Leeds United 2 AFC Bournemouth 1: Super sub Poleon picks off Cherries

YEP 1/10/13
by Phil Hay
It rained heavily at Elland Road last month and yesterday evening it threatened to pour. Three straight league defeats and a 1-1 scoreline against a team of 10 players was Brian McDermott’s lot after 79 minutes of a skewed clash with Bournemouth.
Disenchantment tends to come in patches and Leeds United’s manager has had his share since a win at Bolton Wanderers on September 14 but his team raised themselves from the mire last night and beat what was in front of them – a weakened team asking to be beaten.
There were sighs of relief inside Elland Road when Bournemouth’s goalkeeper, Ryan Allsop, conceded a 31st-minute penalty and drew a red card for a foul on Noel Hunt but echoes of disbelief when his replacement, Darryl Flahavan, kept Ross McCormack’s effort out of the bottom corner. It has been one of those spells for Leeds, their squad and their manager.
McCormack made amends seven minutes into the second half with a neat, sliding finish which threatened to nail besieged opposition and prevent anxiety from kicking in but Bournemouth were not finished. Lewis Grabban equalised with a computer-game volley on 73 minutes and McDermott will place no value on the reply from Dominic Poleon which put Bournemouth to the sword as time ran out. The visitors’ manager, Eddie Howe, might feel that McDermott got lucky; in the circumstances, McDermott was happy to take what he could get.
United started aggressively and ran most of the show once Bournemouth sacrificed Ryan Fraser to make room for Flahavan, and in all it was a case of the right opposition and the right scenario on a day when Leeds needed a break. McDermott might not remember this performance in years to come but he will remember the result. The keel at Elland Road is more even again.
McDermott shuffled his line-up around once more, fully aware of the need to halt the creeping death of defeat after defeat. Luke Murphy, Luke Varney and Scott Wootton stepped out of his team and Paul Green, Tom Lees and Noel Hunt stepped up, the latter in hope of his first Leeds goal. It eluded him once again.
There were positional changes too, with McCormack playing as a striker as he prefers to do and Rodolph Austin shifting out to the right wing. McDermott’s attempts to pin down a slick and dependable set-up have been endless in the past month but the dismissal of Allsop offered unexpected assistance last night. He could not have asked for more in that respect.
There were signs from the outset that Leeds would see enough of the ball to allow McCormack and Hunt to get at Eddie Howe’s defence. Bournemouth’s record in that area invited a full-out attack, the hallmark of a cavalier team with weak points everywhere.
Hunt’s first chance came after only five minutes, a header from Austin’s cross which struck a leg and bounced wide. McCormack’s early break into the box tested the reactions of Allsop, safe though his handling proved.
Little touches of class from Alex Mowatt were indicative of the start McDermott needed after a month of pain and a flurry of set-backs.
Bournemouth’s answer was to bide their time and wait for the surge to subside. Only rarely before Allsop’s red card were they allowed to knock the ball around on the edge of Leeds box, relying on Tokelo Rantie – their £2.6million South African – to weave his magic in limited pockets of space. They chipped away at Paddy Kenny’s backline without getting close to him and were nowhere near Kenny’s vicinity once Allsop took the long walk.
The opening 20 minutes made promises to the crowd but when a lengthy spell of pressure from Bournemouth subsided, the first half threatened to regress into a scrap befitting the Championship. Loose pass followed loose pass and regular errors left the game on edge. McCormack should have tucked one away in the 25th minute.
The striker was surprised to see the ball run to him after Eunan O’Kane dealt with Lee Peltier’s cross by slicing it across his own box and against the legs of Austin. The rebound flew quickly to McCormack inside the six-yard area but his shot on the turn cracked against Allsop’s legs, an impressive reaction by the keeper but a missed opportunity all the same. His repelled penalty was far worse.
Bournemouth’s attitude underlined why Howe’s defence have been so prone to concessions this season. Away from home and with the atmosphere against them, they threw players forward every time the ball dropped at their feet. But the events of the 31st minute and the dismissal of Allsop created a flow of one-way traffic.
The keeper ran out to meet Hunt after a clearance rebounded into Bournemouth’s box and he took the striker’s legs from under him as Hunt stretched for the ball.
Referee David Coote did not take long to penalise Allsop and send him off, forcing Bournemouth to scramble Flahavan – a former Leeds loanee – onto the field.
Flahavan had played nothing in way of senior football this season before last night but he anticipated a penalty from McCormack which lacked conviction and met it with one hand low to his left. Michael Tonge followed up but was beaten to the punch by Elliott Ward as Bournemouth relied on the skin of their teeth.
McDermott hung his head but saw 55 minutes remaining on the clock. Leeds set to work on Howe’s players but the urgency of their onslaught came at the cost of composure.
A stabbed effort from Austin deflected over the crossbar after Green declined to shoot from an inviting position, and Hunt and Lees bundled the ball into the crowd as players queued up to meet McCormack’s curling free-kick at the far post. McDermott kept his head down as he walked to the tunnel at half-time, doubtless ready to preach methodical football amid the madness.
Whatever he said to his players, the effect was rapid. Leeds probed again and found a way through after 52 minutes when Warnock carried Mowatt’s pass down the left wing and fed McCormack with a delightful cross. It skipped up in front of the Scot but a flick of his right boot beat Flahavan all ends up.
The strike was United’s cue to run riot but running riot is not the Leeds way or not as present. Bournemouth found a way to hang in and Grabban popped up on 73 minutes to smash a volley past Kenny after O’Kane headed on a high free-kick from Ian Harte. It was simple, direct, route-one football, and sadly for McDermott highly effective.
But Poleon, who had taken to the field as a substitute seconds before Grabban struck, proved every bit as deadly when Jason Pearce’s flick dropped to him 12 yards out in the 80th minute.
One firm hit forced the ball past Flahavan and into the side of the net, buying three points on an evening when little else mattered.