Fresh from the back of the excitement of the Blackburn game and having missed the previous two away games due to work, I couldn't wait. However with star man Ross McCormack injured, I doubted our attacking credentials and fancied us to lose; so much so that I placed Hull City on an ambitious accumulator of away wins. I was also sat in the South stand for the first time since goals from David Healy and Jonathan Douglas sealed a 2-1 win against Coventry back in 2007.
Despite the negative feeling, there was certainly the belief that this new team could pick up a result. The starting eleven perhaps had a little less quality than the starting eleven against Blackburn, but hopefully still had the same work-rate and desire, which as we had already seen, can go along way.
For the first ten minutes, I was impressed. We played football, we looked threatening. And we went 1-0 up. El Hadji Diouf's trickery down the right was stopped illegally by Dudgeon and after consulting his assistant, referee Roger East pointed to the penalty spot. Hull protested furiously; I thought it was maybe a little soft, but no softer than the one awarded to Cardiff last Saturday. Becchio stepped up and scored. Good start.
We then went on to create chances. A combination of Ben Amos and the Hull centre halves prevented Diouf from firing Leeds two ahead, before Amos eventually gathered a strike from Jamaican Rodolph Austin. But that's where the excitement ended. From the moment Sam Byram lunged in on Abdoulaye Faye, the game changed. The tackle itself went unpunished; being a referee myself I thought it looked ominously close to being a "two-footed" tackle and was dangerous enough to warrant a red card. But what do I know? Fellow Leeds fans on Twitter after the game dismissed my opinions as "nonsense". If only we could see it again.Hull grew slowly into the game, looking to have the pace and urgency that so often defeats any Leeds United side. They levelled through Sunderland loanee El-Mohamady who fired into the far corner after some more questionable Leeds defending. Five minutes later they were ahead, the dangerous El-Mohamady whipping in a cross allowing Faye to nod in an un-marked header. After that, everything went flat, the game drifted into stale-mate and the half time whistle provided a welcome break from what was another diabolical Leeds performance.
The Orange 3G on my phone was doing a good job of letting me down as I frantically scoured the Sky Sports Score Centre to see how my accumulator was doing. Despite Hull's efforts, my "away wins" bet was struggling, Hartlepool's ambitious odds of 4-1 reflecting their chance of winning; they were already 2-0 down and went on to lose 5-0. Smart bet Josh, smart bet. My home wins accumulator was looking more positive, with Blackburn's equaliser at home to Barnsley ensuring that a few were winning and a few were drawing going into the half time break.
Sadly, the football started again and continued in the same fashion; Hull looking lively, Leeds looking ragged. The introduction of Dom Poleon brightened things up slightly, the youngster making some promising runs and even forcing a simple save from Amos. But it was Hull that, as expected, scored again. Good work down the right saw El Mohamady (again) deliver from the right and (again), it was a Hull man who was un-marked at the back-post to finish. This time it was the impressive Koren who had the gift of scoring at Elland Road. With no performance and no atmosphere, I even found time to pick out certain friends in various stands. I was that bored.
The abysmal Luke Varney was jeered off and replaced by the equally abysmal Andy Gray. But it was the "no goals a season man" who lifted the crowd off their feet, nodding in a Diouf free-kick to rally the Leeds faithful again. Sadly it was all in vain and a wide Lee Peltier strike signalled the end of the game and the first home defeat this season. The first of many?
In truth, we were awful. Genuinely awful. But it would be harsh to take everything away from Hull. Determined and well-organised, their back three looked strong, with the impressive James Chester the stand-out. Going forward they always looked a threat. Jay Simpson impressed me the most with a number of skilful runs through the heart of our midfield and defence; that isn't particularly difficult mind. El Mohamady would probably have taken the man of the match award; a goal and two assists making him the jewel in Hull's crown.
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| I really like Robert Lewandowski. |
My night was to improve as my best friend read out scores from Blackburn, Dortmund and Chesterfield. Three winners in the last six minutes from Nuno Gomes, Terrell Forbes and Robert Lewandowski combined with wins for Tranmere, PSG and Gillingham to provide a successful accumulator win. £26 is hardly life-changing...enough to buy Leeds a new striker maybe.
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