Leeds Schools FA U15   1    v    0   Spen Valley Schools FA U15

Saturday 26 September 2009


After two successive away trips to the North West, it was back to Priesthorpe for Leeds first home game of the season and a local derby against Spen Valley.

And after two successive draws, it was back to winning ways with what only can be described as " a 1-0 hammering"

Weather conditions were perfect , but good football was a struggle on a pitch with grass so long it could have hidden crouching tigers ready to pounce.

To their credit, Leeds coped with this handicap fantastically well and produced an exhilerating first half performance full of pace, urgency, tenacity and great skill.
At the core was their ability to pass and move coupled with a willingness to use the full width of the pitch-especially when playing out from the back.

However, it could have been different if Spen had scored with their first ( and only ) attack of the first half after 6 minutes . A long ball caused confusion, and Ashley Battensby had to throw himself to take the pace off the resulting shot with Nathan Massey clearing before the ball crossed the line.
After that, it was all Leeds. Matty Ellis bossed the midfield and physically imposed himself upon the opposition.
Max Pritchett-Collins and Lee Nicholson were outlets for precision passing and their pace always created opportunities.
On the flanks, Mickey Brinn and Mark Simpson provided trickery with Mark resembling Lionel Messi on a couple of mazy runs !
One of these led to the Leeds winner when Mark's run resulted in him squaring the ball for Michael to shoot. This was parried by the keeper, with centre forward Matty Marshall on the spot to slot home the rebound.
Matty almost made it two a couple of minutes later when his looping header came back off the bar.
The fact that there were 10 minutes of injury time at the end of the first half just highlighted what a physical encounter it was, although it never degenertated into a petty or dirty game.

In the second half Leeds had several opportunities to increase their lead and make the game comfortable, but these were spurned with frightening regularity. On other days, Leeds would have scored five or six.
As confidence grew, so a number of players believed that they could take on the world, and some of their shape and discipline was lost.
Frustration crept in, and Leeds had to be on their toes to prevent an unlikely and undeserved equaliser.
This they achieved with relative ease, and were pleased to pick up their first win, and first clean sheet of the season, as well as maintaining their unbeaten record.

Next week ??  Oh yes, another trip across the hills to take on the might of Preston."