Leeds United 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Leeds kicked off the new campaign in style with a 2-1 win against Brighton in what was the most hotly anticipated Elland Road season opener for years. Luke Murphy's last minute winner sealed a deserved three points for the Whites in front of a crowd of over 33,000.

Match-winner Murphy was handed his first league start alongside fellow new arrival Noel Hunt, with Brian McDermott opting for the starting eleven that many predicted. Injuries to Sam Byram, Rudy Austin and El Hadji Diouf ensured that the side almost picked itself, with Peltier continuing at right back and Michael Tonge starting in central midfield alongside Murphy and Green. Oscar Garcia's first Brighton team selection saw new signing Matt Upson start at centre half with key man Will Buckley benched in favour of Andrea Orlandi. Another new arrival at the AMEX, Kemy Agustien, was also named amongst the substitutes with Garcia instead opting for a central midfield pairing of Liam Bridcutt and Andrew Crofts.

A winning start you felt was imperative for McDermott's Whites and a winning start could only be helped by a good start to the match. It was the visitors however who had the first meaningful strike on goal but Orlandi's long distance effort was beaten away by Paddy Kenny. Leeds threatened down the other end but some good defending meant chances for McCormack and Murphy were charged down. The first goal of the afternoon came on thirteen minutes and it came, unsurprisingly, for the Seagulls. Despite looking comfortable, as usual Leeds' defences were flimsy and Leonardo Ulloa found space to sweep home Bruno's driven cross into the roof of the net. Contrastingly to last year, the boosted Elland Road faithful reacted positively, encouraging a response from the home side. The response came inside five minutes. A move down the right had seemingly died down until excellent work from Michael Tonge kept it alive. His ball into the box was poorly dealt with by the visitors and Ross McCormack did well to finish under Kuszczak with his left foot. The celebration said from both fans and players said it all; there was both more passion and optimism on display today than there was throughout the whole of last season. Once back level, Leeds continued to press and Luke Murphy was unlucky to not connect properly with a strike from distance which went just wide. Noel Hunt also clipped an effort wide after a good header down by Varney as the curtain closed on Leeds' first half of the new season. Better was the general consensus.
         

My half time was warmed, literally, by my doting mother spilling tea down the back of my brand new Leeds shirt. I wasn't best pleased. Similarly to my back, Leeds were also now hotting up and applied early pressure in the first half without creating a killer opportunity. Varney fizzed a shot wide but for fifteen minutes or so, pressure in the visitor's half was leading to disappointment in the final third. Brighton had the best chance but Paddy Kenny was again at his best to produce a fine double save from Inigo Calderon. In order to freshen things up, McDermott replaced Noel Hunt with Dominic Poleon, a move that nearly reaped an instant reward with the young striker's turn and shot inching just wide. Leeds' man of the match simply had to be a toss-up between Luke Murphy and Paul Green and you felt one moment could decide the verdict. Green had his chance first. After more good work, Poleon forced a good save from Kuszczak with the rebound being brought down wonderfully by Green. The shot however was a disappointment as the Irish midfielder fired over when hitting the target was all it needed to score. Leeds nearly paid for Green's miss instantly, but were again thankful to Kenny, who made the save of the afternoon to deny Ulloa's goal-bound header.

If Green's man of the match-winning moment had by-passed, Murphy's hadn't. With the game heading towards its final seconds, a draw was looking the only likely outcome. But Leeds, and Murphy, weren't finished just yet. After a long ball forward deep into the Brighton box, substitute Matt Smith did what he does best by nodding the ball down dangerously in the box. It was Murphy, the £1,000,000 summer signing who reacted quickest, bringing the ball down and finishing past the despairing Kuszczak. A hand may have been used to control the ball inititally but none of the 32,000 delirious home supporters gave it a single thought. The act completed a fairly disappointing day for the referee, but an excellent one for the home side.

It would be hard to fault anyone connected with the club today, with every player, member of staff and fan contributing to the outcome. The reaction at full time spoke volumes in a moment where everyone connected with the club inside Elland Road was, as David Haigh puts it, united. Even Lee Peltier gave it the big old fist-pump; I'm sure stripping him of the captaincy and telling him to enjoy himself a bit more would sort out his questionable performances. McDermott was quick to thank the Elland Road faithful in his post-match interview. That's the simple thing about football Brian. You do your bit, we'll do ours.