Guardian 11/3/12
Robert Snodgrass ends Leeds goal drought as Middlesbrough fall short
Middlesbrough 0 Leeds United 2
Louise Taylor at the Riverside Stadium
The Championship's promotion pretenders will be glancing, nervously, over their shoulders after Neil Warnock's first win as Leeds United's manager propelled his new side back into play-off contention.
Although Leeds remain 10th they are only four points behind sixth-placed Cardiff and six points short of Middlesbrough, who stay fourth. If a top-two position looks well out of reach, few would bet against a Warnock side prevailing in the play-offs.
On a soothingly soporific March day so untypically mild that the visiting manager patrolled his technical area wearing a T-shirt, Tony Mowbray's Boro played as if half asleep. To make matters worse, a frustrated Barry Robson was controversially shown a straight red card late in the second half and will be suspended for three matches.
The familiar strains of "Marching on together" were soon ringing around the Riverside as Leeds fans celebrated the first goal of the Warnock era. As this was the fourth game under Warnock's management one was overdue and it duly arrived thanks to the influential Robert Snodgrass.
When Darren O'Dea launched a long ball forward it was brought down and crossed low by Aidan White, leaving Snograss to direct a shot beyond Jason Steele.
If Joe Bennett, Middlesbrough's uncharacteristically shaky left-back, might have done better against White, the goalkeeper should surely have denied Snodgrass but the way Steele subsequently made a point of shielding his eyes from the low, unseasonably warm March sun suggested he may have been dazzled by its brightness. Either that or he was getting his excuses in early.
Poor Steele was beaten again before half-time. This time Luciano Becchio's low shot was too good for him following the striker's slick, defender-confounding exchange of passes with Ross McCormack. As Warnock celebrated with customary abandon Justin Hoyte hung his head. Mowbray's disappointing right-back knew he should have cut out McCormack's dispatch.
A long way short of their best, Boro were handicapped by the cramping of Robson's customary right-sided midfield style. Inhibited partly by the need to keep an eye on the dangerous Snodgrass and partly by Paul Robinson's defensive attentions, Robson was far from his usually dynamic presence. That said, well into the first half he did deliver Boro's first shot on target, Andy Lonergan doing well to push his fierce volley away for a rare corner.
Otherwise the Leeds goalkeeper was generally well protected by a defence that has tightened appreciably since Warnock's arrival. On the odd occasions when O'Dea and Tom Lees got themselves in a tangle Robinson, newly arrived on loan from Bolton, raced across from left-back to sort things out.
It all spelled frustration for Mowbray's well-policed strikers, Marvin Emnes and Lukas Jutkiewicz, although the latter did direct a close-range header into Lonergan's arms. Warnock's side weathered a spell of fairly intense, if rather blunt, second-half Boro pressure but the home side – who saw the substitute Kevin Thomson taken off after receiving an accidental boot in the face from Adam Clayton – never seriously tested Lonergan.
It got worse for Mowbray when Robson was sent off for raising a retaliatory arm then kicking out slightly during a tussle with Clayton, who was booked. Boro's day was subsequently summed up when Seb Hines missed a sitter from two yards.
All that remained was for choruses of "One Neil Warnock, only one Neil Warnock" to echo in the spring air as, arms folded, Mowbray contemplated his highly polished shoes.
Robert Snodgrass ends Leeds goal drought as Middlesbrough fall short
Middlesbrough 0 Leeds United 2
Louise Taylor at the Riverside Stadium
The Championship's promotion pretenders will be glancing, nervously, over their shoulders after Neil Warnock's first win as Leeds United's manager propelled his new side back into play-off contention.
Although Leeds remain 10th they are only four points behind sixth-placed Cardiff and six points short of Middlesbrough, who stay fourth. If a top-two position looks well out of reach, few would bet against a Warnock side prevailing in the play-offs.
On a soothingly soporific March day so untypically mild that the visiting manager patrolled his technical area wearing a T-shirt, Tony Mowbray's Boro played as if half asleep. To make matters worse, a frustrated Barry Robson was controversially shown a straight red card late in the second half and will be suspended for three matches.
The familiar strains of "Marching on together" were soon ringing around the Riverside as Leeds fans celebrated the first goal of the Warnock era. As this was the fourth game under Warnock's management one was overdue and it duly arrived thanks to the influential Robert Snodgrass.
When Darren O'Dea launched a long ball forward it was brought down and crossed low by Aidan White, leaving Snograss to direct a shot beyond Jason Steele.
If Joe Bennett, Middlesbrough's uncharacteristically shaky left-back, might have done better against White, the goalkeeper should surely have denied Snodgrass but the way Steele subsequently made a point of shielding his eyes from the low, unseasonably warm March sun suggested he may have been dazzled by its brightness. Either that or he was getting his excuses in early.
Poor Steele was beaten again before half-time. This time Luciano Becchio's low shot was too good for him following the striker's slick, defender-confounding exchange of passes with Ross McCormack. As Warnock celebrated with customary abandon Justin Hoyte hung his head. Mowbray's disappointing right-back knew he should have cut out McCormack's dispatch.
A long way short of their best, Boro were handicapped by the cramping of Robson's customary right-sided midfield style. Inhibited partly by the need to keep an eye on the dangerous Snodgrass and partly by Paul Robinson's defensive attentions, Robson was far from his usually dynamic presence. That said, well into the first half he did deliver Boro's first shot on target, Andy Lonergan doing well to push his fierce volley away for a rare corner.
Otherwise the Leeds goalkeeper was generally well protected by a defence that has tightened appreciably since Warnock's arrival. On the odd occasions when O'Dea and Tom Lees got themselves in a tangle Robinson, newly arrived on loan from Bolton, raced across from left-back to sort things out.
It all spelled frustration for Mowbray's well-policed strikers, Marvin Emnes and Lukas Jutkiewicz, although the latter did direct a close-range header into Lonergan's arms. Warnock's side weathered a spell of fairly intense, if rather blunt, second-half Boro pressure but the home side – who saw the substitute Kevin Thomson taken off after receiving an accidental boot in the face from Adam Clayton – never seriously tested Lonergan.
It got worse for Mowbray when Robson was sent off for raising a retaliatory arm then kicking out slightly during a tussle with Clayton, who was booked. Boro's day was subsequently summed up when Seb Hines missed a sitter from two yards.
All that remained was for choruses of "One Neil Warnock, only one Neil Warnock" to echo in the spring air as, arms folded, Mowbray contemplated his highly polished shoes.