Match report: Leeds United play out bore draw
Darlington's Clayton Fortune tackles Leeds United's Enoch ShowunmiDarlington 0 Leeds United 0:It is traditional for managers to downplay the importance of performances at the height of pre-season, but Gary McAllister last night put paid to the idea that friendly games are no more than a tiresome ritual.
The penultimate match of Leeds United's summer was the point at which McAllister believed the clamour for involvement next season would reach a crescendo, and it was with some bewilderment and not a little anger that he watched certain members of his squad play themselves away from contention during a laboured draw with Darlington.
A dour friendly in County Durham did not seem likely to provoke McAllister's ire excessively, but he was visibly unimpressed when he appeared from what must have been a terse and unforgiving full-time analysis in United's dressing room to dissect the goalless stalemate further.
The result extended the club's unbeaten sequence during pre-season to six matches, a record which has saved McAllister from rolling out the platitude of how insignificant friendly results are, but another match without defeat was of little relevance as he assessed what Leeds' turgid display at Darlington might mean for his future team selection.
The line-up chosen by United's manager last night was balanced and imposing – on paper at least – and was clearly something of a trial run for the opening league game of next season, at Scunthorpe United a week on Saturday.
McAllister's team presented its question marks – a central midfield partnership of Jonathan Howson and Fabian Delph was not, for all the talent they offer, the most predictable of combinations – but as many as 10 of the players fielded from the first whistle at Darlington were probable options to retain their shirts at Glanford Park. McAllister is likely to spend the coming days re-evaluating his original thoughts.
Leeds were not a picture of ineptitude at the Darlington Arena, but they were dour.
The game as a whole was dour.
The vibrancy that McAllister expected to see was lost in 90 minutes of mediocre football, and the most positive aspect that he and Dave Penney could highlight was the fact that neither defence threatened to concede. In that respect, both men find themselves building from the back with little more than a week remaining before the start of the 2008-09 season.
There were other satisfactory strands to be drawn United's performance –Andy Robinson roamed the field with purpose and quick feet, and David Prutton caught the eye in flashes with his usual energy – but there was little in the team's combined demeanour to convince McAllister that his strategy is virtually complete.
Perhaps, after five previous friendlies and a foreign tour spanning almost two weeks, a jaded evening was inevitable, and bemoaning a performance in pre-season may seem like crying over spilled milk.
But McAllister is not short of alternative players and nor is he short of ambition; Saturday's game against FCV Dender may therefore be a stage on which he demands last night's under-performers to redeem themselves.
The goalless draw with Darlington was the first occasion this summer when Leeds have failed to produce a goal, and arguably the first occasion on which they did not look likely to.
Service to their strikers – Jermaine Beckford and Enoch Showunmi – was limited and predictable, and United were too often drawn into a direct approach despite possessing midfield players with the poise and skill to adopt more patient tactics.
Leeds, under McAllister, looked most threatening with the ball at their feet last season, and there has been nothing in their pre-season displays to persuade his players otherwise.
Darlington, it should be said, succeeded in congesting the midfield last night, limiting United's chances and denying their visitors any width in which to play.
In that respect, it was a useful example of the type of scenario in which Leeds' creativity may be crucially and regularly examined next season.
Darlington were not laden with opportunities themselves, and it took 36 minutes for the first real threat to emerge via Clayton Fortune's header which swept over Casper Ankergren's crossbar.
Leeds, before then, had brought a handful of comfortable saves from Darlington's goalkeeper, Przemyslaw Kazimierczak, and it was not until the final minute of the first half that a Showunmi header forced the home defence to stretch itself and Alan White to flick the ball off the goalline.
The most dramatic moment of the half was in fact an altercation between Beckford and Neil Austin which started over nothing and was rapidly diffused.
The start of the second period brought a welcome surge in energy from both teams, and a string of passes between Beckford, Robinson and Sheehan on 49 minutes laid on an opportunity which Showunmi nodded against his marker.
Marques gained a clearer sight of goal from Robinson's corner shortly after but guided his finish over Kazimierczak's net, and a free-kick from Bradley Johnson was carried narrowly wide of the post by a deflection in the 68th minute.
Johnson had appeared as a substitute in place of Delph 11 minutes earlier, closely following United debutant Robert Snodgrass.
United’s performance did not invite the young striker to show the attacking quality which led to his transfer from Livingston last week, but his fitness and willingness to cover defensively was a satisfying contribution for McAllister to digest.
It was Darlington, though, who played out the remainder of the match with more imagination and twice came within inches of settling the game in their favour.
Jason Kennedy produced the first effort with a strike from 25 yards which flew past Ankergren and also swung beyond his right-hand post, while White contrived to loop a header onto the roof of the net from two yards out after Ankergren dropped a straightforward catch with nine minutes left.
In between those chances, Beckford’s low shot forced a one-handed parry from Kazimierczak, but his opening came out of nothing and seemed indicative of a team whose lack of inspiration was tangible, and who may be ready for the injection of adrenalin that only meaningful competition can provide.
- Darlington: Kazimierczak, Austin, White, Foster, Fortune, Poole, Ravenhill, Kennedy, Evans, Griffin, Proudlock. Subs: Liversedge, Hardman, Todd, Miller, Robinson, Main, Smith, Hewitson.
- Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson, Marques, Huntington, Sheehan, Prutton, Howson, Delph (Johnson 59), Robinson, Showunmi (Snodgrass 57), Beckford. Subs (not used): Lucas, Douglas, Michalik, Gardner, Parker, Sweeney, Bayly, Martin.
Referee: E Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 3,441.
YEP
