Preston Schools FA U15    4    v    2    Leeds Schools FA U15

Saturday 3rd October 2009

Thank goodness this was only a friendly !!

After the indian summer weather of the last three weeks, it was back to typical October Lancastrian gales and squally showers, and it was Leeds who were caught cold.

However, this was something of a bizarre game with each side taking turns to dominate and score in packs of goals.

Leeds started brightly and could have been two up early on. Firstly Max Pritchett-Collins saw his curling shot come back of the angle of post and bar, and secondly when Matty Mitchell beat the advancing keeper but saw his header fly just past the post.

Preston took the lead somewhat against the run of play after seven minutes when a speculative shot from outside the box was helped into the net via a powerful gust of wind.

Leeds initially responded positively and Lee Nicholson's fine run and dink over the keeper deserved a goal, but unfortunately just cleared the bar.

Conditions made defending difficult, and it was Leeds who were caught out again after the ball was lost in midfield giving ample time for a pass through the heart of Leeds defence for the onrushing striker to make it 2-0.

Heads went down, and after a period of sustained pressure Preston made it three as tackles were missed and mistimed.

It needed a Winson Churchill speech at half time from Mr Thornton to turn things around, and Leeds came out energised for the second half.
Unfortunately, this lasted for around 5 minutes when they were caught by a quick break and lack of tracking back, and it was 4-0.

This was as bad as it got as Leeds concentrated on preventing more goals than trying to score any, and Preston took their collective foot off the pedal.

This almost backfired on them as Leeds were given more time and room, and partly discovered their passing game.
Chances were spurned, but with 15 minutes remaining Lee's strength allowed him to out-muscle the last defender and slide past the advancing keeper. 4-1.
The second followed shortly after as Ashley Slater's header came back off the bar with the rebound poked home by Matty Mitchell. 4-2

The comeback of the century was on, but as Preston ran out of gas, so Leeds ran out of time, and reluctantly had to accept their first defeat of the season ( allbeit in a non-competitive game )

An opportunity to accentuate the positives and eliminate the negatives in time for next week's Northern Merit table fixture v Wakefield.