Leeds Wise up as Blake sparkles
Championship
Leeds 3 Colchester 0
Blake 36, 52 (pen)
Cresswell 48
Elland Road
11/11/06
The Uniteds of Leeds and Colchester met in the league on Saturday for the first time in their history, such has been the ascent of little Colchester and the decline of the once so mighty Leeds. Their recent reversal in fortunes had many Colchester fans dreaming of a repeat of the 1971 FA Cup shock, when they slew Don Revie’s giants 3-2. However, despite the crisis talk at Elland Road, Dennis Wise’s Leeds - placed second from bottom before kick-off - ensured that traditional order was retained, if only for one match, by winning 3-0 at Elland Road.
It has been four games now since the Leeds Chairman, Ken Bates, brought in his former Chelsea players Wise and Gustavo Poyet to manage and help right his plummeting club. Crowds at home have been down - only 17,687 turned up yesterday, less than half of the 42,000 capacity - morale has been rock bottom, and relegation to English football's third tier for the first time in the proud club's history is a very real possibility.
When Wise arrived last month, he instructed his players to be “a bit like the Leeds of before, who were horrible.” At home, at least, it’s starting to work. After stamping his authority, and ringing the changes, Wise’s team played with determination and pride.
It took 36 minutes for Leeds to make the most of their superior possession. Robbie Blake had wasted good chances earlier in a scrappy first half, yet it was the roaming right-midfielder who latched onto a through-ball by captain Shaun Derry and slalomed through a slow Colchester midfield before drilling his left-foot shot from the outside of the area into the bottom right-hand corner, passed Aidan Davison’s groping hand.
One nil at halftime was turned into three nil within seven minutes of the second half. At the far post Richard Cresswell could not help but nod in his first of the season following Eddie Lewis’s inviting cross from the left. In spite of the driving rain, the Leeds fans were beginning to glow.
Cresswell was then adjudging to have been fouled in the area by John White according to referee Mike Jones. Up stepped Blake, and he coolly chipped the ball into the centre of the goal as Davison dived to his right.
The finish was the gloss on a very confident Leeds performance, and knocked the stuffing out of Colchester. “It does blow you out of the water when we say ‘let’s look for a positive start to the second half’ and you concede two goals,” admitted manager Geraint Williams.
Conversely Wise was pleased with his team’s performance. “I think they played well and played with confidence and they looked solid,” he said, saving special praise for Blake. “Since I’ve come here, Robbie’s been our little gem,” Wise gushed. “He gets in those positions where he can hurt people.”
And hurt the unlucky Colchester he did. Aside from the questionable penalty decision, they hit the post late on through substitute Jamie Guy, and even had a Jamie Cureton goal disallowed. Referee Jones held his hands up apologetically as he pulled Colchester back for an attacking free kick.
However Williams did not feel hard done by. “That’s our worse performance of the season,” he suggested. “We weren’t quite at the races and didn’t perform.”
Of the two Uniteds, it was Leeds who were more cohesive on the day. Two wins out of two at home for Dennis Wise’s team might tempt the crowds back to Elland Road, but it’s away from home where the fight against relegation will be won or lost.
Match rating: 7 out of 10
Attendance: 17,678
Teams:
Leeds:
Stack; Foxe, Kilgallon, Heath, Crainey; Blake (booked 57), Derry © (booked 29), Douglas, Lewis (Westlake 76); Creswell (Beckford 90), Horsfield (Moore 62)
Unused substitutes: Warner, Johnson
Colchester:
Davison; White (Jones 60), Brown, Baldwin, Barker; Duguid © (booked 32), Jackson, Izzet (booked 24), McLeod; Cureton, Iwelumo (Guy 70)
Unused substitutes: Gerken, Elokobi, Richards
Referee:M Jones (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Robbie Blake
The 30-year-old forward doubled his season goal tally with his brace. His chipped penalty oozed a confidence which spread through his team.
Championship
Leeds 3 Colchester 0
Blake 36, 52 (pen)
Cresswell 48
Elland Road
11/11/06
The Uniteds of Leeds and Colchester met in the league on Saturday for the first time in their history, such has been the ascent of little Colchester and the decline of the once so mighty Leeds. Their recent reversal in fortunes had many Colchester fans dreaming of a repeat of the 1971 FA Cup shock, when they slew Don Revie’s giants 3-2. However, despite the crisis talk at Elland Road, Dennis Wise’s Leeds - placed second from bottom before kick-off - ensured that traditional order was retained, if only for one match, by winning 3-0 at Elland Road.
It has been four games now since the Leeds Chairman, Ken Bates, brought in his former Chelsea players Wise and Gustavo Poyet to manage and help right his plummeting club. Crowds at home have been down - only 17,687 turned up yesterday, less than half of the 42,000 capacity - morale has been rock bottom, and relegation to English football's third tier for the first time in the proud club's history is a very real possibility.
When Wise arrived last month, he instructed his players to be “a bit like the Leeds of before, who were horrible.” At home, at least, it’s starting to work. After stamping his authority, and ringing the changes, Wise’s team played with determination and pride.
It took 36 minutes for Leeds to make the most of their superior possession. Robbie Blake had wasted good chances earlier in a scrappy first half, yet it was the roaming right-midfielder who latched onto a through-ball by captain Shaun Derry and slalomed through a slow Colchester midfield before drilling his left-foot shot from the outside of the area into the bottom right-hand corner, passed Aidan Davison’s groping hand.
One nil at halftime was turned into three nil within seven minutes of the second half. At the far post Richard Cresswell could not help but nod in his first of the season following Eddie Lewis’s inviting cross from the left. In spite of the driving rain, the Leeds fans were beginning to glow.
Cresswell was then adjudging to have been fouled in the area by John White according to referee Mike Jones. Up stepped Blake, and he coolly chipped the ball into the centre of the goal as Davison dived to his right.
The finish was the gloss on a very confident Leeds performance, and knocked the stuffing out of Colchester. “It does blow you out of the water when we say ‘let’s look for a positive start to the second half’ and you concede two goals,” admitted manager Geraint Williams.
Conversely Wise was pleased with his team’s performance. “I think they played well and played with confidence and they looked solid,” he said, saving special praise for Blake. “Since I’ve come here, Robbie’s been our little gem,” Wise gushed. “He gets in those positions where he can hurt people.”
And hurt the unlucky Colchester he did. Aside from the questionable penalty decision, they hit the post late on through substitute Jamie Guy, and even had a Jamie Cureton goal disallowed. Referee Jones held his hands up apologetically as he pulled Colchester back for an attacking free kick.
However Williams did not feel hard done by. “That’s our worse performance of the season,” he suggested. “We weren’t quite at the races and didn’t perform.”
Of the two Uniteds, it was Leeds who were more cohesive on the day. Two wins out of two at home for Dennis Wise’s team might tempt the crowds back to Elland Road, but it’s away from home where the fight against relegation will be won or lost.
Match rating: 7 out of 10
Attendance: 17,678
Teams:
Leeds:
Stack; Foxe, Kilgallon, Heath, Crainey; Blake (booked 57), Derry © (booked 29), Douglas, Lewis (Westlake 76); Creswell (Beckford 90), Horsfield (Moore 62)
Unused substitutes: Warner, Johnson
Colchester:
Davison; White (Jones 60), Brown, Baldwin, Barker; Duguid © (booked 32), Jackson, Izzet (booked 24), McLeod; Cureton, Iwelumo (Guy 70)
Unused substitutes: Gerken, Elokobi, Richards
Referee:M Jones (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Robbie Blake
The 30-year-old forward doubled his season goal tally with his brace. His chipped penalty oozed a confidence which spread through his team.
Labels: Championship, Colchester, Dennis Wise, Ken Bates, Leeds United
