Scunny An early start and the first problem was how to find a drink in rural Lincolnshire at 10.30 in the morning. It turns out the answer is to go into a pub that say they are not opening until 11 and just stand next to the bar until they give in. Onto the match, Frazer was captain, I assume as he is one of the few sure of his place and there were debuts for Snodgrass in right-midfield, Robinson and Showumni. The first half to put it bluntly we were crap, after a half-decent first ten minutes we quickly found ourselves on the backfoot. The midfield were fairly anonymous and Scunthorpe managed to win lots of possession and get crosses in from dangerous positions, particularly on our right on a regular basis. A few balls bobbed around our box, we looked shaky from corners and Scunny had all the best chances. Casper had to make a couple of smothering saves from tight angles, they had a goal disallowed for offside and one of their midfielders managed to miss from the penalty spot with the whole goal to aim for. Apart from a curler just wide from the edge of the box from Howson, we’d threatened little. Beckford looked peripheral, Showumni useless and Snodgrasss overawed. Last five minutes of the first half we started to get into it, Snodgrass played Enoch in who shot wide, Sheehan blasted one that the keeper struggled to hold and Beckford hit one into the side-netting, but overall we were second best in the first half. We started the second-half better and pushed them back well. As we started to exert pressure with Howson and Prutton controlling possession a goal looked inevitable. However, when it came it was at the wrong end as they broke through the left channel and their striker held off Rui to slot past Casper. A few scuffles in the Scunny end at this point as a few Leeds made their presence felt. The chant of “We are Leeds” that started up immediately they scored, brought a swift response. A free-kick from the right found Enoch past the defenders and despite a bit of holding he managed to head it at the keeper who couldn’t keep it out. Cue a few more Leeds fans being thrown out of the scunny end. Suddenly we were all over them, Howson and Robinson linking up well, Beckford pulling wide and getting the ball on the left and Snodgrass coming into the game on the right. Chances came and went. Robinson lobbed a free-kick over the wall which the keeper scrambled onto the bar, Enock miskicked when the ball landed at his feet five yards out, Beckford outpaced the defenders and hit it just wide, Prutton lashed just over from the edge of the area. Then the best chance of all, Beckford picked up a loose ball in the box, turned and smashed a shot that the keeper could only parry, it fell to Robinson with the goal gaping but he couldn’t wrap his foot around it and it went wide. Still the goal we deserved came soon enough, another corner was only cleared to the edge of the box, Howson set up Prutton who smashed it against the underside of the bar and Beckford tidied up the rebound. At this point we could have retreated but we were on a roll, Beckford skinned the defender on the left, cut the keeper out with his cross and Enoch seemed to duck when it seemed easier to score. Another cross from the right from Frazer eluded the keeper and bounced off the bar and a shot from the edge from Howson was deflected forcing their keeper into another great save. Scunny made a couple of changes but still couldn’t make a real impact, Becchio came on for the tiring (tiresome) Enoch and hit a shot from the edge of the area that the keeper palmed over. Prutton broke onto a loose ball in the area and the keeper just managed to palm the ball onto the ball. By this point Snodgrass had the beating of his man on the right and fizzed a couple of crosses across the danger area. To be honest we should have had it wrapped up, but Leeds being Leeds we still had a late scare when Sheehan and Frazer made a bit of a mess of a hoofed clearance, and after Casper had saved the first effort their striker blazed over from a narrow angle. Hughes came on for Robinson to kick anyone who thought about equalising and soon enough it was over. A real game of two halves, repeat the first half performance and we’re going nowhere, play like we did in the 2nd on a regular basis and we’ll piss this tinpot league. Scores
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