Matches – 28 September 2010 – Leeds United 4 Preston NE 6
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Matches – 28 September 2010 – Leeds United 4 Preston NE 6 Championship – Elland Road – 22,727 Scorers: Leeds - Becchio (15 min), Bruce (20), Somma 2 (27, 39) - Preston - Parkin 3 (5, 40, 64), Teacy (54), Davidson (58 pen, Hume 79) Leeds United: Higgs; Hughes, Bruce, Collins, McCartney; Gradel, Howson (Clayton 73), Johnson, Sam (Kilkenny 59); Somma, Becchio (Watt 73) Preston North End: Lonergan; Jones, Morgan, St. Ledger, Davidson; Barton, Russell, Coutts, Treacy (Gray 88); Parkin (Hayes 88), Hume 8.25pm, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, Elland Road… Davide Somma has just given Leeds United a 4-1 lead against relegation-threatened Preston North End and the Whites are on the brink of a comfortable win as they look to maintain their push for promotion… An hour later, a stunned 23,000 crowd sits open mouthed as Iain Hume crowns a breathtaking Preston comeback by heading in the visitors’ sixth goal of a remarkable evening. Bizarre scorelines of this sort had been all but consigned to the annals of history; shell- The scoreboard says it all on a remarkable evening at Elland Road shocked United manager Simon Grayson must have wished it had remained there as he watched his team crumble feebly into a defensive shambles. A fortnight earlier, Grayson had seen United capitulate 5-2 at Barnsley. His men seemed to have banished that defensive ineptitude when they earned first a goalless draw at Doncaster and then a 1- 0 victory over Sheffield United and he went into the Preston fixture in good heart, hoping to consolidate on fifth place. The manager named a side unchanged from the one which started against the Blades. His only switches came on the bench where an injured Ross McCormack was replaced by Honduran international Ramon Nunez and Adam Clayton was called up for Scotland winger Robert Snodgrass. The latter, a second half sub against the Blades, was unavailable after being sent off in the closing minutes. South African striker Davide Somma continued to partner Luciano Becchio up front after scoring four goals in three starts and four substitute appearances. www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 28 September 2010, Leeds United 4 Preston North End 6 1 Grayson: “We’ve made a good start, but we’re not getting carried away with ourselves. We’d talked before the season about looking at blocks of games - maybe 10 - and having a look at what we have done and what we can do better. It gives us that opportunity to take stock. While we’ve done okay, we can do better in different departments and we know that. It’s all about being consistent. “QPR have made a great start and they are the form team - but you have to say other than their start there’s been no outstanding team in the division and it really could be anybody’s year. We believe we can get out of this division, but so do a lot of other clubs. Don’t forget we’ve been away for three years so it is new again to us. Our aim is to finish as high as we possibly can. “I believe we have a squad here capable of winning matches, but it is all about consistency, and teams who can go on a seven or eight-game unbeaten run will be the teams who will be up there.” Of bottom three Preston, Grayson commented, “They’ve had a poor start, but got a good result at the weekend. They have players who are capable of winning matches, but it’s about us and what we can do. We’ll ask them to do the right things and hopefully the quality will come through.” A former North End man was in the middle of United’s back four: Neill Collins had returned to Elland Road in the summer for an undisclosed fee after a successful period on loan at the tail end of the promotion season. Grayson was adamant that United had got the better end of the deal when Preston decided to sell and Collins had maintained his ever-present record with an impressive performance against Sheffield United. Grayson: “We were given the opportunity to sign him because he was out of the Pre-match togetherness for Davide Somma and Andy Hughes - the South picture at Preston. He’s a player I’d looked African striker was the one United player who rose to the occasion at before he went to Preston and I spoke to (Wolves manager) Mick McCarthy about bringing him in. So far, I’ve seen everything in him that I saw in him at Wolves and that’s the reason he’s here. When he does the things he’s good at, he’s a great player.” Grayson added: “A lot of our success of last season was based on clean sheets. We’d get late goals because we kept going and had players good enough to win us games. The more clean sheets you keep, the more games you’ll win and that’s what Saturday was all about – staying in the game. It’s what we need to do.” Preston went into the game at Elland Road on the back of their first away win of the campaign, at Coventry, and evidenced the confidence that victory had brought, taking a shock lead after just four minutes. When the ball was worked out to Preston winger Keith Treacy on the left, he was given yards of space in which to work. United right-back Andy Hughes had drifted inside to cover the lurking North End target man Jon Parkin and had to rush across to confront Treacy. The wing man made to come inside, standing Hughes up, before cutting back out to the byline and firing the ball low www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 28 September 2010, Leeds United 4 Preston North End 6 2 towards goal. Goalkeeper Shane Higgs could only parry the strike across the face of his area and Parkin was unmarked and in the right place to slip the ball home. United defenders hung their heads in disappointment as their appeals for offside went unrewarded. Higgs had to come out smartly to hoof the ball away for a throw when another long ball to Treacy caught Hughes out again, but United were back on equal terms after a quarter of an hour. Collecting from a throw in, George McCartney came in off the left flank and chipped a cross to the edge of the six-yard box. It was perfectly placed for Becchio to rise above Neill Collins and two Preston defenders and nod under the despairing dive of Preston keeper Andy Lonergan. North End should have retaken the lead within 90 seconds as Barton fed Parkin and the front man ran through and hit a low right-footed effort, but an outstretched Leeds leg managed to deflect the ball behind for a corner. Parkin was giving United an uncomfortable evening and goalkeeper Higgs had to react sharply to turn away one angled drive at the expense of a corner. It was then that United adjusted their formation, temporarily putting an end to Barton’s influence and giving themselves the upper hand with Max Gradel and Lloyd Sam posing all sorts of questions from the wings. The Whites took the lead after 20 minutes. When Sam and Becchio set up an opening for Somma, Lonergan came racing out to Easy as that! Unmarked Whites centre-back Alex Bruce nods United into the lead deny the South African at the expense of a corner. The flag kick was cleared out to the left hand touch where stand in skipper Jonny Howson collected and had the time to consider his options before lofting a centre to the back post. Callum Davidson and Sean St Ledger went for the same header but only succeeded in sending the ball back towards the penalty spot where an unmarked Alex Bruce was waiting in an acre of space to nod home. A third goal was on the cards long before Somma registered it after 27 minutes. Sam teased his full- back down the right before cutting inside and slipping the ball to the South African around the penalty spot. His right footed strike took the slightest of deflections off St Ledger’s studs as it beat Lonergan into the corner. Preston still posed a threat, and Parkin was only inches away from scoring his second goal when he shot narrowly over from the edge of the United area. Minutes earlier the burly front man had been the first name into the book of referee Miller after he sent Alex Bruce flying with a dangerous challenge as the United defender cleared. Parkin was fortunate to escape with a yellow as he protested vigorously that he had gone for the ball. It was all United now, with Gradel and Sam continuing to threaten and Becchio and Somma www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 28 September 2010, Leeds United 4 Preston North End 6 3 offering penetration and mobility through the middle. Leeds made it 4-1 after 39 minutes when Somma snatched his second goal. The striker picked up Howson’s delightful through ball out on the left and coolly worked his way into the box before firing precisely past Lonergan and into the bottom corner. That really should have been that with Leeds in the ascendancy, but they went to sleep and within 90 seconds had offered the visitors a route back into the contest. A long ball from the back by Davidson found Parkin down the left channel. He was given the freedom of West Yorkshire when the ball reached him thirty yards out and he resisted the token opposition of Hughes and Collins to shoot low past Higgs and reduce the arrears.