Leeds 'B v Scarborough 5-0
Leeds were looking for their 3rd league win on the trot in cold and rainy conditions which could only be described as appalling.
Leeds looked the brighter side from the off with George Hamnett, & Ryan Bedford linking up well to create some early crosses into to the area which unfortunately came to nothing. Great work down the left saw a Matty Booth cross find the head of Kristian Smith whose superb effort was well saved by the keeper.
Scarborough looked dangerous on the counter attack & the 1st half defence of Jack Cooper, Adam Drake & Lawrence Wilson were more than up to the challenge and looked solid at the back. Unfortunately this left keeper Nicki Myers to be nothing more than a spectator for much of the half.
The breakthrough came when a move down the left found the feet of George Hamnett in the area. He calmly avoided 2 challenges to expertly slot the ball home past the keeper. 1-0
Leeds continued to dominate & minutes later a excellent flick forward from Callum Barron found George Hamnett chasing down the ball. The Scarborough keeper came for it but wasn't able to hold & George tapped the ball once again into the net. 2-0
Leeds really began to turn on the style and put together some great passing moves. A Lawrence Wilson pass found George Hamnett whose precise through ball sent Kristian Smith clear & his brilliant shot flew into the bottom corner. 3-0
Just before the half time Kristian Smith found himself clear again but his shot went unfortunately wide. It looked all the way to be going for a dead ball but a top run from George Hamnett & his shot from what seemed an impossible angle found the back of the net for a great end to the half. A hat trick for George and a half time score of 4-0
As time went on, the weather got progressively worse however this did not deter the lads and the 2nd half started much the same as the 1st with Leeds the more dominating side. Early play saw great work between Ryan Bedford & 2nd half substitute Todd Thackray creating good opportunities for crosses into the box which unfortunately came to nothing. Matty Wheeler battled hard & his work rate in getting back to help out the defence as well as attacking play was superb. Leeds had some excellent chances to score but the Scarborough keeper was in fine form and pulled off some great saves.
Substitute Oscar Turnbull had his work cut out as Scarborough rallied but the defence of Leeds was excellent & second half keeper Ross Mckenna had little involvement in the game.
The game was finally put to bed when a great run & pass from Kristian Smith found Mitch Pattinson down the left. His strong run into the area & left foot shot looked all the way to be going into the back of the net but Ryan Bedford was on the line just to make sure. Its up to the lads to decide who is claming that one ! 5-0
The final whistle came moments later much to the relief of the freezing cold soaking wet players & supporters alike!
A hat trick of wins & a hat trick of goals for George Hammnett in what was a fine performance by Leeds. The team played well and really pulled together in extremely difficult conditions.
Lets hope we can carry that form into the new year. Well done boys and Merry Christmas to all!!!