SHEFFIELD  U13s     2          LEEDS  U13s             1

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1st

 

The first League match of the season ended in a narrow defeat against a determined Sheffield side. With hindsight the friendly match earlier in the season worked against Leeds as it gave Sheffield the opportunity to gauge the strengths of the Leeds boys which together with their choice of a compact pitch helped give them the advantage.

For the second week in a row the Leeds boys started slowly (Is it the journey?). Sheffield were however looking for revenge from the off and made life difficult with their closing down. It was probably the worse half of the season so far for Leeds as they struggled to link passes together on the claggy surface. Despite the Sheffield dominance in possession Leeds did have two chances to take the lead, the first saw Sam Chippendale release Niall Heaton down the left to send an excellent cross in to Callum Pilkington whose header flashed just wide. The second chance also saw Heaton break down the left to power a shot that the Sheffield goalkeeper did well to palm in on to the post.

The lack of fluency in the Leeds play continued as the half progressed and on two occasions Sheffield took advantage to score. Half-time Sheffield 2 Leeds 0.

Leeds started brighter in the second half. A Callum Pilkington run down the left created problems for the Sheffield defence and allowed Niall Heaton to send a long throw deep in to the box. It wasn't cleared allowing Will Boyle to score. At the other end Josh Walsh in goal had to be alert to catch a free kick and there was a mad scramble which saw a rebound off the Leeds cross bar.

Leeds finished strongly but couldn't force the equaliser. The nearest they came was a penalty awarded for a foul on Jamie Lloyd but his resultant spot kick was well saved. Full-time Sheffield 2 Leeds 1.

It was a lively encounter between two reasonably matched teams. Leeds paid the price for their poor first half display, but overall couldn't really come to terms with the size of the pitch and the physical Sheffield style. On another day perhaps Leeds would have taken their chances and come away with the points.