Leeds United 5 Huddersfield Town 1: McCormack hat-trick for troubled Whites
Yorkshire Evening Post 1/2/14A farcical week at Leeds United ended in astonishment and light relief as the managerless club claimed a classy 5-1 win over Huddersfield Town at Elland Road.
United secured a crushing victory despite the damaging effects of a spectacular crisis in which Brian McDermott was sacked as boss and the club descended into chaos amid a takeover planned by Italian businessman Massimo Cellino.
The Cagliari owner has agreed to buy a 75 per cent stake from current owner Gulf Finance House - a buy-out which is still to be officially signed and ratified - and he watched from the East Stand as a Ross McCormack hat-trick helped earn Leeds three points.
The match at Elland Road played out less than 24 hours after Cellino dramatically dismissed McDermott and left the club in disarray.
Much of today’s drama occurred before kick-off as it emerged that GFH was bizarrely fighting to bring McDermott back to the club after his sudden dismissal.
The Bahraini bank saw McDermott sacked by Cellino despite the fact that the deal between them is still officially incomplete.
GFH tried to reverse his ruthless decision this morning, claiming Cellino had made it without holding the necessary authority. McDermott was offered a seat in a corporate box in the East Stand for today’s derby but stayed away after taking legal advice.
A plan that Gianluca Festa, a close ally of Cellino’s, would lead the team against Huddersfield was also revoked and McDermott’s assistant, Nigel Gibbs, took the touchline as caretaker boss alongside first-team coach Neil Redfearn.
The shambles drew a big crowd to Elland Road and Leeds responded first to a fiery atmosphere. A lovely backheel from McCormack in the fifth-minute launched an attack which Jimmy Kebe and Rudolph Austin continued, teeing up Cameron Stewart for a shot which the winger curled wide.
Huddersfield took time to settle but threatened for the first time on 13 minutes when a slick moved forced Sam Byram to dispossess Danny Ward with a fine sliding tackle inside the box, just as Ward shaped to shoot.
Town soon took control and Oliver Norwood hit the post with a shot from 20 yards before Byram’s interception prevented Nahki Wells from claiming a tap-in.
But the visitors opened the scoring on 24 minutes when Ward picked the ball up in space on the corner of United’s box and lashed a volley past Paddy Kenny.
Murray Wallace was unlucky not to score a second as his overhead kick deflected against Kenny’s legs, and Wells shot wide with only Kenny to beat. But McCormack snatched an equaliser on the very stroke of half-time when he poked the ball home as Huddersfield made a mess of Byram’s long ball.
And United took advantage of the swing in momentum as Jimmy Kebe struck again five minutes into the second half, running onto McCormack’s flick and chipping a shot over Alex Smithies.
Wells missed another great chance soon after, failing to connect with a cross with an exposed goal in front of him and Ward stabbed an effort wide from a position where he should have scored in the 58th minute.
But McCormack claimed his second goal of the game and killed the match five minutes later, running in to slip home Byram’s delivery after a quick counter-attack.
McCormack rounded of a fine performance and his hat-trick when he arrived on 75 minutes to tuck away a low centre from Stewart and Mowatt chipped in a fifth goal for good measure nine minutes from time after Town goalkeeper Smithies collided with Anthony Gerrard outside the box.