Leeds United: In it TOGETHER

By Keith Ingham

After a painful yet exhilarating session I returned from the local gym listening to the dulcet tones of Mr Adam Pope and on this occasion the very knowledgable Mr Ian Baird, ex Leeds United number nine of some prowess back in the late eighties.

To be honest it was not a game I was relishing, Bournemouth have a reputation of passing the round thing to each other, at speed sometimes and the last time we visited there, our arses were well and truly 'tanned'. The 4-1 defeat one of the less remembered times in Brian McDermott's tenure at Leeds. They again started on the front foot and tore into Leeds and were ahead on six minutes, Surman getting the goal and continued like they wanted a quick kill, Leeds wobbled, Silvestri saved brilliantly when called upon as the away side at times rode their luck.

Slowly after a torrid thirty minutes Leeds rallied and come more into the game, the impressive Lewis Cook, a midfield general if I've ever seen one, began to find their feet in the game he was aided by Tomasso Bianchi and Rudy Austin. Passes were to feet and the days of 'hoof ball' were a horrible memory. Leeds didn't force a equaliser but they matched their opponents in the latter part of the first half.

Two pieces of skill turned this match on it's head, firstly in the sixty seventh minute Tommaso Bianchi fed a delightful ball through to 'Sully' Doukara and he despatched it like a Exocet missile into the Bournemouth goal. The celebrations that followed showed a team committed not only to the club but themselves as a group, it was a special moment.

It was bettered with less than ten minutes remaining, Rudy Austin in full flow was brought to ground by a Bournemouth defender and as all looked around to see who would take it, up stepped Giuseppe Bellusci who hit one of the best free kicks I've ever seen into the net and celebrated with 'his mates'. Look at the photograph above and see the delight on the faces of the players. Antenucci made it safe with time nearly up. A fantastic win.

Neil Redfearn must take the plaudits for bringing together the group that seemed disinterested from the outside. I've seen enough to go from a ReallyworriedFan to a NotsoNegativeFan in the three games that Redfearn has been in charge. I just hope the 'togetherness' clearly on show on a Tuesday night down in Bournemouth stays with the team throughout the rest of the season. The new coach, whoever gets the job has a tough act to follow.

Well done Redders.

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