Leeds United 1 Stockport County 0
In the early stages it seemed that Leeds were on course for a comfortable win over Stockport, but in the end we were grateful to win through a ninth minute goal from Jonny Howson. This was of course, the ninth straight home victory which matched the feat of Sergeant Wilko’s promotion-winning side all those years ago.
Leeds had an unchanged side by default, with Beckford and Sodje failing to recover from the injuries the pair suffered at Colchester the week before. Or was it that Grayson thought that we could beat a fading Stockport without his leading scorer and didn’t want to risk him before the difficult visit to Leicester on Monday lunchtime?
Stockport began in a determined fashion and forced an early corner, but it was Leeds who took the lead after only nine minutes. A headed clearance came out to Douglas on the right, and after Becchio challenged Logan the ball ran through to find Howson racing through into the six yard box unchallenged, to put Leeds in front.
The visitors were still looking lively, and Casper had to tip a Raynes header over the bar before saving with his legs from the resulting corner, but from then until half time it was all Leeds. Dickinson hit the bar from six yards out, (though from the Kop it looked quite a bad miss), and then sent a powerful header narrowly wide of the post. Naylor also had a shot cleared off the line.
Delph was driving Leeds forward at every opportunity, doing his best Christiano Ronaldo impression with plenty of step-overs to confuse the Stockport defence. Snodgrass went close with a free kick, and at half-time it seemed only a matter of time before we went further in front. Somebody behind be said that his mate had put £50 on a 3-0 win with Howson scoring first, and was on course for winning over two grand.
But he was to be sorely disappointed with a second half where Leeds were still well on top, but with a forward line that grew more disjointed as the game went on. I don’t know if Dickinson is still struggling for fitness after his injury lay-off, but more than one move broke down due to his woeful passing. The confidence seemed to drain out him as the crowd started to get on his back, with chants of “USA! USA!” at the sight of Mike Grella warming up on the touchline.
Instead it was Becchio who went off, seemingly through injury as he went straight down the tunnel clutching his upper thigh. Robinson came on and we went to a 4-5-1 formation, though the lone striker role didn’t seem to suit the immobile Dickinson, who by now was starting to resemble a plank of wood. Instead it was Robinson who was our main goal threat, as he played like a man determined to get his name on the scoresheet.
And he so nearly did on more than one occasion, with a couple of shots going narrowly over the bar and another bringing a fine save from Logan. Though Leeds were still well in control, while it was still only 1-0 it was starting to feel like one of those games when the opposition could snatch a draw right at the end, and the Leeds players started to feel the tension as the minutes ticked away.
Stockport reminded us they were still in the game with a run from Johnson down their left which found Douglas completely AWOl, and he was able to put a dangerous ball across the face of goal, which thankfully no one was on hand to convert. Then another dangerous run from Johnson was ended by Rui, who was booked for his trouble before the free kick was hammered straight at the County players in the wall, who had forgotten they were supposed to move out the way.
In the 87th. minute the Kop finally got the substitution they had been calling for, with Grella replacing Dickinson. The big man went off thanking the crowd, even though we were actually applauding out of a mixture of sarcasm and relief. Grella was his usual lively self, showing some good touches but without having any decent chances fall to him during the couple of minutes he was on the field. We can only hope he is on the field for a little bit longer at Leicester.
Stockport’s final opportunity in injury time came and went as Raynes fired a shot straight at Casper, and we had held out for a win that ended up being far more hard-fought than it really ought to have been. But at this stage of the season it’s the result that matters, and with Tranmere also winning, we needed the victory to stay six points clear of the Birkenhead mob.
If this team manages to surpass the 1989/90 side by getting that tenth successive home win next week against Ronnie Moore’s outfit, we will surely have sealed out place in the play-offs.