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Matches
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25
May 2008 - Doncaster Rovers 1 Leeds United 0
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League One Play-Off final - Wembley Stadium - 75,132 |
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Scorers: None |
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Doncaster Rovers: Sullivan, O'Connor, Mills, Hird, Gareth Roberts, Green, Stock, Wellens (McCammon 71), Coppinger (Guy 86), Price (Lockwood 80), Hayter |
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Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson, Huntington, Michalik, Johnson, Kilkenny, Howson, Douglas, Prutton (Kandol 69), Beckford, Freedman (Hughes 77) |
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Jonny Howson was not even a twinkle in the eye when a Leeds United side
managed by Billy Bremner appeared in the first series of Football League
Play-Offs, losing to Charlton Athletic in a replayed final in May 1987.
But it was Howson's two goals that saw United through to the League One
Play-Off final in 2008 after a thrilling fightback
against Carlisle United in the two-legged semi-final. In the week
of the final the midfielder turned 20. It was United's first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium, and they
were determined to make history as the first Whites side to win a Play-Off
final after unsuccessful attempts in 1987 and the 2006
debacle against Watford. Dougie Freedman had played a major part in United's late run to the play-offs
and his contribution was recognised by Phil Hay in a preview of the final
for the Yorkshire Evening Post: 'With three Play-Off finals lodged
in his memory bank already, Dougie Freedman does not need instructing
on the unforgiving nature of the game awaiting Leeds United at Wembley
on Sunday. A beaten finalist in 1996 but subsequently victorious on two
occasions with Crystal Palace, Freedman might be tempted to say that second
chances come to those who are prepared to wait long enough. But in London
this weekend, the 33-year-old knows the danger of expecting the reprieve
offered to Leeds by the return leg of last week's semi-final against Carlisle
United. 'Of all the lessons taken from a scintillating two-legged tie ... the
most valuable may be the warning of what will happen if the form and confidence
of Gary McAllister's players deserts them against Doncaster Rovers at
Wembley. 'United's performance at Brunton Park on Thursday amounted to their most
impressive of the season, produced under the extreme pressure of the 2-1
deficit they were carrying from the first leg and the knowledge that their
entire campaign rested on one 90-minute fixture. Jonathan Howson's goal
in the first minute of injury-time completed the 2-0 victory which saw
Carlisle beaten 3-2 on aggregate, and the display witnessed in Cumbria
was seen by both Freedman and McAllister as a direct response of the extent
to which Leeds under-performed in the first leg in Yorkshire. 'Freedman, whose 96th-minute goal at Elland Road turned the tie in United's
favour, said: "You never have a divine right to turn up and win games.
Carlisle showed us that on Monday. I felt we were well beaten but the
fortunate thing was that we had another opportunity on Thursday. From
the reaction we got there, I think it was pretty obvious that the players
had taken on board the seriousness of the situation. That was one of the
things I said to the younger lads after Monday - that the most important
factor was learning from the defeat and from their own performances. We
still had the chance to put it right and they rose to the occasion. A
few of the players are at the very start of their careers, and this will
all be a bit eye-opening for them. You can give them advice about what
to expect but they can never understand what play-off matches are like
until they're out there in the thick of it. The best lesson from the semi
finals will probably be that we won't get a 'McAllister's decision to retain all 11 of the players who started Monday's
2-1 defeat during Thursday night's victory at Brunton Park was a defining
moment in the two-legged tie, and United's manager has another difficult
call to make before Sunday's final. Alan Sheehan missed both matches against
Carlisle through a three-match suspension, but the ban concluded after
Thursday's game and he is available to feature at Wembley should McAllister
consider recalling him. The Irish defender, who has been offered a new
deal at the Walkers Stadium but is likely to be on Leeds' list of possible
signings this summer, is the only recognised left-back in United's squad,
but Bradley Johnson has operated as a makeshift defender for the last
three matches and McAllister may find it impossible to justify removing
any of the players who eliminated Carlisle from the Play-Offs.' Freedman: 'The first game against Carlisle showed us the danger of under-performing,
but I feel that we had that little bit more desire and hunger at the end
of the day. We scored in the 96th minute at Elland Road and the 91st minute
at Carlisle, and it's the same old story - if you fight to the death,
you get your reward. I don't think this set of players know when they're
beaten. Carlisle are a very good team but I'd say we wanted it slightly
more. That's a small difference but a very important one. It needs to
be the same at Wembley. I didn't come up to Leeds and leave my kids in
London at a young age to mess about, I came up here for a really serious
reason - to help the team get promotion. It's one thing to play at Wembley
but I don't think you'll remember it with much pleasure if you don't come
away with winners' medals. That's what it comes down to.' Gary McAllister chose to stick by the eleven men who had been on duty
in the semis and was hopeful they would do the business. He told BBC Radio
Leeds, 'We are 90 minutes away from what I believe would be a fantastic
achievement by this group of players. The players have worked hard to
buy into anything we have tried to get across to them. The work rate and
enthusiasm is something I knew was already here and I haven't been let
down by that. 'It's been a very hard season for the players. The 15 points was a major
blow to the lads, and then they've had to get used to a new guy coming
in and they had to buy into that. But I've never heard one word of complaint
from them and they've never felt sorry for themselves. They've just got
on with it. The players have realised over this season what the ambition
of the club is. It comes with the territory, if you want to be a player
at Leeds this is part of it. Doncaster Rovers, who had finished third in League One, were United's
opponents at Wembley, following a 5-1 demolition of Southend United in
the semi-final second leg and were fearsome opponents. They were widely regarded as the best footballing side in League One,
earning a reputation for neat possession and a wonderful passing game.
They had been in the top three since the end of January and only a shock
defeat at Cheltenham on the closing day of the campaign that saw them
miss out on the automatic promotion spot to Nottingham Forest. United's fans heavily outnumbered those of Rovers in the crowd. Rovers
had been forced to suspend sale of tickets at their ground because of
Leeds supporters besieging the Keepmoat Stadium in search of spare tickets
after United's allocation quickly sold out. Doncaster chairman John Ryan:
'The situation is both clubs were given 36,000. We were given too many
and Leeds too few. They've got a fantastic fan base. I think we sold 24,000
tickets, which is a good effort with us only having average gates of 8,000
this season. I would gladly have given Leeds the balance, or most of the
balance, but the Football League wouldn't let us because of segregation
issues which is a shame because part of Wembley will be empty when it
should be full, really, of Leeds fans.' It was estimated that the Whites fans had a 10,000 advantage over their
opposite numbers and they made themselves clearly heard when Football
League chairman Lord Mawhinney came out to be introduced to the players
before the kick off. The chorus of whistles, boos and jeers was ear-shattering
as he went along the lines. Leeds kicked off to tumultuous cheering, but could easily have been out
of it in the first fifteen minutes. Doncaster's players where sharp early
on, though Leeds had the first shot in anger when Johnson got in a long
range effort after Freedman had won a throw on the right. However, Rovers
quickly got their short passing movements going and started picking holes
in the United rearguard. Richie Wellens had been forced to leave the field for treatment during
the warm up and United had singled the playmaker out for some rough handling
early on. Douglas was lucky to escape without a booking when he clattered
into him on the left touchline in the fifth minute, but that only seemed
to provoke Rovers into upping their game. First Green danced past Douglas on the byline but Price's effort was
blocked at the near post. Then Wellens jinked along United's right goal
line and shot into the side netting with Leeds expecting a cross. Another
smart interpassing combination in the area nearly put Price in and then
Ankergren had to save one-handed at the feet of Coppinger as the ball
came back in. A minute later the keeper saved United again as Hayter was
allowed to run clear on Rovers' left with the back The Danish goalkeeper was putting on a great exhibition and his saves
in that opening quarter of an hour marked him out as man of the match. At this stage, United just couldn't get out of their own half. They started
to find some of their long passing across the defence and midfield but
as soon as they tried to make more aggressive forays into the Doncaster
half the Rovers defence were swallowing the ball up easily. Finally, after the game reached the fifteen-minute mark, Leeds managed
to work their way into the contest and centre-back Mills became the first
name in referee Andy D'Urso's notebook when he hammered through Jermaine
Beckford on the edge of the area as the forward held the ball. Kilkenny's
free kick was into the wall and ran clear, with Huntington heading weakly
wide when Howson lifted the ball back in. In the 18th minute a loose ball out of defence by former Leeds trainee
Sam Hird only found Beckford. The striker made ground to the edge of the
area but his shot was easily gathered by Sullivan. Wellens was continuing to feel the full force of United's tackling and
first Kilkenny and then Richardson left their marks on him as he tried
his tricks on the left wing. Jonny Howson brought the ball out of defence after 21 minutes and found
Beckford, but with two men moving wide down the right the forward picked
the wrong ball, to Douglas on the left, and his pass ran tamely dead. Leeds were having more joy now, Freedman weaved his way through the defence on the half hour but Rovers
cleared as the ball reached their box. Then Johnson picked the ball up
on the left and cut in to play a one-two with Beckford in the area. The
ball ran back to the striker who shot as he was falling, but Sullivan
fielded the weak effort. When Jonny Howson won the ball and passed to Beckford on the edge of
the area. Freedman made space by dragging defenders across to the left
with his decoy run. This gave Beckford a clear opening but he fired wide.
Moments later both Beckford and Howson tried to dribble through but ran
into defenders. As if to remind Leeds that they were still in the game, Rovers broke
a couple of times in the five minutes before the break, Hayter turning
and shooting well over and then receiving a long ball into the area, but
allowing it to run wide and giving Ankergren the chance to kick away for
a corner. United broke away sharply after the flag kick with Johnson and Beckford
combining cleverly down the left. The striker held the ball up well in
the zone between penalty box and corner flag and fed Kilkenny who shipped
it on to Howson on the edge of the area. He attempted to curl it into
the top corner, but it faded just too late and went over. It was probably the best movement of the half and certainly merited a
goal, but it was the last chance before the break. United had come back strongly into the game after Rovers' opening blitz
and had enjoyed some decent possession, but Doncaster had finished back
on top and could count themselves unlucky not to go in ahead at half-time. Gary McAllister spent the interval encouraging United to keep up the
football that they had managed to find late on, but he was gutted In the first ten seconds of the second period, Michalik sent Stock crashing
to the ground as he made his way to the edge of United's area. Coppinger's
free kick was blocked and the follow up was deflected for a corner, but
Rovers made the most of their chance. James Hayter was left unmarked on
the penalty spot as he dived to head home the dropping ball with Ankergren
and Kilkenny unable to get a block on it. United were 1-0 down with barely
90 seconds of the half gone. That was always going to make it difficult for Leeds, and Doncaster had
the perfect containing game, setting up two banks of four and retaining
possession to keep their opponents at bay. It might have been a critical
misjudgement, but they started holding a deep line and inviting Leeds
on to them, waiting to catch them on the break. United lacked the penetration
to find the chinks in a packed midfield and final third and they started
to look laboured and anxious. In the 49th minute Howson found Beckford in the area but he couldn't
get any power into his shot and Neil Sullivan collected. Nine minutes
later Douglas and Howson combined well to allow the youngster to break
away from defence. He played a one-two with Freedman round the edge of
the box but saw his shot deflected over. Then Freedman pressed the defence
down the left and a poor back pass let Beckford in, but his fierce shot
was straight into Sullivan's midriff. That was fairly typical of this period with United pressing but the final
ball found wanting. After 68 minutes they kept possession well round the
edge of the Doncaster box but Johnson lost patience and boomed his shot
high, wide and handsome with Prutton in space on the left. Seconds later,
it was Prutton who was withdrawn as McAllister introduced Tresor Kandol
his first change. United were throwing everything into attack now and there was always
the chance of a Rovers breakaway. In the 70th minute Coppinger sprang
the offside trap down Doncaster's right and it required a desperate chase
and last ditch tackle from Douglas to save the day and allow Ankergren
to collect the ball. After 71 minutes, Doncaster brought striker McCammon on for Wellens,
who was suffering with a recurrence of a stomach injury. The move was
as much to introduce someone who could compete with Kandol in the air
as to protect Wellens. The arrival of Kandol led to some route one football from United with
the inevitable goalmouth scrambles, but former Leeds keeper Neil Sullivan
was faultless in his handling and composed under pressure. There was simply
too much anxiety about the United thrusts as they felt time slipping away.
On too many occasions they either ran up blind alleys or made life easy
for Sullivan with aimless high balls. The introduction of Hughes for Freedman after 77 minutes was seen as
a retrograde step, but the midfielder brought some much needed urgency
if little composure down the right flank. He found some decent space,
but his driven crosses were normally easy enough for Sullivan to cope
with. United's best chance came after 85 minutes when Michalik's presence in
the area caused panic after a throw from the left. The ball ran out to
Douglas on the edge of the area. Space was limited but he sailed into
a fierce shot, only to see it swing narrowly wide of Sullivan's left hand
post. Michalik was almost an auxiliary striker now, with Howson defending alongside
Huntington while Richardson and Johnson constantly overlapped. The young
midfielder was cautioned in the closing minutes for a desperate late tackle
when it looked like substitute Lewis Guy was going past him down the wing
with no cover behind him. Time was ebbing away but in the third of four injury time minutes a headed
back pass to Sullivan offered a slight chance to Beckford but the keeper
held the ball despite a wild swing from the striker. That was the final opportunity and the waves of clumsy United attacks
simply broke on the rocks of a well organised Doncaster defence when they
managed to evade smothering midfield cover. The thousands of Leeds fans
never abandoned hope but were left ruing another example of their favourites
coming up short on the big occasion when the referee whistled to end the
game. It had been a remarkable season, but Leeds United were condemned to another
year in League One. A reflective Gary McAllister commented: 'We huffed and puffed, and we
gave it every ounce of our energy. But in the final third, our final ball
or effort on goal lacked quality. I didn't think we chose the right execution
of crossing, passing or shooting. 'It goes without saying that it's very disappointing. But what I've tried
to impress on the guys in the dressing room, who are obviously very low,
is that each of those individuals should be proud of what they've done.
Myself and the coaching staff are very proud of what they've achieved,
and I think the Leeds fans are as well. To start a campaign with such
a hefty handicap and to get right to the final play-off match deserves
to be applauded. They've continually got up and got on with it, and it's
quite simple - that group of players won 27 games, gained 91 points and
barring the handicap they would have been promoted. 'I've got to say that I think the players have got the stomach to come
back. They'll go away this summer and regroup, and there's going to be
a hardcore of these guys back at Leeds United next season. It's going
to be busy for myself and the chairman over the summer trying to recruit
people that can make us better. I'm better off myself after 20 games at
this level of football. 'We've got to go into next season positive. I know it's difficult to
say that at the moment, but we will. 'The fans here are superb. They are second to none, they have backed
us all season long ... Our average crowd is over 26,500 and there were
well over 36,000 at Wembley, and that speaks volumes. We'll be back.' |