Leeds United suffer first league defeat
Carlisle United 3 Leeds United 1
Dennis Wise has long braced himself for Leeds United's first defeat of the season, and the end of their unbeaten league record yesterday will not have found him unprepared.
But when he comes to assess the manner of his side's capitulation at Carlisle, he will struggle to accept that the 3-1 loss arrived with a feeling of inevitability.
United were always likely to succumb to the pressure created by their own exceptional results, but the Elland Road club should have exited Brunton Park with three points last night; their surprising inability to protect a one-goal lead instead left Wise's players with unfamiliar wounds to lick.
Leeds sailed through the most comfortable first half they have enjoyed this season, and a 28th-minute goal from Jermaine Beckford which established their 1-0 lead was scant reward for their consistent dominance.
It seemed at half-time as if United's passage to victory was open, but the nervous and timid approach which Wise's players took to the second half invited Carlisle to win a match they seemed certain to lose.
Simon Hackney and Joe Garner accepted the invitation whole-heartedly before Marc Bridge-Wilkinson produced a third goal at the death.
Their strikes in the space of 30 frantic second-half minutes forced Leeds to accept their first defeat of the campaign after their 14th fixture. Other losses will inevitably follow, but it is unlikely that any will frustrate Wise and his players as greatly as yesterday's did.
United's visit to Cumbria drew a capacity crowd to Brunton Park, producing the biggest attendance at Carlisle's stadium since 1976, when Sunderland visited the city for a Division Two fixture.
Wise's squad might have thought of themselves as the draw, but the squad inherited by John Ward at the beginning of last month have developed their own attraction this season.
Carlisle were leading League One until a 1-1 draw between Swansea City and Gillingham on Friday evening dropped them to second, and they were back at the summit last night.
It has long seemed likely that Leeds will find their own way to the top of the division, but yesterday's defeat has delayed that ambition, at least in the short-term.
Wise was moved to cover for another injury in his midfield – Ian Westlake's broken toe – by recalling Andrew Hughes after a groin strain, and the surprise in his squad was the presence of Leon Constantine among United's substitutes.
The striker had completed his maiden session of full training on Tuesday, the final leg of his long recovery from a broken ankle, and was deemed fit enough for involvement at Brunton Park. His first task, however, was to run in vain through the final 14 minutes as Leeds sought damage limitation and a late draw.
The hosts thrived eventually on their unusually large crowd but it took Ward's players an hour to settle, and they struggled to prevent Leeds from negating what atmosphere there was with an early goal.
Their centre-back Peter Murphy was first to intervene by clearing a shot from Sebastien Carole off the goalline, and goalkeeper Keiren Westwood produced two alert saves as Leeds tested the credibility of Carlisle's league position.
Murphy had put his defence under pressure in the fourth minute with a misjudged clearance from Jermaine Beckford's header, and Carole's clever chip over Westwood forced Murphy to intervene with a header beneath his own crossbar.
Westwood's involvement was crucial, and the keeper dealt athletically with a Jonathan Douglas shot which was curling towards the top corner of the net from 25 yards. When Jamie Clapham's long-range effort found its way through a group of players inside the box in the 14th minute, Westwood's low parry guided the ball away.
The pressure seemed certain to tell, and Carlisle's negligible threat in attack did not suggest that Ward's players could fight their way through the storm. When his defence split open softly in the 28th minute, Beckford was waiting to open the scoring with a simple finish.
Carole's cross was scuffed to Douglas on the edge of the box, and the midfielder's shot deflected off a stray boot to the feet of Beckford 10 yards from goal. The striker took a touch and, with no marker to trouble him, guided a low finish across Westwood and into the keeper's net.
It did not help Ward's cause to see his side respond with so little invention or belief.
Leeds dominated the midfield before the break and loose balls seemed drawn to Douglas and Andrew Hughes as Carlisle fought in vain to grasp possession. It was, after 45 minutes, difficult to pick out a serious opportunity that had troubled Casper Ankergren.
United, meanwhile, teased Carlisle's defence with the confidence of a team who knew the extent of their control.
Beckford dipped a shot from 25 yards over the crossbar in first-half injury-time, and a close-range strike from David Prutton was then blocked by the legs of Murphy. The battle was hectic, though not in the even-handed manner that Wise had planned for.
But Carlisle puffed their chests at the start of the second half and with an hour on the clock Hackney's beautiful finish removed United's lead as the visitors' confidence drained in an instant.
The winger was left unmarked on the edge of the box to volley a precise shot beyond Ankergren after Hughes had headed a free-kick from Bridge-Wilkinson clear.
From what had been a position of immense comfort, United were dragged into the battle they thought they had avoided.
As Wise looked on, his team came apart at the seams.
With 20 minutes remaining, Richardson's misguided header towards Ankergren handed Carlisle a corner, and Garner met Bridge-Wilkinson's cross with a near-post header which flew in past United's Danisk keeper.
It was left to Bridge-Wilkinson to put Leeds to the sword by driving into Ankergren's box and lashing a low shot home in added time, ensuring Carlisle succeeded where 13 teams before them had failed.
Carlisle United: Westwood, Raven, Livesey, Murphy, Aranalde, Anyinsah (Gall 72), Lumsdon, Bridge-Wilkinson, Hackney, Garner (Carlton 90), Graham. Subs (not used): Howarth, Arnison, Smith.
Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Marques, Clapham (Huntington 90), Prutton (Constantine 76), Hughes, Douglas, Carole (Da Costa 76), Kandol, Beckford. Subs (not used): Lucas, Weston.
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire)
Attendance: 16,668.
YEP
