blackwell's side showed guts to fight back with two goals from close range within the space of five second-half minutes from who else but Healy, given a standing ovation by the home crowd on taking the field following his midweek exploits for Northern Ireland against England.
The first goal came courtesy of a pinpoint cross by Gary Kelly, one of only two players inherited by Blackwell last summer.
The second arrived when Brighton's defence failed to clear a high ball, allowing substitute Richard Cresswell to set up the new darling of Elland Road and Windsor Park with a downward header.
Far from content to hang on for a point, McGhee's men kept pressing and were rewarded with a third when Knight's cross from the right saw Sean Gregan slide the ball into his own net under pressure from Robinson.
'Harding, Harding what's the score?' sang the away fans, a dig at the Leeds and England Under 21 left-back Dan Harding who was one of McGhee's sales to balance the books over the summer. It was a lead Albion held until the second minute of injury time when substitute Jonathan Douglas gleefully rammed home a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble.
McGhee, who admitted a draw was a fair result, said: 'We could have nicked a win and it's a bit disappointing that we didn't. But it's a measure of how far this whole squad has come that we can come to somewhere like Leeds and be disappointed with a draw.
'You score three goals away from home and you expect to win. But give Leeds credit. They came back at us well and Healy was always a handful.' Man of the Match: Leon Knight - never stopped running.