Yorkshire Evening Post 9/3/11
Preston North End v Leeds United: Unlikely lads set up Whites victory
Preston North End were responsible for one of Leeds United’s gravest humiliations but, as the Championship table stands, the club from West Yorkshire can live with that.
There is more to their season than the restoration of pride or the matter of a minor Roses rivalry.
Beaten 6-4 at Elland Road in ridiculous circumstances five months ago, Leeds returned the favour last night with fewer goals and less fuss, settling a competitive Championship fixture with goals in either half from Neil Kilkenny and Billy Paynter.
Revenge was mentioned beforehand and duly delivered by Leeds, though Preston might argue that the moral victory was theirs over two league fixtures between the clubs.
From Simon Grayson’s perspective, the events of Elland Road on September 28 became irrelevant many weeks ago.
Preston will be relegated and United are closer to the Championship play-offs than they have been for five years; the win achieved by Preston in Leeds stands out as a blemish on the record of Grayson’s club and a meaningless highlight in North End’s annus horribilis.
Grayson was asked about the concept of revenge before last night’s game at Deepdale and sounded altogether unimpressed.
“I don’t see it that way,” he said, pointing out that that his squad had more pressing priorities than doing to Preston as North End had done to them.
A comparable rout of the Championship’s 24th club might have raised a smile on the face of United’s manager but the victory achieved by Kilkenny’s first league goal of the season and Billy Paynter’s first goal of his life in Leeds was all the same to him and his players.
Three points are three points when the months of spring arrive.
In the case of Leeds, they are valuable on any occasion when the club appear in midweek.
Much has been made of their appalling record outwith Saturday afternoon kick-offs – five points taken from 10 league games before yesterday’s fixture – but that impasse broke on an evening when something had to give.
Preston were themselves due a victory after 14 games without but they rarely threatened it after Sian Massey, the assistant referee made famous by the offside rule, disallowed a header from Sean St Ledger at the start of the second half.
Whether Grayson could argue that the existing gap of 45 points between North End and Leeds is an accurate portrayal of their respective qualities is another matter but there was no mistaking the downtrodden team at Deepdale.
The legs of Preston were willing but this division is destined to be rid of them.
Grayson flexed United’s muscles on Monday by nailing down a new signing, prising Barry Bannan from Aston Villa after a torturous wait, but the Scot’s arrival did not tempt him to restructure his midfield.
Grayson chose instead to risk a change in attack, dispensing with Luciano Becchio and giving Billy Paynter another opportunity to impose himself on the club’s season.
The striker’s goalless sequence – 16 games and counting before last night – began to stalk him over the weekend as the crowd at Elland Road willed him to clear a psychological hurdle by scoring for the first time in a 5-2 win over Doncaster Rovers. An 83rd-minute effort which struck a leg on Doncaster’s goalline and present Max Gradel with a tap-in gave the best example of his misfortune since signing for Leeds in July.
But his luck reversed spectacularly in Preston, shaken by a raking finish early in the second half.
He cannot have lost hours of sleep over a later chance which rebounded off a post.
Paynter’s selection at Deepdale was an unmistakable vote of confidence from Grayson, asking him to hassle a defence strengthened by the arrival of Ricardo Gardner from Bolton Wanderers.
Grayson had enough depth in his squad to tie Bannan to his bench; Gardner’s inclusion in Preston’s line-up was an absolute necessity, brought on by a spate of injuries.
The left-back carried the credentials of a Jamaican international but closer inspection of the 32-year-old’s season revealed no first-team appearances since August.
Robert Snodgrass promised him a tiring evening but saw much of the game pass him by either side of instigating Kilkenny’s goal.
The winger had not touched the ball when Keith Treacy shook the frame of Kasper Schmeichel’s net. The effort was the product of a weak header from Andy O’Brien which dropped five yards outside United’s box. Schmeichel failed to reach it but the crossbar above him repelled the ball, bouncing it down a yard in front of his goalline.
It was not the way that Grayson’s players intended to start or the style in which they meant to continue.
Paynter’s first chance materialised soon after but he swung and missed at a ricochet which spilled in front of Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, and Jonathan Howson’s wild finish wasted a long, insightful clearance from Schmeichel.
Leeds surmised from those two moments that North End would be vulnerable if stretched with enough purpose. In between United’s moments of pressure, Schmeichel parried one effort from Eddie Johnson and held another from Treacy.
Max Gradel kept Lonergan involved with with a hanging cross a shot that spun up in front of the keeper but Grayson could see his players feeling their way with caution into a competitive game.
Bradley Johnson’s 19th-minute booking for a foul on Iain Hume was undeniably soft yet drawn by Preston’s persistent pressure.
Lonergan’s handling was a small source of encouragement for Grayson, exposed again when Howson’s effort dropped out of his arms, but the keeper shouldered no blame for his concession after half-an-hour.
Snodgrass’ first meaningful sight of the ball drove Preston’s defence into their own box, and a half-hit clearance from his low cross dropped to Kilkenny. The midfielder barely looked up before curling a shot from 25 yards around Lonergan and into the net with the help of a post.
The goal was Kilkenny’s first of the Championship term, perfectly struck and perfectly timed.
Though not exactly against the run of play, the threat from Leeds prior to it had been sporadic at best.
They took the Australian’s finish as an invitation to force the floodgates open. St Ledger’s sliding tackle prevented Paynter from aiming the ball into the far corner of Lonergan’s net, and the striker pulled an effort wide after exploiting St Ledger’s hesitation beneath a bouncing ball. If Paynter feared the worst then he need not have worried.
The forward found himself alone and in possession on the corner of Preston’s box 12 minutes into the second half. With no players around him and few other alternatives, he attacked Lonergan with all the anger of a goalless striker and stretched North End’s net to the point of bursting.
United worked appeared to be done inside an hour.
Hume said otherwise after 63 minutes when he picked out the height of Schmeichel’s net from far outside the box.
“We’re going to win 6-2,” taunted an optimistic home crowd as Preston re-enacted the Alamo.
Preston North End v Leeds United: Unlikely lads set up Whites victory
Preston North End were responsible for one of Leeds United’s gravest humiliations but, as the Championship table stands, the club from West Yorkshire can live with that.
There is more to their season than the restoration of pride or the matter of a minor Roses rivalry.
Beaten 6-4 at Elland Road in ridiculous circumstances five months ago, Leeds returned the favour last night with fewer goals and less fuss, settling a competitive Championship fixture with goals in either half from Neil Kilkenny and Billy Paynter.
Revenge was mentioned beforehand and duly delivered by Leeds, though Preston might argue that the moral victory was theirs over two league fixtures between the clubs.
From Simon Grayson’s perspective, the events of Elland Road on September 28 became irrelevant many weeks ago.
Preston will be relegated and United are closer to the Championship play-offs than they have been for five years; the win achieved by Preston in Leeds stands out as a blemish on the record of Grayson’s club and a meaningless highlight in North End’s annus horribilis.
Grayson was asked about the concept of revenge before last night’s game at Deepdale and sounded altogether unimpressed.
“I don’t see it that way,” he said, pointing out that that his squad had more pressing priorities than doing to Preston as North End had done to them.
A comparable rout of the Championship’s 24th club might have raised a smile on the face of United’s manager but the victory achieved by Kilkenny’s first league goal of the season and Billy Paynter’s first goal of his life in Leeds was all the same to him and his players.
Three points are three points when the months of spring arrive.
In the case of Leeds, they are valuable on any occasion when the club appear in midweek.
Much has been made of their appalling record outwith Saturday afternoon kick-offs – five points taken from 10 league games before yesterday’s fixture – but that impasse broke on an evening when something had to give.
Preston were themselves due a victory after 14 games without but they rarely threatened it after Sian Massey, the assistant referee made famous by the offside rule, disallowed a header from Sean St Ledger at the start of the second half.
Whether Grayson could argue that the existing gap of 45 points between North End and Leeds is an accurate portrayal of their respective qualities is another matter but there was no mistaking the downtrodden team at Deepdale.
The legs of Preston were willing but this division is destined to be rid of them.
Grayson flexed United’s muscles on Monday by nailing down a new signing, prising Barry Bannan from Aston Villa after a torturous wait, but the Scot’s arrival did not tempt him to restructure his midfield.
Grayson chose instead to risk a change in attack, dispensing with Luciano Becchio and giving Billy Paynter another opportunity to impose himself on the club’s season.
The striker’s goalless sequence – 16 games and counting before last night – began to stalk him over the weekend as the crowd at Elland Road willed him to clear a psychological hurdle by scoring for the first time in a 5-2 win over Doncaster Rovers. An 83rd-minute effort which struck a leg on Doncaster’s goalline and present Max Gradel with a tap-in gave the best example of his misfortune since signing for Leeds in July.
But his luck reversed spectacularly in Preston, shaken by a raking finish early in the second half.
He cannot have lost hours of sleep over a later chance which rebounded off a post.
Paynter’s selection at Deepdale was an unmistakable vote of confidence from Grayson, asking him to hassle a defence strengthened by the arrival of Ricardo Gardner from Bolton Wanderers.
Grayson had enough depth in his squad to tie Bannan to his bench; Gardner’s inclusion in Preston’s line-up was an absolute necessity, brought on by a spate of injuries.
The left-back carried the credentials of a Jamaican international but closer inspection of the 32-year-old’s season revealed no first-team appearances since August.
Robert Snodgrass promised him a tiring evening but saw much of the game pass him by either side of instigating Kilkenny’s goal.
The winger had not touched the ball when Keith Treacy shook the frame of Kasper Schmeichel’s net. The effort was the product of a weak header from Andy O’Brien which dropped five yards outside United’s box. Schmeichel failed to reach it but the crossbar above him repelled the ball, bouncing it down a yard in front of his goalline.
It was not the way that Grayson’s players intended to start or the style in which they meant to continue.
Paynter’s first chance materialised soon after but he swung and missed at a ricochet which spilled in front of Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, and Jonathan Howson’s wild finish wasted a long, insightful clearance from Schmeichel.
Leeds surmised from those two moments that North End would be vulnerable if stretched with enough purpose. In between United’s moments of pressure, Schmeichel parried one effort from Eddie Johnson and held another from Treacy.
Max Gradel kept Lonergan involved with with a hanging cross a shot that spun up in front of the keeper but Grayson could see his players feeling their way with caution into a competitive game.
Bradley Johnson’s 19th-minute booking for a foul on Iain Hume was undeniably soft yet drawn by Preston’s persistent pressure.
Lonergan’s handling was a small source of encouragement for Grayson, exposed again when Howson’s effort dropped out of his arms, but the keeper shouldered no blame for his concession after half-an-hour.
Snodgrass’ first meaningful sight of the ball drove Preston’s defence into their own box, and a half-hit clearance from his low cross dropped to Kilkenny. The midfielder barely looked up before curling a shot from 25 yards around Lonergan and into the net with the help of a post.
The goal was Kilkenny’s first of the Championship term, perfectly struck and perfectly timed.
Though not exactly against the run of play, the threat from Leeds prior to it had been sporadic at best.
They took the Australian’s finish as an invitation to force the floodgates open. St Ledger’s sliding tackle prevented Paynter from aiming the ball into the far corner of Lonergan’s net, and the striker pulled an effort wide after exploiting St Ledger’s hesitation beneath a bouncing ball. If Paynter feared the worst then he need not have worried.
The forward found himself alone and in possession on the corner of Preston’s box 12 minutes into the second half. With no players around him and few other alternatives, he attacked Lonergan with all the anger of a goalless striker and stretched North End’s net to the point of bursting.
United worked appeared to be done inside an hour.
Hume said otherwise after 63 minutes when he picked out the height of Schmeichel’s net from far outside the box.
“We’re going to win 6-2,” taunted an optimistic home crowd as Preston re-enacted the Alamo.
