Yorkshire Post 15/5/08
Match report: Leeds United clinch place at Wembley
By Richard Sutcliffe
Carlisle United 0 Leeds United 2. Leeds won 3-2 on agg
Two goals from Jonny Howson sent Leeds United into the League One play-off final after a 2-0 win at Carlisle United.
THE resilience of Leeds United in this most testing of seasons again shone through last night as Jonny Howson booked the club's first trip to Wembley in 12 years. The midfielder struck the two most important goals of his blossoming career to send United through to the League One play-off final and cap an amazing fightback.Trailing by two goals deep into stoppage time at the end of the first leg at Elland Road on Monday night, United had seemed dead and buried only for a lifeline to come via Dougie Freedman's last-gasp strike.
It meant the tie was still alive going into the return at Brunton Park but, even so, against a side boasting the best home record in the division, Leeds were still given little hope of battling through to the Wembley final on May 25.
Those who wrote United off during the build-up should, however, have known better with this group of players having, over the past nine months, overcome the type of hurdles that would have crushed most other teams. A 15-point deduction on the eve of the campaign was bad enough, but when the loss of a valued first-team coach followed soon after this group of players could have been forgiven for thinking they were cursed.
Dennis Wise's sudden and surprising departure in January will hardly have dispelled those fears but, throughout it all, the players kept their head and showed the type of character that served them so well at Brunton Park last night.
It shone through in the 10th minute when Howson brought the tie level on aggregate with a clinical finish. And then, just seconds after the fourth official had indicated there would be just one additional minute of stoppage time, this side's terrific character helped power them forward one last time for what turned out to be the Wembley clinching goal when Howson drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
It was a deserved reward for a magnificent display by the same XI that had been so disappointing in losing the first leg on Monday night.
Tellingly, United maintained their shape much better last night with the midfield quartet largely sticking to the roles they had been handed ahead of kick-off rather than attempting – and largely failing – to constantly swap position as they had at Elland Road.
This much more rigid structure was a major factor in the opening goal when Howson, playing through the centre, exchanged passes with Dougie Freedman inside the area before drilling a shot past goalkeeper Keiran Westwood. Bradley Johnson, another who had struggled in the first leg in his uncustomary position of left-back, seemed to benefit from those ahead of him maintaining their shape with the former Northampton man getting forward several times in the opening 45 minutes. It was one such run down the left flank that created an excellent opening for Jermaine Beckford just 10 minutes after Howson's opener only for the United top scorer to head weakly wide.
United were also guilty of wasting another excellent opening seven minutes before the break when a poor attempted back header by Evan Horwood was seized upon by Freedman. The veteran striker then looked up before hitting a shot that Westwood, the scourge of the Leeds attack in the opening leg, beat away with ease. It was a big let-off for the hosts who almost seized the initiative on the stroke of half-time when Danny Graham found Marc Bridge-Wilkinson in space inside the United area only for the former Bradford City midfielder's shot to be blocked by the legs of Casper Ankergren.
The second half was a much more open affair with both sides having spells when they had the upper hand.
Leeds had perhaps the better chances, however, with Johnson heading a Neil Kilkenny corner into the side-netting and Freedman bringing an excellent save from Westwood after a neat one-two with Beckford. Both misses suggested the tie was heading for extra time only for Howson to strike in the most dramatic of fashions and send Leeds to Wembley for the first time since the 1996 League Cup final.

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