Mighty Leeds Weblog

Yorkshire Post 26/4/09 Hartlepool United 0 Leeds United 1: Beckford was difference, says Turner Leeds United clinched a 1-0 win at Hartlepool United courtesy of a Jermaine Beckford goal. United look set to face either Millwall or MK Dons in the end-of season play-offs, with Scunthorpe United and Tranmere battling over the final play-off spot. The ankle injury that has been troubling Robert Snodgrass in recent weeks meant the former Livingston man was not risked at Victoria Park. Fabian Delph was also out as the teenager serves the second of a two-game ban for collecting 10 bookings during the season. Chances were at a premium in the first 45 minutes, with the teams going in at the break goalless. But the prolific Beckford finally broke the deadlock on the hour against relegation-threatened Hartlepool. "That moment of class from Jermaine Beckford proved the difference between the two teams," Hartlepool boss Chris Turner said. "I thought our players gave their all and ther...

Yorkshire Evening Post 23/4/09 Grayson plots play-off path The draw between Scunthorpe and Northampton which booked Leeds United's play-off spot on Tuesday night confirmed what Simon Grayson already knew. After Saturday's victory over Tranmere, United's boss was confident enough to tell himself that, from the point of view of a top-six finish in League One, Leeds were home and dry. Nevertheless, official confirmation courtesy of Scunthorpe's stalemate gave him an understandable sense of satisfaction. When Grayson took over at Elland Road four months ago a place in the play-offs was nothing like a foregone conclusion. Had it been, there would not have been a job available for him to fill. Striking that target with two games to spare is a good measure of the work he has done. In his time in charge Grayson has maintained a win ratio of 61 per cent – 14 victories from 23 matches. As significant, he says, is a total of only five defeats during that same spell. It was United...

Yorkshire Evening Post 18/4/09 Whites open play-off door Leeds United 3 Tranmere Rovers 1 Leeds United climbed ominously to the threshold of the play-offs, where only a statistical improbability can deny them the key to the door. The club flexed their muscles with a 10th successive home victory yesterday, echoing a record set by Don Revie's Leeds in 1969 and leaving little remaining doubt over their involvement in League One's post-season dramatics.United's defeat of Tranmere Rovers at Elland Road had the combined effect of realistically assuring their own qualification and badly damaging the ambitions of one of the two clubs mathematically capable of denying them a place in the play-offs. Leeds led Tranmere by three points before kick-off and were protected by a six-point cushion and the considerable advantage of a better goal difference at full-time, placing United in a position where a bizarre turn of events during the final two games of the season would be necessary to ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 9/4/09 Leeds and Blackpool settle Grayson dispute Leeds United and Blackpool have settled their dispute over Elland Road boss Simon Grayson - though neither side will disclose the details of their agreement. United were facing allegations that they broke Football League rules in appointing Grayson as their new boss on December 23, hours after he resigned from the manager's post at Blackpool. Blackpool were believed to be seeking around £200,000 in compensation for Grayson, and the case has been settled after a Football League disciplinary tribunal held in Manchester today. No details of the verdict have been made public, and a joint statement from the two clubs stated that "no further comment shall be made be either parties". United chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "We are delighted the matter is now resolved and Simon can concentrate on the work he has started in seeking to get the club promoted. "We wish Blackpool well for the future....

Yorkshire Evening Post 6/4/09 In-form Whites just can't bridge the gap By Phil Hay Colchester 0 Leeds United 1Peterborough United are in that region of football's landscape known as dreamland, according to one of their supporters given airtime by a national radio show on Saturday night. There is indeed an element of fantasy – something undeniably Ferguson-esque – about the club's heat proof exterior. Not for the first time, Leeds United asked questions of it at Colchester on Saturday and were met by the unhelpful answers they have come to expect from the team from London Road. It was obvious to Simon Grayson from the outset that Leeds United's promotion this season would depend not only on the competence of his players but on the fallibility of other competitive clubs and he can be forgiven for asking if, during the past month at least, his squad have deserved better. Leeds' efficient victory at Colchester United was the latest in a striking sequence of five, a pass...

Yorkshire Evening Post 4/4/09 Luciano savours his Community service By Phil Hay The spotlight so often held by Jermaine Beckford was grasped by Luciano Becchio yesterday, but his winning goal at Colchester was unable to give Leeds United a brighter view of automatic promotion. Becchio's goal installed Colchester as the latest victims in Leeds' catalogue of five straight wins, but boss Simon Grayson was agonisingly denied the the opening he has patiently waited for at the top of League One. In a race where United can only maintain their form and hope for the best, the Elland Road club kept their side of the bargain by claiming three points with a professional performance in Essex, but a late and decisive goal at Oldham maintained Peterborough's control of the fight for second place. Becchio – the other half of League One's most consistent partnership – inspired United's victory with an instinctive finish after half-an-hour, producing the opening goal after a spell in...

Leedsunited.com 4/4/09 BECCHIO SECURES THE POINTS IN ESSEX Colchester 0 Leeds 1 Simon Grayson named an unchanged side for the trip to a sell-out Weston Homes Community Stadium as United looked to extend an eight-game unbeaten and keep the pressure on the fellow promotion challengers. United started the contest brightly and Jermaine Beckford went close inside the opening five minutes when he latched onto a Robert Snodgrass pass, but was denied by some quick thinking from Colchester goalkeeper Mark Cousins. Casper Ankergren was also called upon to make a good early save when he got down well to deny Karl Hawley, who delivered a good strike from distance. At the other end, two Snodgrass corners caused problems, Luciano Becchio heading the second one narrowly wide. The home side were looking to snuff out the threat of 31-goal marksman Beckford, though, and they signalled their intentions early doors by holding a tight defensive line to claim a number of successful offside decisions agai...