Yorkshire Evening Post 29/8/11
Ipswich Town v Leeds United: Whites left to rue their luck
A week is a long time in football, as Ipswich Town cannot fail to realise. It is nothing like the length of the fortnight in which Leeds United will dwell on a perplexing defeat.
The charitable streak in Simon Grayson told him that of the two managers thrown together at Portman Road on Saturday, Paul Jewell was most in need of whatever luck existed. Devoid of any on a night of humiliation at Peterborough United, Jewell’s hands were suddenly full of it.
Ipswich’s manager cracked a knowing smile after their 2-1 win over Leeds, counting his blessings in full. Grayson looked crushed by a scoreline which, in his view and those of others around him, beggared belief. “No-one leaving this stadium can say we deserved to lose,” he said, a defiant claim in the face of a travesty. When it came to bemoaning his luck, United’s boss did not know where to start.
Top of the charge-sheet was a red card shown to his left-back Aidan White, issued at a time when Leeds were a goal to the good and apparently untouchable. Without White’s 49th-minute dismissal, the result might have given rise to speculation about the first sacking of the season, but respite for Jewell came in spite of Ipswich’s many flaws. He will breathe easier because of it.
His back four looked vulnerable before Saturday’s game, exposed by appalling losses to Peterborough and Southampton, and no help was forthcoming from Grayson, a close acquaintance of his. It came instead from a sending off that Jewell himself struggled to justify.
Grayson disputed it angrily and also argued with Andy D’Urso’s refusal to award a penalty for a foul on Max Gradel with the score at 1-1 and the clock on 86 minutes. “It looked like a penalty to me,” admitted Jewell.
There was little for Grayson to say about the winning goal in the final minute of the match, claimed by Keith Andrews but the product of a wild deflection.
Earlier, United had taken the lead through Ross McCormack’s 34th-minute header and waltzed around the pitch before half-time. That a solitary goal materialised in a one-sided period of the game was ultimately to their cost.
Ipswich’s attempts to exploit White’s red card were negated for a while but Jason Scotland found a gap in Leeds’ defences in the 77th minute, forcing an equaliser with the sharpest of finishes. The completion of Ipswich’s victory was a more dubious process and, deflated in his dug-out, Grayson oozed frustration. For all the strain on Jewell, his team reached the international break with six points to show. Leeds have only four.
Jewell was frank enough to describe the second half of Ipswich’s 7-1 rout in Peterborough seven days previously as “the hardest 45 minutes I’ve had to endure” and three signings in the 48 hours before Saturday’s match were indicative of a pensive manager.
His club’s pulling-power showed in the selection of two players approached by Leeds before the season began, Andrews and David Stockdale. A hamstring strain accounted for Lee Bowyer but the talented Jimmy Bullard took up a seat on the bench, explaining why Grayson preferred to disregard Ipswich’s week from hell and avoid a sense of false security.
More assurance came from the recovery from injury of White and Tom Lees, allowing Grayson to use the same group of 11 players as he did for United’s meeting with West Ham. Disappointed though Ramon Nunez was to find himself on the periphery again, he cannot have been surprised. The collective performance at Upton Park overrode his goals in the Carling Cup.
Warm sunshine greeted Leeds on their arrival at Portman Road but a violent shower in the half-hour before kick-off rendered the pitch sodden. A wet surface contributed to a loose start but United saw pleasing evidence of Ipswich’s fragility twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Robert Snodgrass cut open Jewell’s defence at the first attempt, feeding McCormack with a chipped pass which the striker struck against the legs of Stockdale, and Snodgrass’ curling shot 60 seconds later flew across the goalkeeper and inches wide of his far post.
Already, the smell of blood was apparent to Grayson’s players and their attitude seemed fearless. A counter-attack covering the full length of the pitch ended with Max Gradel carrying Snodgrass’ crossfield pass into the box and dragging the ball beyond Ipswich’s goal, and Stockdale blocked a McCormack finish with his chest after Tom Lees evaded the nervous Aaron Cresswell and hooked a cross onto the Scot’s head. From five yards out, the chance was gift-wrapped.
Ipswich took 23 minutes to muster any type of response, and even then the moment was wasted when Andrews mishit a volley on the edge of the box. The space for him was created by Daryl Muphy’s flicked header but dependent too on Patrick Kisnobro’s slow reaction to Andrews’ run. An error seemed to be Ipswich’s most likely route to Andy Lonergan, the one passenger in United’s team before half-time.
By the 27th minute, when Grant Leadbitter fouled Adam Clayton and Gradel grazed the side-netting with a neat set-piece, the blank scoreline had the capacity to worry Grayson.
The briefest sniff of a goal at Lonergan’s end of the field came shortly after as Ibrahima Sonko nodded Mark Kennedy’s long free-kick over the bar, but any concern felt by Grayson faded immediately as McCormack scored the goal Leeds had threatened for the duration of the opening half-hour.
The forward drifted into another dangerous position in front of Stockdale and rose to cushion a delivery from Snodgrass into one corner of Ipswich’s net.
A short and unconvincing advance on Lonergan in the closing minutes of the half did not prevent booing amongst the crowd when the interval arrived.
Neither they nor Grayson could foresee the change in the wind instigated by White’s dismissal. The young defender lost control of a high clearance and dragged down Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, giving D’Urso the right to show him a straight red card.
The only consolation for Grayson was the referee’s view that White’s offence had taken place a foot outside Lonergan’s box.
In a flurry of tactical jousting, Grayson replaced McCormack with Andy O’Brien and Jewell refreshed his midfield by calling on Bullard and Josh Carson. Lonergan prevented a quick equaliser by diving to punch away Andrews’ 20-yard drive.
Ipswich continued to descend on Grayson’s defence and the battle lines were drawn far from Stockdale’s goal. United’s appeared to be holding on until Kisnorbo stepped off Scotland and gave Ipswich’s third substitute room to crack a lethal shot to the left of Lonergan, lifting the gloom that was gathering ominously around Portman Road.
D’Urso did his bit to banish it further when he ignored a risky tackle by Carlos Edwards on Gradel inside Ipswich’s box, and Andrews’ finish in the 90th minute left the crowd in as much disbelief as Leeds as the ball was carried over Lonergan from 20 yards by a fierce deflection off the boot of Clayton.
“This isn’t a night to analyse things,” said a relieved Jewell. “It’s a night for saying ‘thank Christ for that.”
Ipswich Town v Leeds United: Whites left to rue their luck
A week is a long time in football, as Ipswich Town cannot fail to realise. It is nothing like the length of the fortnight in which Leeds United will dwell on a perplexing defeat.
The charitable streak in Simon Grayson told him that of the two managers thrown together at Portman Road on Saturday, Paul Jewell was most in need of whatever luck existed. Devoid of any on a night of humiliation at Peterborough United, Jewell’s hands were suddenly full of it.
Ipswich’s manager cracked a knowing smile after their 2-1 win over Leeds, counting his blessings in full. Grayson looked crushed by a scoreline which, in his view and those of others around him, beggared belief. “No-one leaving this stadium can say we deserved to lose,” he said, a defiant claim in the face of a travesty. When it came to bemoaning his luck, United’s boss did not know where to start.
Top of the charge-sheet was a red card shown to his left-back Aidan White, issued at a time when Leeds were a goal to the good and apparently untouchable. Without White’s 49th-minute dismissal, the result might have given rise to speculation about the first sacking of the season, but respite for Jewell came in spite of Ipswich’s many flaws. He will breathe easier because of it.
His back four looked vulnerable before Saturday’s game, exposed by appalling losses to Peterborough and Southampton, and no help was forthcoming from Grayson, a close acquaintance of his. It came instead from a sending off that Jewell himself struggled to justify.
Grayson disputed it angrily and also argued with Andy D’Urso’s refusal to award a penalty for a foul on Max Gradel with the score at 1-1 and the clock on 86 minutes. “It looked like a penalty to me,” admitted Jewell.
There was little for Grayson to say about the winning goal in the final minute of the match, claimed by Keith Andrews but the product of a wild deflection.
Earlier, United had taken the lead through Ross McCormack’s 34th-minute header and waltzed around the pitch before half-time. That a solitary goal materialised in a one-sided period of the game was ultimately to their cost.
Ipswich’s attempts to exploit White’s red card were negated for a while but Jason Scotland found a gap in Leeds’ defences in the 77th minute, forcing an equaliser with the sharpest of finishes. The completion of Ipswich’s victory was a more dubious process and, deflated in his dug-out, Grayson oozed frustration. For all the strain on Jewell, his team reached the international break with six points to show. Leeds have only four.
Jewell was frank enough to describe the second half of Ipswich’s 7-1 rout in Peterborough seven days previously as “the hardest 45 minutes I’ve had to endure” and three signings in the 48 hours before Saturday’s match were indicative of a pensive manager.
His club’s pulling-power showed in the selection of two players approached by Leeds before the season began, Andrews and David Stockdale. A hamstring strain accounted for Lee Bowyer but the talented Jimmy Bullard took up a seat on the bench, explaining why Grayson preferred to disregard Ipswich’s week from hell and avoid a sense of false security.
More assurance came from the recovery from injury of White and Tom Lees, allowing Grayson to use the same group of 11 players as he did for United’s meeting with West Ham. Disappointed though Ramon Nunez was to find himself on the periphery again, he cannot have been surprised. The collective performance at Upton Park overrode his goals in the Carling Cup.
Warm sunshine greeted Leeds on their arrival at Portman Road but a violent shower in the half-hour before kick-off rendered the pitch sodden. A wet surface contributed to a loose start but United saw pleasing evidence of Ipswich’s fragility twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Robert Snodgrass cut open Jewell’s defence at the first attempt, feeding McCormack with a chipped pass which the striker struck against the legs of Stockdale, and Snodgrass’ curling shot 60 seconds later flew across the goalkeeper and inches wide of his far post.
Already, the smell of blood was apparent to Grayson’s players and their attitude seemed fearless. A counter-attack covering the full length of the pitch ended with Max Gradel carrying Snodgrass’ crossfield pass into the box and dragging the ball beyond Ipswich’s goal, and Stockdale blocked a McCormack finish with his chest after Tom Lees evaded the nervous Aaron Cresswell and hooked a cross onto the Scot’s head. From five yards out, the chance was gift-wrapped.
Ipswich took 23 minutes to muster any type of response, and even then the moment was wasted when Andrews mishit a volley on the edge of the box. The space for him was created by Daryl Muphy’s flicked header but dependent too on Patrick Kisnobro’s slow reaction to Andrews’ run. An error seemed to be Ipswich’s most likely route to Andy Lonergan, the one passenger in United’s team before half-time.
By the 27th minute, when Grant Leadbitter fouled Adam Clayton and Gradel grazed the side-netting with a neat set-piece, the blank scoreline had the capacity to worry Grayson.
The briefest sniff of a goal at Lonergan’s end of the field came shortly after as Ibrahima Sonko nodded Mark Kennedy’s long free-kick over the bar, but any concern felt by Grayson faded immediately as McCormack scored the goal Leeds had threatened for the duration of the opening half-hour.
The forward drifted into another dangerous position in front of Stockdale and rose to cushion a delivery from Snodgrass into one corner of Ipswich’s net.
A short and unconvincing advance on Lonergan in the closing minutes of the half did not prevent booing amongst the crowd when the interval arrived.
Neither they nor Grayson could foresee the change in the wind instigated by White’s dismissal. The young defender lost control of a high clearance and dragged down Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, giving D’Urso the right to show him a straight red card.
The only consolation for Grayson was the referee’s view that White’s offence had taken place a foot outside Lonergan’s box.
In a flurry of tactical jousting, Grayson replaced McCormack with Andy O’Brien and Jewell refreshed his midfield by calling on Bullard and Josh Carson. Lonergan prevented a quick equaliser by diving to punch away Andrews’ 20-yard drive.
Ipswich continued to descend on Grayson’s defence and the battle lines were drawn far from Stockdale’s goal. United’s appeared to be holding on until Kisnorbo stepped off Scotland and gave Ipswich’s third substitute room to crack a lethal shot to the left of Lonergan, lifting the gloom that was gathering ominously around Portman Road.
D’Urso did his bit to banish it further when he ignored a risky tackle by Carlos Edwards on Gradel inside Ipswich’s box, and Andrews’ finish in the 90th minute left the crowd in as much disbelief as Leeds as the ball was carried over Lonergan from 20 yards by a fierce deflection off the boot of Clayton.
“This isn’t a night to analyse things,” said a relieved Jewell. “It’s a night for saying ‘thank Christ for that.”
