Yorkshire Evening Post 10/2/09
Beckford class makes the difference
By Phil Hay
Aided by an early kick-off in Huddersfield, Leeds United have the opportunity to reassociate themselves with one of League One's top six positions on Saturday.
That prospect would not have been worth the paper it is written on at the start of the season, when United's ambition went far beyond the play-offs, but eight weeks after the managerial transition from Gary McAllister to Simon Grayson, it is precisely where the club need to be.
The chance to take that important step forward was presented to Leeds after their victory over Millwall last night, a game that Grayson hoped would start an ascent up the division which continues unbroken until the end of the term. Unlikely though it seems, 12 league matches have passed since Leeds were last able to call themselves a top-six club, as they may be able to do for a couple of hours on Saturday.
United have been in similar waters before, against the same opposition. When Huddersfield Town visited Elland Road in November, the talk beforehand was of a weekend on which Leeds could temporarily top the division with the assistance of a 12.15pm start and helpful results elsewhere. Their ensuing 2-1 defeat was a missed opportunity which Grayson cannot allow a repeat of at the Galpharm Stadium.
The 39-year-old stressed before kick-off last night the importance to United's league position of pinching points from the clubs directly above them, and his players absorbed his comments readily.
At the end of a physical, fractious and full-blooded game – everything that Leeds and Millwall tend to produce – the value of a 2-0 victory was plain for Grayson to see.
Two goals from Jermaine Beckford separated the teams on another occasion when the striker's ability to twist an even game in United's favour came to the fore. His first goal was vintage Beckford, crashed home from a ridiculous angle, and his second on 90 minutes knocked out a flagging set of visiting players who had expended every ounce of their energy.
The striker's evening was not without its problems, however, and it remains to be seen whether he is hit by any fall-out from an incident in the 65th minute where his elbow connected sharply with the jaw of Millwall goalkeeper David Forde as both players awaited the delivery of a corner.
Beckford was booked by Alan Wiley – a lenient punishment on the basis of television replays – and further disciplinary action will depend on the observations of the Select Group referee in his written report to the Football Association. A suspension of any sort would diminish the merit of Beckford's performance, but hypothetical scenarios were unable to water down the immediate significance of the win he claimed.
After eight days without a fixture – an eternity at a time of the season when games are shoe-horned into every available gap – Grayson restricted himself to one change in reaction to United's 1-0 defeat to Walsall, dropping Bradley Johnson and giving Robert Snodgrass an opportunity which the Scot deserved.
Snodgrass' response was to play a key role in the opening goal on 32 minutes and give United a lead which, while accepted gratefully by Grayson, could not have been described as a reward for the more dominant team.Leeds had come under pressure during a sustained period of possession enjoyed by Millwall prior to Beckford's flamboyant strike, and a goalline clearance from Richard Naylor – the one United player who had stood out before then – epitomised the confidence that Kenny Jackett's players were evidently feeling.
Naylor appeared in a convenient position on 23 minutes, hacking the ball against a post and away to safety after David Martin's cross found the head of Gary Alexander. A touch from Casper Ankergren was no less crucial, and replays displayed the fine margin of United's escape. Wiley's decision to deny a goal was an accurate call, but only just.
Millwall's performance blossomed quickly on the back of that chance but it was from one of their own attacks that Forde found Beckford's finish flashing over his head and nestling into the top corner of his net.
Snodgrass was waiting in midfield to collect a clearance from United's box, and his powerful run through the centre circle left Millwall's retreating players trailing behind him.
The winger's pass out wide to Beckford did not offer an obvious chance to attack Forde, but the striker brought the ball under control and, from an unfavourable angle, whipped a shot over Millwall's keeper and inches under the crossbar.
The shot represented United's second meaningful effort on goal – the other, created by Snodgrass' fourth-minute corner, was headed into the side-netting by Naylor – but it had the effect that Grayson desired, disrupting Millwall's steady flow and instantly relieving the concerns of a slightly twitchy crowd.
Beckford's goal was unquestionably against the run of play. The forward should arguably have scored 23 minutes earlier when a long pass from Andrew Hughes found him unmarked behind Millwall's defence, but Beckford looked as surprised as the crowd to see the lineman keep his flag lowered, and Jackett's players quickly swarmed over him on the edge of the box.
Yet as firm as Millwall's hold on possession was, they did not better Alexander's header before half-time nor create a large amount around that chance.
Adam Bolder and Jimmy Abdou took a tight grip on the centre of midfield, but Beckford's strike released their hold and Jackett's was the more pressing of the two team-talks after 45 minutes. United's feeling of optimism would have been stronger at the break had Andy Robinson's deflected shot looped under the crossbar instead of sinking into the roof of Forde's net.
But Grayson's players reacted gamely to Millwall's aggressive attributes – borne out by uncompromising challenges before and after half-time, several of which were reciprocated – and his defence gave less quarter than they had against Walsall.
The first fixture between the clubs this season – a 3-1 victory for Millwall – hinged on goals from the Londoners either side of half-time, and United's players did not try to deny that they had been bullied into defeat.
Leeds were resistant to Millwall's physicality and willing to engage in the darker side of the fixture. United's win was not quite men against boys, as Robinson had termed their loss at the New Den, but it was a satisfying display of their mettle and spirit.
The slender lead provided by Beckford was threatened briefly by Alexander's 62nd-minute free-kick which would have beaten Ankergren had it not sailed a foot over the bar.
The last word went to Beckford, who anticipated Luciano Becchio's flicked header in injury-time and lashed a left-footed shot past Forde from what might have been an offside position. One score settled with another to come in Huddersfield on Saturday, at the end of what could be a telling week.
ITV 9/2/09
Goal hero Beckford could face punishment
Two-goal hero Jermaine Beckford could face further punishment despite seeing his brace earn Leeds three vital points as they ran out 2-0 winners against fellow League One promotion hopefuls Millwall.
The striker was accused of elbowing Millwall goalkeeper David Forde in the face, causing bruising and a cut.
Beckford was booked in the 65th minute by referee Alan Wiley after the offence had been pointed out by his assistant.
Millwall manager Kenny Jackett said: "I didn't see the offence but I've seen my goalkeeper's jaw and eye and they don't look good. Some key decisions didn't go our way ."
Leeds manager Simon Grayson said: "I will await the referee's report before deciding whether to take any action against Jermaine.
"I didn't see an elbow so I can't comment on it. I would need to see the video, but Jermaine was booked so the referee must have seen something."
A goal in each half by Beckford took his tally for the season to 23 and left Leeds just two points off the top six - as well as delivering a blow to Millwall's hopes of automatic promotion.
Daily Mail 10/2/09
I predict a riot: But the only violence between Leeds and Millwall was on the pitch...
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Playing 'Eye of the Tiger' before the start of last night's match between Leeds and Millwall was presumably the Elland Road stadium announcer’s idea of a joke.
If any song is intended to drum up aggression, it is the theme tune to ‘Rocky III’, and if any football fixture conjures up images of violence, it is Leeds United versus Millwall.
We might be in the age of all-seater stadiums, family areas and – shock horror – female sports journalists, but old reputations die hard.
Last time the Lions visited Yorkshire, more than 50 seats were ripped out of the KC Stadium’s North Stand by Millwall fans as Kenny Jackett’s side went down 2-0 to Hull City in the FA Cup.
And when Millwall played at Elland Road in October 2007, six of the buses carrying some of the 800 Millwall fans from Leeds train station to the ground were pummeled with missiles.
Leeds bus firm First were left with a £5,500 bill and 12 arrests were made as Millwall went down 4-2 at Elland Road.
So it was no surprise to hear the reported 340 Millwall fans who made the trip up to Leeds yesterday had to stop in the lorry park area at Woolley Edge Service Station on the M1 between 5pm and 6pm to collect their tickets.
When they finally got to Elland Road, they were ushered in to the stadium and forced to huddle in the corner on bright yellow seats whilst the Leeds faithful, all 19,000 of them, shouted expletives en mass and bellowed ‘Yorkshire’ at them for the first five minutes of them.
So much for a good old-fashioned Yorkshire welcome.
The police presence around Elland Road was understandably strong and highly visible, although I’m not quite sure what the poor, bedraggled PCSO they stuck on his lonesome by the M621 was going to do if it kicked off.
Hundreds of officers in florescent yellow jackets swarmed around the Billy Bremner statue, backed up by policemen and women on horseback and support vehicles parked in side roads.
Fans in and around the ground seemed to think the 7.45pm start, live TV screening on Sky Sports and the freezing temperatures would dissuade the thugs from rearing their bald, ugly heads, but nobody was quite sure.
There was a worrying sense of unease, a nervousness about the place, exacerbated by the strutting bravado of young lads who have never known what it is like to go to an away ground and be treated like an animal.
Football hooliganism belongs to a different era, and that was what was most unsettling about Elland Road on Monday night. The chance of violence, the police horses, the perceived animosity - it all seemed archaic, a throwback.
Leeds boss Simon Grayson admitted ‘Leeds-Millwall has a little bit of extra metal about it’ and, in his programme notes, chairman Ken Bates made the wry observation that we could ‘expect a full-blooded encounter’.
Thankfully, the 'thrill of the fight' was confined to the pitch.
Leeds United 2 Millwall 0: Controversial Beckford let-off lifts play-off push
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Jermaine Beckford's double strike maintained Leeds' push for the League One play-offs but the striker was lucky to stay on the pitch after elbowing Millwall goalkeeper David Forde on the chin in a penalty-box scuffle.
Referee Alan Wiley did not see the incident but, after conferring with his linesman, he gave Leeds' top scorer only a yellow card.
'Nothing happened,' claimed Beckford, who made it 2-0 in stoppage time, racing away to score his 23rd goal of the season with a left-footed strike from just inside the box.
Beckford's let-off meant the referee had twice come to the home side's rescue in a feisty match at Elland Road.
The first incident came in the 23rd minute, when David Martin's deep cross found Gary Alexander at the far post.
Alexander's shot was well blocked by goalkeeper Casper Ankergren at close range, but it cannoned off the post and Richard Naylor cleared off the line.
Millwall thought the ball had crossed the line but Wiley awarded Leeds a free-kick for an Alexander foul on Ankergren.
Leeds broke through after 32 minutes when Robert Snodgrass brought the ball out of his own half and fed Beckford on the edge of the Millwall box.
The forward cut inside and his curling shot dipped just inside the top left corner.
Beckford then squandered a great chance to make the game safe in the dying minutes - blasting over when substitute Luciano Becchio squared the ball to him in space - but he made up for his mistake in stoppage time.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson claimed he did not see Beckford's clash with Forde and added: 'It's a big result for us because Millwall were one of the teams above us and we needed to close the gap to them.
'Beckford is a big player for us - when you score that amount of goals and can produce things out of nothing it makes all the difference.'
Beckford class makes the difference
By Phil Hay
Aided by an early kick-off in Huddersfield, Leeds United have the opportunity to reassociate themselves with one of League One's top six positions on Saturday.
That prospect would not have been worth the paper it is written on at the start of the season, when United's ambition went far beyond the play-offs, but eight weeks after the managerial transition from Gary McAllister to Simon Grayson, it is precisely where the club need to be.
The chance to take that important step forward was presented to Leeds after their victory over Millwall last night, a game that Grayson hoped would start an ascent up the division which continues unbroken until the end of the term. Unlikely though it seems, 12 league matches have passed since Leeds were last able to call themselves a top-six club, as they may be able to do for a couple of hours on Saturday.
United have been in similar waters before, against the same opposition. When Huddersfield Town visited Elland Road in November, the talk beforehand was of a weekend on which Leeds could temporarily top the division with the assistance of a 12.15pm start and helpful results elsewhere. Their ensuing 2-1 defeat was a missed opportunity which Grayson cannot allow a repeat of at the Galpharm Stadium.
The 39-year-old stressed before kick-off last night the importance to United's league position of pinching points from the clubs directly above them, and his players absorbed his comments readily.
At the end of a physical, fractious and full-blooded game – everything that Leeds and Millwall tend to produce – the value of a 2-0 victory was plain for Grayson to see.
Two goals from Jermaine Beckford separated the teams on another occasion when the striker's ability to twist an even game in United's favour came to the fore. His first goal was vintage Beckford, crashed home from a ridiculous angle, and his second on 90 minutes knocked out a flagging set of visiting players who had expended every ounce of their energy.
The striker's evening was not without its problems, however, and it remains to be seen whether he is hit by any fall-out from an incident in the 65th minute where his elbow connected sharply with the jaw of Millwall goalkeeper David Forde as both players awaited the delivery of a corner.
Beckford was booked by Alan Wiley – a lenient punishment on the basis of television replays – and further disciplinary action will depend on the observations of the Select Group referee in his written report to the Football Association. A suspension of any sort would diminish the merit of Beckford's performance, but hypothetical scenarios were unable to water down the immediate significance of the win he claimed.
After eight days without a fixture – an eternity at a time of the season when games are shoe-horned into every available gap – Grayson restricted himself to one change in reaction to United's 1-0 defeat to Walsall, dropping Bradley Johnson and giving Robert Snodgrass an opportunity which the Scot deserved.
Snodgrass' response was to play a key role in the opening goal on 32 minutes and give United a lead which, while accepted gratefully by Grayson, could not have been described as a reward for the more dominant team.Leeds had come under pressure during a sustained period of possession enjoyed by Millwall prior to Beckford's flamboyant strike, and a goalline clearance from Richard Naylor – the one United player who had stood out before then – epitomised the confidence that Kenny Jackett's players were evidently feeling.
Naylor appeared in a convenient position on 23 minutes, hacking the ball against a post and away to safety after David Martin's cross found the head of Gary Alexander. A touch from Casper Ankergren was no less crucial, and replays displayed the fine margin of United's escape. Wiley's decision to deny a goal was an accurate call, but only just.
Millwall's performance blossomed quickly on the back of that chance but it was from one of their own attacks that Forde found Beckford's finish flashing over his head and nestling into the top corner of his net.
Snodgrass was waiting in midfield to collect a clearance from United's box, and his powerful run through the centre circle left Millwall's retreating players trailing behind him.
The winger's pass out wide to Beckford did not offer an obvious chance to attack Forde, but the striker brought the ball under control and, from an unfavourable angle, whipped a shot over Millwall's keeper and inches under the crossbar.
The shot represented United's second meaningful effort on goal – the other, created by Snodgrass' fourth-minute corner, was headed into the side-netting by Naylor – but it had the effect that Grayson desired, disrupting Millwall's steady flow and instantly relieving the concerns of a slightly twitchy crowd.
Beckford's goal was unquestionably against the run of play. The forward should arguably have scored 23 minutes earlier when a long pass from Andrew Hughes found him unmarked behind Millwall's defence, but Beckford looked as surprised as the crowd to see the lineman keep his flag lowered, and Jackett's players quickly swarmed over him on the edge of the box.
Yet as firm as Millwall's hold on possession was, they did not better Alexander's header before half-time nor create a large amount around that chance.
Adam Bolder and Jimmy Abdou took a tight grip on the centre of midfield, but Beckford's strike released their hold and Jackett's was the more pressing of the two team-talks after 45 minutes. United's feeling of optimism would have been stronger at the break had Andy Robinson's deflected shot looped under the crossbar instead of sinking into the roof of Forde's net.
But Grayson's players reacted gamely to Millwall's aggressive attributes – borne out by uncompromising challenges before and after half-time, several of which were reciprocated – and his defence gave less quarter than they had against Walsall.
The first fixture between the clubs this season – a 3-1 victory for Millwall – hinged on goals from the Londoners either side of half-time, and United's players did not try to deny that they had been bullied into defeat.
Leeds were resistant to Millwall's physicality and willing to engage in the darker side of the fixture. United's win was not quite men against boys, as Robinson had termed their loss at the New Den, but it was a satisfying display of their mettle and spirit.
The slender lead provided by Beckford was threatened briefly by Alexander's 62nd-minute free-kick which would have beaten Ankergren had it not sailed a foot over the bar.
The last word went to Beckford, who anticipated Luciano Becchio's flicked header in injury-time and lashed a left-footed shot past Forde from what might have been an offside position. One score settled with another to come in Huddersfield on Saturday, at the end of what could be a telling week.
ITV 9/2/09
Goal hero Beckford could face punishment
Two-goal hero Jermaine Beckford could face further punishment despite seeing his brace earn Leeds three vital points as they ran out 2-0 winners against fellow League One promotion hopefuls Millwall.
The striker was accused of elbowing Millwall goalkeeper David Forde in the face, causing bruising and a cut.
Beckford was booked in the 65th minute by referee Alan Wiley after the offence had been pointed out by his assistant.
Millwall manager Kenny Jackett said: "I didn't see the offence but I've seen my goalkeeper's jaw and eye and they don't look good. Some key decisions didn't go our way ."
Leeds manager Simon Grayson said: "I will await the referee's report before deciding whether to take any action against Jermaine.
"I didn't see an elbow so I can't comment on it. I would need to see the video, but Jermaine was booked so the referee must have seen something."
A goal in each half by Beckford took his tally for the season to 23 and left Leeds just two points off the top six - as well as delivering a blow to Millwall's hopes of automatic promotion.
Daily Mail 10/2/09
I predict a riot: But the only violence between Leeds and Millwall was on the pitch...
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Playing 'Eye of the Tiger' before the start of last night's match between Leeds and Millwall was presumably the Elland Road stadium announcer’s idea of a joke.
If any song is intended to drum up aggression, it is the theme tune to ‘Rocky III’, and if any football fixture conjures up images of violence, it is Leeds United versus Millwall.
We might be in the age of all-seater stadiums, family areas and – shock horror – female sports journalists, but old reputations die hard.
Last time the Lions visited Yorkshire, more than 50 seats were ripped out of the KC Stadium’s North Stand by Millwall fans as Kenny Jackett’s side went down 2-0 to Hull City in the FA Cup.
And when Millwall played at Elland Road in October 2007, six of the buses carrying some of the 800 Millwall fans from Leeds train station to the ground were pummeled with missiles.
Leeds bus firm First were left with a £5,500 bill and 12 arrests were made as Millwall went down 4-2 at Elland Road.
So it was no surprise to hear the reported 340 Millwall fans who made the trip up to Leeds yesterday had to stop in the lorry park area at Woolley Edge Service Station on the M1 between 5pm and 6pm to collect their tickets.
When they finally got to Elland Road, they were ushered in to the stadium and forced to huddle in the corner on bright yellow seats whilst the Leeds faithful, all 19,000 of them, shouted expletives en mass and bellowed ‘Yorkshire’ at them for the first five minutes of them.
So much for a good old-fashioned Yorkshire welcome.
The police presence around Elland Road was understandably strong and highly visible, although I’m not quite sure what the poor, bedraggled PCSO they stuck on his lonesome by the M621 was going to do if it kicked off.
Hundreds of officers in florescent yellow jackets swarmed around the Billy Bremner statue, backed up by policemen and women on horseback and support vehicles parked in side roads.
Fans in and around the ground seemed to think the 7.45pm start, live TV screening on Sky Sports and the freezing temperatures would dissuade the thugs from rearing their bald, ugly heads, but nobody was quite sure.
There was a worrying sense of unease, a nervousness about the place, exacerbated by the strutting bravado of young lads who have never known what it is like to go to an away ground and be treated like an animal.
Football hooliganism belongs to a different era, and that was what was most unsettling about Elland Road on Monday night. The chance of violence, the police horses, the perceived animosity - it all seemed archaic, a throwback.
Leeds boss Simon Grayson admitted ‘Leeds-Millwall has a little bit of extra metal about it’ and, in his programme notes, chairman Ken Bates made the wry observation that we could ‘expect a full-blooded encounter’.
Thankfully, the 'thrill of the fight' was confined to the pitch.
Leeds United 2 Millwall 0: Controversial Beckford let-off lifts play-off push
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Jermaine Beckford's double strike maintained Leeds' push for the League One play-offs but the striker was lucky to stay on the pitch after elbowing Millwall goalkeeper David Forde on the chin in a penalty-box scuffle.
Referee Alan Wiley did not see the incident but, after conferring with his linesman, he gave Leeds' top scorer only a yellow card.
'Nothing happened,' claimed Beckford, who made it 2-0 in stoppage time, racing away to score his 23rd goal of the season with a left-footed strike from just inside the box.
Beckford's let-off meant the referee had twice come to the home side's rescue in a feisty match at Elland Road.
The first incident came in the 23rd minute, when David Martin's deep cross found Gary Alexander at the far post.
Alexander's shot was well blocked by goalkeeper Casper Ankergren at close range, but it cannoned off the post and Richard Naylor cleared off the line.
Millwall thought the ball had crossed the line but Wiley awarded Leeds a free-kick for an Alexander foul on Ankergren.
Leeds broke through after 32 minutes when Robert Snodgrass brought the ball out of his own half and fed Beckford on the edge of the Millwall box.
The forward cut inside and his curling shot dipped just inside the top left corner.
Beckford then squandered a great chance to make the game safe in the dying minutes - blasting over when substitute Luciano Becchio squared the ball to him in space - but he made up for his mistake in stoppage time.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson claimed he did not see Beckford's clash with Forde and added: 'It's a big result for us because Millwall were one of the teams above us and we needed to close the gap to them.
'Beckford is a big player for us - when you score that amount of goals and can produce things out of nothing it makes all the difference.'