Leeds Championship Play-Off Final Wembley Won 0 – 1 We are Premiere League
Cup finals are great set-piece occasions, but, particularly in the case of the doyen cup final, as run by the F.A., not every spectator is necessarily committed to one side or the other. That’s certainly not true in the case of a sell-out play-off final, and we had a stadium split equally between Leeds fans, looking splendid in their white flecked with blue and yellow, while Southampton’s followers adopted a perfect mixture of red and white (bad choice if you opted for the black shirts as worn by the team – they don’t stand out). Not surprisingly, our starting XI was unchanged in a formation we seemed to have first tried as an experiment at Elland Road, going on to deliver there, and also in the semi finals. Leeds, though, started on the front foot and it took a while for Saints to get a hold in what was nevertheless a tight game as both teams struggled to create chances. Then, on 24 minutes, a swift exchange of passes led to the ball coming to Smallbone who instantly played it forward for Armstrong who was trying one of his offside-busting runs across the back line, and now found himself clear; Armstrong probably struck his shot just as he intended, and it was certainly placed well enough to beat Meslier’s dive without exactly breaking the net – was I the only one reminded of Bobby Stokes’ finish at the old Wembley? A second goal before the break would have been wonderful, and a late corner provided an opportunity; all attention was on the centre backs, but Armstrong peeled off for a shorter routine that produced a shot parried by Meslier, but not into the path of any in black, and Fraser had to take a caution ‘for the team’ to prevent a breakaway. Saints opened the second period well with Stephens having a shot blocked. To be honest, I can’t really figure Stephens’ role in our late-season formation as it varies so much and the best analogy I can find is with Franz Beckenbauer – yes, ‘if only,’ but this is Southampton, these are Championship opponents and, heck, it does seem to work! Leeds soon began to establish a dangerous dominance and McCarthy was pleased to see Summerville’s shot beat the angle of post and bar because he was struggling to cover it. Summerville and Gnonto have been behind most of United’s good moments this season but the Southampton system frustrates them and Gnonto was the first Leeds player to make way, replaced by James. Saints had already brought on Edozie for the injured Brooks and they were next to make a change, Adams for Fraser, in turn prompting Summerville to go off as well. It was odd that Saints should alter their shape but maybe
Manager Martin thought that we needed to try to relieve pressure on the back line; it might have worked had Edozie been on target with a very presentable opportunity. James was proving to be a handful at the other end and he had the game’s second best shot at goal when he clattered the bar, McCarthy clearly beaten. By now the clock had moved on to 86 minutes so the Premier League was definitely in sight, especially after McCarthy saved from James in added time. 102 minutes were up when the end finally came, prompting wild scenes of celebration amongst the players and staff; Lumley, who played zero minutes of the Championship campaign, was more up for it than most, but even Sulemana seemed to be enjoying himself. A memorable end to a league season of 49 games of various descriptions, and now there’s the land of VAR to look forward to. Good luck, lads.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
1. Alex McCarthy. It has to be said that Bazunu’s injury did us a favour – I wouldn’t have fancied Gavin’s chances with James’ low shot to the keeper’s left.
5. Jack Stephens, wherever he was supposed to be playing. And he got to lift the, er, third place cup!
9. Adam Armstrong. His goal proved to be worth a fortune.
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