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 lift Ronnie Moore's side above them.
United's involvement can be confirmed beyond any doubt by a draw in Hartlepool next weekend, though Tranmere's failure to take six points from their remaining matches would render Leeds' own results inconsequential beyond the matter of where exactly Simon Grayson's squad will finish.
His players could climb as high as third before the season concludes, and matches against Hartlepool and Northampton Town represent an attractive run-in. Nevertheless, Grayson was intent on seeing the uncertainty over a top-six finish removed at the earliest opportunity, and a 3-1 victory over Tranmere served that purpose.
Two goals inside 26 minutes, scored by Jermaine Beckford and Neil Kilkenny, eased Leeds into their stride, and an own goal conceded by Sam Sodje seconds after Kilkenny's effort did not affect their balance unduly.
Luciano Becchio sedated Tranmere with a third goal on 56 minutes and in holding out through the second half, Leeds established a magnificent sequence of home wins last produced by Revie's squad 40 years ago.
Grayson was able to recall Beckford after three games spent nursing an injured thigh muscle, and though Fabian Delph made way at the start of his two-match ban, the inclusion of Andy Robinson ensured United's line-up was not discernibly weaker than it had been at Leicester City.
The suspension on the plate of Tranmere manager Ronnie Moore – a four-game ban imposed on influential centre-back Ian Goodison – was a far greater handicap and seemed to require the removal of Antony Kay from midfield to fill the void in defence.
Moore had spoken beforehand about his reluctance to make that alteration, thereby stifling one of his more creative minds, and he took an alternative tact by moving Ryan Shotton into Goodison's role and leaving Kay in his favoured position.
The major effect that yesterday's match promised to have on the league table made for a crucial game which United were intent on making the most of.
The fixture was less than six minutes old when Jonathan Howson controlled possession four yards outside Tranmere's box and drove a volley against a post as goalkeeper Danny Coyne grasped for the ball, and it set an appropriate tone on a day when the value of victory was undeniably high.
Nine minutes later, United established the lead with a clinically-taken goal which oozed class.
Robert Snodgrass appeared with the ball outside Tranmere's box and fed Beckford with a beautifully-weighted pass that ran beyond Shotton and left Grayson's leading scorer to announce his return with a deft chip over Coyne's diving frame.
For all Tranmere's tidy passing during the early exchanges, Leeds had earned their goal, and Casper Ankergren protected it on 21 minutes when Ian Moore – United's former striker – stole a yard of space from Sam Sodje and tested Ankergren's strength with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
The chance reminded Grayson's defence to maintain their concentration, but there was little with which the visitors could restrain United's attacking players.
Luciano Becchio was sliced down by a fierce tackle from Steve Jennings as he marauded towards Rovers' penalty area, earning the Tranmere midfielder the first booking of the match, and a second goal which arrived on 26 minutes should have been a fatal blow to the visitors.
The makings of the strike was ridiculously simple, Jonathan Douglas' long ball forward finding Tranmere's defenders absent and Beckford and Neil Kilkenny roaming inside the box. Beckford's touch gave Kilkenny the chance to slip a controlled finish inside the near post.If Ronnie Moore was furious with the concession, his counterpart was every bit as bemused when United presented Tranmere with a goal they desperately needed less than 60 seconds later.
Sodje's attempt to deal with a bouncing ball on the edge of his area saw him send a header over Ankergren who had advanced from his line. The Dane scrambled backwards but could not gather Sodje's touch before it carried into the net.
The own goal revived a contest which was in danger of being settled before half-time, and United diced with an equaliser on 36 minutes when Charlie Barnett's free-kick drifted beyond Ankergren's reach and found Kay at the back post. With an open goal in front of him, the midfielder's header somehow drifted wide. The same lack of accuracy befell Edrissa Sonko when he chipped the ball over Ankergren and into the advertising boards after Bas Savage's pass sliced open the home defence, and the interval was a useful point for Grayson to reorganise his players.
Ankergren again prevented an equaliser six minutes after half-time, parrying Kay's goalbound volley with one hand and gathering Shotton's follow-up, but Tranmere's struggle ended on 56 minutes when a Snodgrass free-kick brushed off Beckford and reached Becchio, who saw the ball strike his shins, roll into the net and carry Leeds into the play-offs.
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 lift Ronnie Moore's side above them.
United's involvement can be confirmed beyond any doubt by a draw in Hartlepool next weekend, though Tranmere's failure to take six points from their remaining matches would render Leeds' own results inconsequential beyond the matter of where exactly Simon Grayson's squad will finish.
His players could climb as high as third before the season concludes, and matches against Hartlepool and Northampton Town represent an attractive run-in. Nevertheless, Grayson was intent on seeing the uncertainty over a top-six finish removed at the earliest opportunity, and a 3-1 victory over Tranmere served that purpose.
Two goals inside 26 minutes, scored by Jermaine Beckford and Neil Kilkenny, eased Leeds into their stride, and an own goal conceded by Sam Sodje seconds after Kilkenny's effort did not affect their balance unduly.
Luciano Becchio sedated Tranmere with a third goal on 56 minutes and in holding out through the second half, Leeds established a magnificent sequence of home wins last produced by Revie's squad 40 years ago.
Grayson was able to recall Beckford after three games spent nursing an injured thigh muscle, and though Fabian Delph made way at the start of his two-match ban, the inclusion of Andy Robinson ensured United's line-up was not discernibly weaker than it had been at Leicester City.
The suspension on the plate of Tranmere manager Ronnie Moore – a four-game ban imposed on influential centre-back Ian Goodison – was a far greater handicap and seemed to require the removal of Antony Kay from midfield to fill the void in defence.
Moore had spoken beforehand about his reluctance to make that alteration, thereby stifling one of his more creative minds, and he took an alternative tact by moving Ryan Shotton into Goodison's role and leaving Kay in his favoured position.
The major effect that yesterday's match promised to have on the league table made for a crucial game which United were intent on making the most of.
The fixture was less than six minutes old when Jonathan Howson controlled possession four yards outside Tranmere's box and drove a volley against a post as goalkeeper Danny Coyne grasped for the ball, and it set an appropriate tone on a day when the value of victory was undeniably high.
Nine minutes later, United established the lead with a clinically-taken goal which oozed class.
Robert Snodgrass appeared with the ball outside Tranmere's box and fed Beckford with a beautifully-weighted pass that ran beyond Shotton and left Grayson's leading scorer to announce his return with a deft chip over Coyne's diving frame.
For all Tranmere's tidy passing during the early exchanges, Leeds had earned their goal, and Casper Ankergren protected it on 21 minutes when Ian Moore – United's former striker – stole a yard of space from Sam Sodje and tested Ankergren's strength with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
The chance reminded Grayson's defence to maintain their concentration, but there was little with which the visitors could restrain United's attacking players.
Luciano Becchio was sliced down by a fierce tackle from Steve Jennings as he marauded towards Rovers' penalty area, earning the Tranmere midfielder the first booking of the match, and a second goal which arrived on 26 minutes should have been a fatal blow to the visitors.
The makings of the strike was ridiculously simple, Jonathan Douglas' long ball forward finding Tranmere's defenders absent and Beckford and Neil Kilkenny roaming inside the box. Beckford's touch gave Kilkenny the chance to slip a controlled finish inside the near post.If Ronnie Moore was furious with the concession, his counterpart was every bit as bemused when United presented Tranmere with a goal they desperately needed less than 60 seconds later.
Sodje's attempt to deal with a bouncing ball on the edge of his area saw him send a header over Ankergren who had advanced from his line. The Dane scrambled backwards but could not gather Sodje's touch before it carried into the net.
The own goal revived a contest which was in danger of being settled before half-time, and United diced with an equaliser on 36 minutes when Charlie Barnett's free-kick drifted beyond Ankergren's reach and found Kay at the back post. With an open goal in front of him, the midfielder's header somehow drifted wide. The same lack of accuracy befell Edrissa Sonko when he chipped the ball over Ankergren and into the advertising boards after Bas Savage's pass sliced open the home defence, and the interval was a useful point for Grayson to reorganise his players.
Ankergren again prevented an equaliser six minutes after half-time, parrying Kay's goalbound volley with one hand and gathering Shotton's follow-up, but Tranmere's struggle ended on 56 minutes when a Snodgrass free-kick brushed off Beckford and reached Becchio, who saw the ball strike his shins, roll into the net and carry Leeds into the play-offs.