Saturday, April 18, 2009

Leeds near playoff bert

Leeds won their tenth successive match at Elland Road Saturday afternoon as they defeated Tranmere 3-1. With the victory Simon Grayson's side sit fifth in the table with a six-point advantage over the Rovers. Although appearing quite comfortable with a playoff berth the Whites cannot afford any slip-ups in the remaining weeks as Scunthorpe does have two matches in-hand.

After a early attempt by Jonny Howson that slammed off the Tranmere post nearly provided Leeds the lead, Jermaine Beckford chipped in his thirty-second goal of the campaign via a nice link from Robert Snodgrass at the fifteenth minute. Eleven minutes later Leeds was possibly the beneficiary of a missed offside call with Jonathan Douglas supply from distance to Neil Kilkenny, with the Aussie finishing brilliantly. However in a unique twist of fate the goal was canceled out less than a minute later when Sam Sodje's header went over Casper Ankergren and sadly fell into the Leeds net. Following the early opportunities, the Leeds attack went into the doldrums for the balance of the half and was unable to threaten, while Tranmere came close on a few occasions. Finally in one of Leeds first notable attempts since the re-start Robert Snodgrass' free-kick was re-directed in by Luciano Becchio from point-blank range. Up 3-1, the match drifted with Leeds confidently killing the day off and securing the important three points.