One of the most fitting tributes following the 10th anniversary of the death of the great Billy Bremner was that the man wearing his famous number 4 shirt, Jonathan Douglas opened the scoring against Huddersfield Town.
Following the tremendous minutes applause for the clubs former captain, those who were located behind the Huddersfield goal would have had cause for complaint as they sat through 23-shot free minutes as Leeds Untied struggled to get anywhere fast.
Come minute number 24, United finally burst into life as Jonathan Douglas, wearing Billy’s famous number 4 shirt and the captains armband picked up a loose clearance 25 yards out from goal before releasing a low shot on goal. Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies will have been disappointed to have failed to keep out a shot that whist lacking any considerable power, still managed to evade his flailing arm.
Huddersfield tried to hit back as best they could, however Phil Jevons’ ambitious attempt from 40 yards went flashing past the far post with Ankergren scrambling across goal.
Four minutes into the second half, Leeds United had doubled their lead due to another incident that must leave Town fans wondering what their goalkeeper has been doing during training sessions. Good work on the left side of midfield between Kandol and Prutton saw the former Nottingham Forest midfielder fire a low cross along the 6 yard line.
With Smithies expecting the ball to harmlessly roll into his arms, Beckford stole in at the near post turning the ball into the net before the combination of goalkeeper and defender had quite realised what had happened.
High Five! for Beckford, Wa Wa Woo Wa for Mr Smithies!
Goal number 3 for Leeds United killed the game off nicely, as Jermaine Beckford hoofed the ball over the top of his own head for Ian Westlake to run onto who cut the ball back for Prutton who found his excellent shot well matched by the Huddersfield keeper, however Beckford was on hand to turn in the loose ball.
Tore-Andre Flo rounded things off as the impressive Beckford drew a wonder-save from keeper Smithies, only for the ball to drop to substitute striker Tore-Andre Flo to finish with confidence, his second in appearences from the United bench.
Match Reaction:
Opening scorer Jonathan Douglas was delighted to have scored on a day that can only be described as ‘Billy’s Day.’ He told Leedsunited.com:
‘It was probably in the stars really, to score. To wear the number four and be captain.
‘To captain a club of this size is an unbelievable thing, and it’s something that I will always look on.
‘It was a big occasion for everyone, but it was probably one of our best performances of the season. We battled well, created some good chances, and scored a few goals.’
Leeds United boss Dennis Wise was equally as delighted, though somewhat baffled that it took Douglas’ long-range strike to show for the effort put in his side in the first 25 minutes of the match: “It was fantastic,” said the boss ‘It was a fantastic atmosphere and a good game.
‘It was a very enjoyable afternoon. We played very well and I was very pleased with the way we performed.
‘It took us 24 minutes to have a shot on goal which I was a bit puzzled about, but overall, we were a lot better than them.
‘The commitment, the goals, and the clean sheet was all terrific.
Vital Leeds United member Dazza71 was at the game and his match report, along with his Leeds United shirt that he won in our competition, coming up!
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Huddersfield Town boss Andy Ritchie told of the painful defeat at the hands of their Yorkshire Rivals: “It’s very painful. We played very well in the first-half but we’ve not really tested them at all in the second. Our final ball into the box wasn’t good enough, theirs was and we paid the price.
“We were very upbeat in the changing room at half-time and we felt that we could get the game back and get something out of it. I can’t really remember them having a shot at Alex, but they’ve scored four goals. The first goal was the only real shot.
“It’s disappointing because of all the good play we had and all the good situations we created. We never really tested them.”
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