Leeds United 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

The points were shared in Saturday's Yorkshire derby between two sides with the cloud of last October's clash at Hillsborough still hanging over their heads. The match, far less bitter but equally as well fought finished one apiece, with a moment of magic from Ross McCormack cancelling out Kamil Zayatte's first half header. It ensured that Leeds continued their unbeaten start to the season, whilst Sheffield Wednesday picked up their first point of the new campaign.

Four points from two tough opening games was an excellent start for Brian McDermott, who made one change from last weekends stalemate at Leicester. Dom Poleon was given the nod ahead of Noel Hunt, whilst El Hadji Diouf returned to the bench.The visitors had fared considerably worse in their first two games however; a narrow and somewhat unlucky defeat on the opening day at Loftus Road preceded a 2-1 defeat at home to Burnley. Dave Jones made three changes to last week's side, opting for Lewis Buxton, Giles Coke and Chris Maguire in place of Semedo, Maghoma and Floro. The latter was dropped altogether, whilst the other two made the bench.

The inclusion of Poleon ensured that Leeds had a pacy outlet to use against Sheffield Wednesday's solid but slow central half pairing of Zayatte and Gardner. It was utilised from the outset, particularly down the left, where balls through the channels from Warnock repeatedly sent Poleon or Varney in behind the Wednesday back four. The youngster's pace is unbelievable and his potential is undoubted, but his lack of experience continues to shows with his greed which is unforgivable. Numerous chances were to come to nothing in a frustrating first half for the home side, as the visitors' back four dealt with Poleon's over-egged runs with ease. Leeds were applying pressure with both full backs getting forward well but were being let down  as usual with some poor final deliveries. Balls were ricocheting around the visitors' area and Kirkland reacted well mid-way through the first half to deny a tame effort from Varney hit from a narrow angle. Down the other end, the pin-ball continued and Paddy Kenny somehow managed to keep out Nuhiu's goal-bound header. Kirkland was at his best on the half hour mark. Ross McCormack, subject to hoards of transfer speculation, finally found some space around the Owls' area and his excellent chip was acrobatically turned over by the Wednesday keeper. Despite their pressure, the home side were made to pay for their weekly lack of creativity as the visitors took a surprise lead. Two Leeds defenders failed to win their aerial duels, as a deep corner was nodded back across goal before Zayatte found the back of the net with a looping header. As usual, it was far too easy. Wednesday should have been 2-0 up almost instantly with another corner causing huge problems, but Antonio headed wide at the far post. Incredibly original songs about Dave Jones were silenced as the home side went into the half time break behind. 

Leeds had found themselves 1-0 down against the same opposition at Elland Road in April, in Brian McDermott's first game in charge. April and the famous "new manager syndrome" seemed a long way away at half time as it was hard to see the Whites pulling level, never mind completing the come-back. McDermott attempted to change things up by introducing Michael Tonge in place of the ineffective Paul Green, a move that paid dividends with the ex-Sheffield United midfielder becoming influential from the outset. Leeds went close early on but after good build-up play, Luke Murphy fired over from outside the area. You felt that Leeds' key players had to step up and, after a quiet game, Ross McCormack did just that. The Scot picked up the ball in space on halfway before pushing the ball behind Zayatte and beating him, showing pace that nobody inside the ground knew he was capable of. The finish was equally as good as the run, slotting the ball beneath Kirkland to draw the home side level. It was probably no more than they deserved.

Naturally the game opened up after the equaliser and Michael Tonge and Ross McCormack both were denied by some good defending. Most of the pressure was being applied by the home side but the Owls were looking extremely dangerous on the break and after a mazy run, Antonio was denied well by Paddy Kenny. Both managers had used up their attacking options, with Smith, Diouf, and Maghoma all being introduced but none of them could assert any influence on the game. Luke Murphy came closest for Leeds but his tame effort was gathered easily by Kirkland but the best chance in the dying minutes fell to the visitors. A goal-mouth scramble in the Leeds area was somehow dealt with by the home side thanks to some heroic defending by the outstanding Jason Pearce, ensuring that the points, perhaps deservedly, were shared.

Positives for the home side centred around the continuation of the unbeaten start, an epitomization that perhaps, under McDermott, we're harder to beat. Individual performances in attacking areas as usual weren't great, but defensively we were again impressive. Lee Peltier had an outstanding game, arguably his best in a Leeds shirt for a long time, whilst Jason Pearce's commitment to the cause can never be doubted. Green, Murphy and Austin worked hard for little reward, Varney's work-rate was faultless and McCormack chipped in with a crucial goal despite not playing well. A disappointing point, but the performance was there, kind of.