On a cold February morning, Leeds lined up in white with Dan Resendez in goal and a back four of Callum Hamilton, Liam Dyer Luke Bennett and Brandon Kavanagh. In midfield Sam Armstrong, Josh Copley, Aiden Rogers and Jake Croft with Oliver Armitage and Adam Leadsford up front. Leeds were visibly buoyed by their dominant performance against Scarborough the previous week and early exchanges in midfield saw Copley putting in some strong challenges to keep East Riding pegged back in their own half. Leeds were looking to play the ball early and use the pace of Armitage against the well organised East Riding defence. This nearly bore fruit with Armitage denied a goal scoring opportunity on the five-minute mark following good build up play from Croft and Bennett.
Leeds were unfortunate to go a goal down after ten minutes when, against the run of play, East Riding put the ball out wide to their left winger who was in an off side position. This went unnoticed and the resulting cross found the striker in a favourable position to slot the ball low into the corner. With a sense of injustice collectively coursing through the veins of the team, coaches and home contingent, Leeds got their heads down and picked up the good work that had seen them dominate the game to that point. Dyer was in sparkling form and having probably his best game of the season. Kavanagh and Hamilton were confidently clearing the ball from defence and Copley was linking up well with Croft and Armitage to maintain pressure on the East Riding defence. Leeds got their reward with Leadsford forcing the ball home following excellent build up play from the midfield. He was unlucky not to put Leeds ahead as the half drew to a close forcing a good save from the East Riding keeper. The gathered masses were of the opinion that the first 30 minutes were the best that Leeds had played to date.
An injured finger during warm up saw Declan Conlon remain on the bench in the second half. Charlie Simpson, Alex Barrett and Robert Flynn replaced Armstrong, Dyer and Croft. The game reached a stalemate after the break with both teams cancelling each other out. Leeds needed to regain the momentum from the first half. With ten minutes gone, a lobbed ball from East Riding saw Resendez get his fingertips to the ball but it fell behind him and into the goal to put the visitors 2-1 ahead. A change was needed and Armstrong, Dyer and Hamilton replaced Rogers, Copley and Kavanagh.
Simpson was putting in some strong challenges in midfield and the reward was picking out Armitage in midfield who went on a mazy run avoiding the attentions of the East Riding defenders before passing the ball across to Jake Croft who fired the ball into the goal for a deserved equaliser. Twice Leeds had come back from a goal down. The game ended with Leeds looking the most likely to come out on top. For the second week in a row, smiles adorned the faces of the Leeds players as they left the field and they can congratulate themselves on a positive footballing display full of belief, grit and determination.
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