Red cards mar Leeds' night of triumph Louise Taylor at Deepdale
Tuesday May 9, 2006
The Guardian
Leeds are marching towards the Premiership but Kevin Blackwell's side appear to be wearing hobnail boots. They collected eight yellow cards and had two players, Stephen Crainey and Richard Cresswell, sent off for second bookable offences during a heated encounter studded with spiteful tackles in which Preston's Brett Ormerod broke a leg and Carlo Nash fractured a cheekbone.
In the midst of the mayhem - and, significantly, before the two dismissals - Leeds scored two goals, Rob Hulse and Frazer Richardson propelling them towards a play-off final in Cardiff against Crystal Palace or, more probably, Watford.
When a power cut plunged Deepdale into darkness as the half-time whistle blew it was possibly an omen that the lights were about to go on Preston's season. Though the second half started after a 30-minute delay, Billy Davies's side rarely looked like building on the initiative they believed they had gained in drawing 1-1 at Elland Road last Friday.
The night was not helped by the referee Mike Thorpe's morphing from ultra-lenient to fundamentalist pedant. "He was letting hefty challenges go early on but ended up booking everyone that moved; I thought he'd turned into a railway clerk," said Blackwell. "I wasn't sure if we'd have anyone left on the pitch the way the ref was going.
"I'm very sceptical about the two referees we've had for the semi-final. It's a £40m tie and it was too big for them. I don't understand why we should have had a rabbit in car headlights in charge tonight."
Davies had configured Preston in adventurous fashion, his starting side featuring four strikers - Danny Dichio, David Nugent, Marcus Stewart and Ormerod. Unfortunately, Ormerod's leg soon snapped in the wake of a horribly late tackle from Jonathan Douglas. Incredibly, the Leeds midfielder escaped without so much as a talking-to. This was the first in a series of debatable refereeing decisions but with Shaun Derry
exerting a more positive midfield influence for the visitors and Nugent's speedily intelligent attacking movement galvanising Preston, the game was almost as exciting as it was snide.
Once light was restored Leeds remembered they are good at set pieces and duly took the lead when Hulse lost his marker at a corner before meeting Gary Kelly's delivery and powering a header past Nash. It was not long before Nash was picking the ball out of his net again after it squirmed through his hands just as he appeared to have saved Richardson's close-range shot on the line. Richardson had reacted with alacrity to the loose ball after Hulse's original cross-shot was inadequately cleared by Claude Davis.
Preston took hope when the Leeds left-back Crainey was sent off for his second yellow-card offence in the space of eight minutes, an unwise hack at Nugent. Paul McKenna's ensuing free-kick looked destined for the top corner but was tipped over by Neil Sullivan, who was relieved to see a Tyrone Mears header disallowed. There was time for Cresswell to clash with Nash as they went for the ball, leaving Preston's keeper with a broken cheekbone and precipitating a mass confrontation. Cresswell was not booked for that but having been previously penalised for an off-the-ball transgression at a corner he finally trudged off after stupidly kicking the ball away. "We'll dust ourselves down," said a magnanimous Davies. "We'll live and learn."
Tuesday May 9, 2006
The Guardian
Leeds are marching towards the Premiership but Kevin Blackwell's side appear to be wearing hobnail boots. They collected eight yellow cards and had two players, Stephen Crainey and Richard Cresswell, sent off for second bookable offences during a heated encounter studded with spiteful tackles in which Preston's Brett Ormerod broke a leg and Carlo Nash fractured a cheekbone.
In the midst of the mayhem - and, significantly, before the two dismissals - Leeds scored two goals, Rob Hulse and Frazer Richardson propelling them towards a play-off final in Cardiff against Crystal Palace or, more probably, Watford.
When a power cut plunged Deepdale into darkness as the half-time whistle blew it was possibly an omen that the lights were about to go on Preston's season. Though the second half started after a 30-minute delay, Billy Davies's side rarely looked like building on the initiative they believed they had gained in drawing 1-1 at Elland Road last Friday.
The night was not helped by the referee Mike Thorpe's morphing from ultra-lenient to fundamentalist pedant. "He was letting hefty challenges go early on but ended up booking everyone that moved; I thought he'd turned into a railway clerk," said Blackwell. "I wasn't sure if we'd have anyone left on the pitch the way the ref was going.
"I'm very sceptical about the two referees we've had for the semi-final. It's a £40m tie and it was too big for them. I don't understand why we should have had a rabbit in car headlights in charge tonight."
Davies had configured Preston in adventurous fashion, his starting side featuring four strikers - Danny Dichio, David Nugent, Marcus Stewart and Ormerod. Unfortunately, Ormerod's leg soon snapped in the wake of a horribly late tackle from Jonathan Douglas. Incredibly, the Leeds midfielder escaped without so much as a talking-to. This was the first in a series of debatable refereeing decisions but with Shaun Derry
exerting a more positive midfield influence for the visitors and Nugent's speedily intelligent attacking movement galvanising Preston, the game was almost as exciting as it was snide.Once light was restored Leeds remembered they are good at set pieces and duly took the lead when Hulse lost his marker at a corner before meeting Gary Kelly's delivery and powering a header past Nash. It was not long before Nash was picking the ball out of his net again after it squirmed through his hands just as he appeared to have saved Richardson's close-range shot on the line. Richardson had reacted with alacrity to the loose ball after Hulse's original cross-shot was inadequately cleared by Claude Davis.
Preston took hope when the Leeds left-back Crainey was sent off for his second yellow-card offence in the space of eight minutes, an unwise hack at Nugent. Paul McKenna's ensuing free-kick looked destined for the top corner but was tipped over by Neil Sullivan, who was relieved to see a Tyrone Mears header disallowed. There was time for Cresswell to clash with Nash as they went for the ball, leaving Preston's keeper with a broken cheekbone and precipitating a mass confrontation. Cresswell was not booked for that but having been previously penalised for an off-the-ball transgression at a corner he finally trudged off after stupidly kicking the ball away. "We'll dust ourselves down," said a magnanimous Davies. "We'll live and learn."