Leeds comeback stuns Clarets

Last updated : 13 December 2010 By Tony Scholes
Jay Rodriguez
Jay Rodriguez - scored the second and was our best player
By around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night I'd just about had enough. The message board on this web site was too much for me so the computer was switched off and whilst the gurning Cher was, thankfully, saying her goodbyes on X-Factor I was wracking my brain trying to recall the last time we'd lost from such a healthy position.

We've seen the reverse often enough in recent seasons when we've won having been two goals behind, in home games against Barnsley, West Brom, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Preston and at QPR with three of those games including hat tricks.

But to lose in such a way really did have me digging back into the archives. The message board this morning reminded me of the 3-2 loss against Darlington in the FA Cup in 1998 but incredibly I think the last time it happened at home was back in 1984 in the John Bond days. It was against Orient and goals from Billy Hamilton and Micky Phelan had given us a 2-0 lead after seven minutes.

That's a long time, but it didn't lessen the blow yesterday in a game that we surely should have wrapped up long before Leeds came storming back into it.

Brian Laws named un unchanged team from that which had started in the home win against Derby but with a very different formation. He moved Wade Elliott back out wide and Jay Rodriguez down the middle in a 4-4-2 formation, the one that fans have been chanting for.

Almost before we'd got our seats warm we could have been 1-0 down but had they scored it would very much have been one to the referee Russell Booth who didn't seem to spot much going on all afternoon. There was the clearest of handballs before the ball reached Max Gradel who thankfully shot wide.

I don't know much about Gradel and I'm not sure Tyrone Mears does either. He struggled against him as Leeds pushed forward in the early stages. Thankfully their early attacking didn't prove fatal and we were soon grabbing the upper hand in the game.

Even so we hadn't threatened their goal too much until we took the lead just before the half hour. Jay Rod hit an excellent ball out wide to Wade who got in a superb cross. Chris Iwelumo was on the end of it but his close range effort was kept out by Kasper Schmeichel at the expense of a corner.

The resulting Ross Wallace corner was headed goalwards by Andre Bikey. It was blocked but Brian Easton was the first to react and got his left foot to it to give us that precious lead.

Leeds could have equalised soon after but they were rocked when our second came from their own attack that was ended when Clarke Carlisle kicked the ball clear from his own box. It should have been Alex Bruce's ball but he allowed Jay Rod, our best player, to get the better of him and once clear of the defender he made no mistake.

By half time we were in total command of things and an eighth win of the season looked a mere formality but how those half time smiles were wiped out in a second half horror show that lacked passion, lacked discipline, lacked invention, lacked desire and lacked just about anything else that's needed.

It's always believed that 2-0 is a dangerous lead and there's no doubt it is a situation in a game where the next goal is so vital. Make it 3-0 and the points are just about secured; concede the next goal and it's game on again and that's exactly what happened here.

Leeds were allowed to get a cross in from the right far too easily. It was headed down for the impressive Gradel to hit home. That was just seven minutes into the half and it gave Leeds all the incentive they needed.

Even so, the two goal lead should have been restored, but the first of a trio of misses in the half saw Iwelumo head another Elliott cross wide of the post. He knew he should have scored; everyone in the ground did and that would probably have been the goal that clinched it.

It wasn't to be and you sensed the writing was on the wall when they got their second, this time from leading scorer Luciano Becchio. Again it was from a right wing cross and again we didn't deal with it.

By now we weren't dealing with much. The defence looked shambolic. The two full backs and Clarke Carlisle were seriously struggling and Bikey was forever thinking he could go on a jinking run in his own defensive area. He might have been better employed trying to defend.

In front of them the midfield had all but collapsed. Jack Cork, in particular, had shone during the first half but was now totally ineffective in a totally ineffective midfield. I'd have brought on Graham Alexander without any doubt. Had he come on, I think the crowd would have reacted badly at what would have been perceived as a negative change, but it was very much needed.

We did make changes up front with both Steven Thompson and John Guidetti coming on but it made no difference and five minutes from the end of normal time the job was complete for Leeds when they got the winner.

Jonny Howson was in the centre circle in his own half when he received the ball. He was allowed to go forward before Carlisle just about invited him to go on and get a shot in. Could Lee Grant have done better with it? I'm not so sure given the bounce but what had looked inevitable for much of the second half had happened as the ball nestled into the corner.

In fairness we did respond and had two chances, two good ones at that. Thommo made an even bigger mess of a headed chance than Iwelumo and then, right at the end, Thommo this time set up Guidetti but his scuffed shot was turned round by Schmeichel.

And so a second home defeat of the season and in the end there could be no real complaints. For a side that doesn't win games away from home it is a disaster when a home defeat comes. It's back on the road now to Cardiff and Barnsley, and could Burnley pick two worse fixtures? Somehow, we have to get points in these games.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Andre Bikey, Brian Easton, Wade Elliott, Dean Marney, Jack Cork, Ross Wallace (John Guidetti 78), Jay Rodriguez, Chris Iwelumo (Steven Thompson 72). Subs not used: Brian Jensen, David Edgar, Michael Duff, Graham Alexander, Alex-Ray Harvey.

Leeds: Kasper Schmeichel, Paul Connolly, Alex Bruce, Neill Collins, George McCartney, Neil Kilkenny (Ross McCormack 64), Bradley Johnson, Max Gradel, Jonny Howson, Robert Snodgrass, Luciano Becchio (Amdy Faye 90). Subs not used: Shane Higgs, Andy Hughes, Lloyd Sam, Billy Paynter, Davide Somma.
Yellow Cards: Neill Collins, Jonny Howson, Bradley Johnson.

Referee: Russell Booth (Notts).

Attendance: 20,453.