Walsall 1-2 Leeds United (League One/Third Division)
First win at Banks’s for United
Dramatic last eleven minutes decide the game
Higgs – Crowe, Kisnorbo, Marques, Hughes (Robinson) – Snodgrass (Prutton), Howson (c), Doyle (Kilkenny), Johnson – Becchio, Beckford. Unused subs: – Ankergren, Michalik, Grella, Showumni.
Goals: – (LUFC) Johnson (83), Beckford (87) – (WFC) Parkin (79, pen)
Att: – 8,483
A stunning winner three minutes from time by Jermaine Beckford handed Leeds all three points as the visitors ensured one of the most unlikely endings to a game happened in many a while.
Beckford had no right to win a long clearance by Marques but his perseverance paid off as Walsall defender Smith could only half clear, allowing an alert Beckford to react quickest and latch on to the free ball before rifling it into the bottom left-hand corner past Clayton Ince’s dive (87).
As recently as eight minutes earlier, such a scenario as unthinkable for all except the most optimistic of the near 4,000 Leeds fans packed into the Banks’s Stadium, as a drab game exploded into life following a Walsall penalty, given for a foul against Rui Marques after he tackled both Steve Jones and the ball in the penalty area.
It was a harsh decision for which Marques was penalised but Sam Parkin did not quibble and dispatched the gift, driving the ball directly down the centre of goal, past the left-diving Higgs (79).
Leeds hit back four minutes later from a Robinson corner which was met with a diving header past the static Walsall defence by the late arriving Bradley Johnson, with two defenders unable to stop the ball crossing the line (83) before Beckford sealed the points to the delirium of the Leeds faithful.
It was harsh on Walsall who although not creating clear chances had certainly done enough to earn a point from the game, but must have thought they were on their way to all three points once Parkin had broken the deadlock.
The gameplan of Chris Hutchings’s involved playing a counter attacking system with Parkin operating alone upfront supported by Jones and then midfielders once a foothold had been established in the Leodensian half.
However, once they conceded possession, to a man the Walsall team retreated to the half-way line, allowing Leeds to play with as much freedom as they wanted in their own half without ever threatening to build up momentum and create chances in the Walsall half.
To an extent the ploy worked, Leeds were frustrated and in pushing up to try and play football in the Saddlers half they left themselves potentially exposed, something the home side were keen to exploit.
Whilst Crowe was once more given a torrid time at right-back, the major talking point of the half was Rui Marques’ challenge on Sam Parkin when chasing a through ball. Parkin went to ground against the Angolan – who was the last man – but whilst Parkin’s appeals for a penalty fell on deaf ears, there was contact outside the area which the referee missed and allowed play to continue with Shane Higgs.
Although the main talking point was from a Walsall attack, the main chances fell to Leeds. Firstly Howson tried his luck testing Clayton Ince early on before Bradley Johnson’s cross saw Beckford stretch for the ball and divert it goalwards, only for Ince to make a fine save by pushing the effort onto his left-hand post and away.
Beckford was infuriated when a late flag from the linesman denied him a goalscoring opportunity before half-time when he had rounded Ince but probably to his relief, the shot was cleared before it trundled into the net.
It was obvious though that the Leeds forward was living on scant service with his partner in crime Becchio more often than not dropping deep to cancel out the attempted overlapping of the Walsall full-backs and it nearly cost him and Leeds dear after half-time when he was involved in a scuffle with Steve Jones and kicked-out at the ex-Burnley and Crewe striker whilst both were on the ground.
Fortunately for Leeds, the referee took no action, but whether Beckford will be reported to the FA for this mindless act of petulance remains to be seen.
When Beckford focused on his game he was almost unplayable. The Walsall defence could not handle his movement and his willingness to shoot on site, which bought decent saves from Ince, while the latter was helpless when Beckford’s exquisite control of a through ball was not matched by his snatched shot wide of the Walsall goal despite him having more time than he possibly realised.
If Walsall were sparse as an attacking force in the first half, they made even less headway in the second half, not aided by Grayson’s willingness to swap Doyle for Kilkenny and Hughes for Robinson, thus pushing Leeds further up the field and letting them dictate the game from inside their opponents half, something Leeds were guilty of not doing until that point.
It came against the run of play then, when in their two serious attacks of the second half, Mark Hughes headed a chance wide of goal after Higgs had misjudged a cross, and then minutes later Walsall took the lead when Jones clashed with Marques in the penalty area.
The referee, mindful of the appeal he turned down in the first half was in no mood to make the same decision again in front of the Walsall support and dutifully pointed to the spot and Parkin converted.
Leeds to their credit refused to be beaten and where under previous managers would have accepted a defeat, under Grayson they launched wave of attacks directly from the kick-off after the goal, culminating in them winning a corner, which Robinson delivered with delicious curl towards the far post for the unmarked Johnson to head home.
By the time the mini-pitch celebrations by the jubilant away support had subsided Leeds were ready to try and sneak a winner, and the icing on the cake was duly applied when Beckford’s winner with just three minutes left broke Walsall hearts and teed up another pitch invasion by the almost disbelieving Leeds faithful.
By the time Snodgrass had missed a chance to seal the victory when firing wide after good approach play, the chants from two sides of the ground were sung brazenly about where Leeds were going to end the season and if this game is anything to go by, the supporters may just be correct in their predictions.
Man Of The Match: – Simon Grayson. Can’t give it to any of the team because save for the last ten minutes they were poor all around and mostly kept in check by a diligent Walsall. Grayson’s substitutions and system tweaking turned the game, with the base camp being built for the final assault before Walsall had taken the lead.
