Matches – 17 January 2006 – Leeds United 3 Wigan Athletic 3 FA Cup third round replay – Elland Road – 15,243 – Wigan won 4-2 on penalties after extra time Scorers: Healy 2 (41, 64 pen), Kelly (116) Leeds United: Sullivan, Kelly, Butler, Kilgallon, Crainey, Miller (Einarsson 87), Walton (Blake 103), Douglas, Lewis (Cresswell 88), Hulse, Healy Wigan Athletic: Filan, Chimbonda, De Zeeuw, Jackson, Baines, Teale, Francis (Bullard 77), Kavanagh, Skoko (Joyce 100), Johansson, Roberts Leeds United have always had a bit of a thing about the FA Cup – which is strange, given the club’s generally dismal record in the competition. Neither Leeds City nor United made it through to the last 16 of the competition until 1924, and it was 1950 before a quarter final spot was achieved. Don Revie’s tenure brought unprecedented success in the tournament with one win and three final defeats, but since then Leeds have managed just two semis. The last time they won an FA Cup tie against top flight opposition was February 1997 when they beat Arsenal 1-0 in a fourth Wigan defender Matt Jackson brings down Rob Hulse in full cry during a 3-0 round tie with a Rod Wallace effort. defeat at the JJB in February 2005 Understandably, therefore, hopes weren’t particularly high when the third round draw for 2006’s competition took United to Wigan. The Latics had made a strong fist of their debut Premiership season after winning promotion in 2005, when they gained a League double over United. However, Kevin Blackwell and his men saw the tie as a good test of how much they had improved since then. Leeds went into the game in high spirits, on the back of four straight Championship victories, the last three of which had come without a goal being conceded. Top scorer Rob Hulse: "It'll be a good benchmark. If we go there and get battered it shows how far we have to go and what we have to do. "Wigan are a good side and we're going to need to be on our top form and hope a few of them are www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 17 January 2006, Leeds United 3 Wigan 3 1 off the gas, but it's a good test. We got battered there last season – it was my second game here. It wasn't a good day at all and the only positive we had was that we took so many fans with us. "But we'll judge ourselves this time. We're on a good run and we'll go there with loads of confidence. "We might try something different and some of the lads who haven't played might get a run out, I don't know. It's an opportunity to touch up on a few things, but they are a good side and we are not going to go there and just mess about. We're going to go and see how far we have come in these past 12 months." The Premiership was the clear priority for Wigan manager Paul Jewell and he opted to give a number of his top performers the day off at the JJB Stadium on 7 January, making eight changes from the team that lost 2-0 at Birmingham. He was still able to field a strong looking eleven, and it looked like things would run to form when David Connolly gave Wigan the lead in the 47th minute, turning in Lee McCulloch’s cross. The Premiership outfit had shown too much class for United and seemed likely to secure the win without the need to get out of second gear. It's all smiles for Gary Kelly and David Connolly of Wigan after the draw at the Jonathan Northcroft in the Sunday Times: “On this evidence, Leeds will JJB - Connolly opened the scoring and require further rebuilding if they do manage to go up. They are as subtle didn't exactly endear himself to United's as the blond streaks of Matthew Kilgallon’s hair. Long shots and set travelling support pieces had been their best bet until Taylor’s injury. Jewell was angry that his side hadn’t put the game out of sight before then. They had chances, David Connolly going clear twice down the left channel but bending one shot wide after cutting back on to his right foot and hitting the other straight at Neil Sullivan. Andreas Johansson had a sight of goal from a corner but Lewis, manning a post, cleared his header off the line. “The first half was bland but the second period had intrigue from the moment Connolly came out and warmed up in front of the Leeds end. This was not well received by supporters who had developed a disliking for the Irishman during his time with Leicester City. “Their decibel level increased when, immediately, Lewis robbed Josip Skoko and crossed to give Robbie Blake a chance from close range, only for McMillan to block. But Connolly hushed them two minutes later. McCulloch chested Taylor’s throw, turned well, and flashed the ball across the six-yard box. Connolly saw it late but, with an instinctive toe, turned the ball home. “Wigan Athletic dominated until right-back Ryan Taylor limped off with, as manager Paul Jewell put it, ‘that fashionable injury’, a broken metatarsal. That was in the 77th minute. “Blackwell had 15 minutes to turn the tie around and seized his chance. Taylor’s injury meant Wigan had to last out the game with 10 men, Jewell having already used his three substitutes. Blackwell replaced Jonathan Douglas with Richard Cresswell, which meant, with David Healy also on, he had three centre-forwards on the pitch, who were abetted by an impressive winger, Eddie Lewis. “Heavy shelling followed. Stephane Henchoz did his best to co-ordinate resistance in the trenches, www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 17 January 2006, Leeds United 3 Wigan 3 2 but finally Wigan were breached. With Lee McCulloch struggling to get back, having injured himself upfield, the home team had to defend a corner with nine men. Lewis bent it in and Matt Jackson appeared to handle the ball. Some players stopped, Rob Hulse didn’t and rammed a shot into the net. “With Steve McMillan also carrying an injury, Wigan were spent and Leeds almost squeezed out a victory in the frantic moments that were left. Both managers agreed a draw was fair — and unwelcome because of the replay.” That replay came at Elland Road ten days later, and the arrangements brought controversy and a wrangle between the two clubs. Sky TV had arranged to televise the match – providing a major cash windfall for United – and, with the BBC committed to showing the Manchester United-Burton Albion replay the following night, Leeds refused to counsel a rearrangement. Cresswell, Miller, Healy and, Lewis help Rob Kevin Blackwell: "The police said initially the game was on Hulse celebrate his equaliser at Wigan the Tuesday and then Sky decided to show it live. The £150,000 we will receive is the equivalent to nearly three Sky games in this division and is a big bonus for us. We still need money, this is lifeblood to us, and we would need to play 10 live games in the Championship to get the same as (Wigan got last Sunday for) one in the Premiership. "When I was at Sheffield United (in 2002/03), we found ourselves in a similar situation when we played Arsenal in the FA Cup semi final on a red hot Sunday and then had to play Nottingham Forest on the Tuesday. Forest were pushing for the play offs like ourselves and would not move the game back. We just had to deal with it and ended up winning 1-0." Paul Jewell was fuming at what he saw as rank gamesmanship. The replay came just two days after West Bromwich Albion had inflicted an eighth defeat in 11 Premiership games with a 1-0 win at the JJB: "Maybe it is a good idea to make us play on the Tuesday, it will give us a bit of a siege mentality and we are really going to be up for the game. We thought Leeds might even have asked us to play on the Monday afternoon. "It is not an FA decision, they are probably on a yacht in Dubai somewhere and do not even know we are playing. "It is not a grudge match because I have a lot of time for Kevin and his staff, but it is unfair. We shake hands before a game for fair play and all that, but I do not call it fair to play 48 hours after a difficult Premiership game. It would not happen to Manchester United." Despite all the disputes, the game was played in good spirits and the players delivered a wonderful Cup-tie for a disappointing 15,243 crowd. Both teams lined up in 4-4-2 formation, and Paul Jewell did not make the mistake again of fielding a weakened side. In came Pascal Chimbonda, skipper Arjan De Zeeuw, Graham Kavanagh, Leighton Baines and Gary Teale, who, along with Jason Roberts, had only been a sub at the JJB. www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 17 January 2006, Leeds United 3 Wigan 3 3 Kevin Blackwell rested Shaun Derry, choosing to give young Simon Walton a rare start in midfield, while Healy and Hulse came in up front for Cresswell and Blake, both on the bench. The back five of Sullivan, Kelly, Butler, Kilgallon and Crainey was unchanged for a fifth successive game.