Leeds United get a lucky break
Tresor Kandol clashes with O's keeper Stuart NelsonNigel Miller was promised a less-than-effusive welcome to Leeds United this weekend, and it seemed inevitable that the referee's presence would come to dominate yesterday's game at Elland Road.
Dennis Wise made his opinion of Miller plain by asking for a change of official before Leyton Orient's visit to Leeds.
But it came as something of a surprise that the criticism of Miller after a pulsating 1-1 draw came from Wise's opposite number, Martin Ling.
Wise was fined following his tangle with Miller at Southend United, and Ling may see his pocket lightened after the stinging assessment he provided of County Durham's official.
Orient's manager accused Miller of turning the game against his side by sending off midfielder Sean Thornton with a straight red card after only half-an-hour, and of subsequently denying the visitors a winning goal with a contentious decision four minutes from time.
The fixture was poised at 1-1 in the 86th minute when a shot from Adam Boyd slipped through the hands of United goalkeeper Casper Ankergren and bounced over the line.
Ankergren dragged the ball back into play and, to the surprise of all inside Elland Road, Miller's linesman, William Smallwood, failed to award a goal.
Wise later claimed he was unsighted; Ling insisted the ball had crossed the line. Television replays emphatically favoured Ling's opinion and the belief that United had been excessively fortunate to avoid a first league defeat of the season.
Wise, in his defence, argued that United should not have been in a position to lose, and the failure of Tresor Kandol to convert a penalty six minutes before Ankergren's error compounded what was a frustrating afternoon for Leeds.
United had been forced to fight back from Thornton's early goal with a second-half equaliser from Sebastien Carole, but Wise's players were consistently short of their peak.
After all their pressure and the chances which came their way against 10 men, the most satisfying aspect of yesterday's result was the fact that their unbeaten record had not been broken.
Wise's plea for Miller's removal was unsurprisingly and rightly dismissed by the Football League, but the dialogue instigated by Leeds placed Miller under intense scrutiny yesterday.
It took less than 10 minutes for his presence to be felt, and for Orient to take the lead.
Miller drew an angry reaction from the majority of a crowd of 29,177 by penalising David Prutton for a foul on Jason Demetriou six yards from the right-hand side of Casper Ankergren's area.
Ankergren was put under pressure by a curling free-kick from Thornton and when the cross cleared every player inside United's box, their keeper was unable to prevent the ball from dropping into the net at his far post.
Thornton's goal allowed Orient to become the first team to hold the lead at Elland Road this season, a statistic which was almost as surprising as the realisation that United were behind in a league fixture for the first time since their victory at Tranmere Rovers in August.
But for all the open criticism of Miller, Wise could not deny that Orient had approached Ankergren with more invention than his side had Stuart Nelson.
United's manager watched an instinctive volley from Boyd curve inches wide of the post in the 16th minute and held his breath 10 minutes later when Demetriou was given time to curl a 20-yard shot against Ankergren's woodwork.
Leeds by comparison were struggling to gain sight of the white of Nelson's eyes.
Orient, in truth, have been something of a mysterious entity this season. Ling's side were at the summit of League One last weekend in a season when the London club were expected to be fighting relegation, and recent defeats to Gillingham and Swansea City – the latter a 5-0 trouncing – seemed more in keeping with pre-season predictions.
But for the first half-hour they looked worthy of their league position and extremely comfortable until Miller brought their momentum to a grinding halt in the 32nd minute by issuing Thornton with a red card.
Thornton appeared to catch Carole's head with his elbow as Carole swept up a clearance from Matt Heath, and Miller sent the midfielder from the field immediately.
His dismissal brought an end to a period of play which had proved somewhat unappetising for Wise.
United's own efforts had been sporadic, the best a long range shot from Alan Thompson which cleared Nelson's crossbar but forced the keeper to make sure of his angles.
Jermaine Beckford showed a brief flash of pace by running onto Prutton's pass and whipping a shot past the post in the 13th minute, and a header from Carole was cleared off the line by Tamika Mkandawire a minute before half-time following a measured attack involving Andrew Hughes and Frazer Richardson.
But even with an additional player, United's lack of verve was apparent and the composure with which Orient had defended under pressure may have tempted Wise to alter his line-up.
But he retained his faith, and Carole justified it with an equaliser in the 55th minute. The Frenchman played a short corner to Thompson and reclaimed the ball before running into Orient's box and driving a shot across Nelson and into the net.
Ling will have cringed at his side's ponderous reaction to the corner, and the game immediately became United's to win, even after a fitness problem saw Thompson leave the field three minutes after his role in Carole's goal.
Nelson had beaten clear a volley from Jamie Clapham shortly before his concession, and the pressure on Orient's goal developed into a siege as the visitors struggled to stray out of their half. Hughes' cross in the 63rd minute presented a chance four yards from goal which Prutton failed to finish with conviction, and a dipping shot from Beckford cleared Nelson and his left-hand post by a narrow margin.
But, against all expectations, Miller contrived to offer United victory in the 80th minute.
Paul Terry, the brother of England captain John, was penalised for felling Carole on the very edge of Nelson's box, giving Kandol the chance to settle the fixture.
The striker was forced to wait patiently while Miller shepherded players out of the area, and if the time to consider the opportunity affected Kandol's nerve, it showed in his finish which sailed high over Nelson's bar.
He might have redeemed himself four minutes later when his close-range header from Filipe Da Costa's cross bounced wide, but it was Orient who were left to claim injustice after a lively finish.
Smallwood intervened by giving Ankergren the benefit of what little doubt there was, and 60 seconds later, another shot from Boyd hit Hughes on the line.
It was then left to Ankergren to divert a goalbound free-kick from Charlie Daniels to safety with one hand and secure a point for which Leeds were no less grateful than their visitors.
Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Marques, Clapham (De Vries 77), Prutton (Da Costa 77), Hughes, Thompson (Westlake 58), Carole, Beckford, Kandol. Subs not used: Huntington, Andrews.
Leyton Orient: Nelson, Purches, Thelwell, Mkandawire, Daniels, Thornton, Terry, Chambers, Demetriou, Gray (Ibehre 67), Boyd. Subs not used: Saah, Melligan, Corden, Palmer.
Referee: N Miller (County Durham)
Attendance: 29,177
YEP
