Ricardo's report v Leeds

[ricardo 7,384]

After a hard mornings flat pack furniture assembly, Ricardo was in just the right frame of mind for an exciting afternoon at Fortress CR. For once he was not to be disappointed because todays match was as good as anything we''ve seen for quite a while.City welcomed back Andy Surman as they kicked off towards the River End and again there was no starting place for Wes. There early moments were full of action as City came forward in good style and a series of crosses were cleared with some difficulty. Barnett, Fox and Surman all had goalbound shots blocked as Leeds defended manfully. It all seemed to good to be true and then on 13 minutes the mistake came. The City defence hesitated, seemingly waitng for a whistle as Ward and a Leeds forward clashed and Gradel was left in the clear to net with a hard shot under Ruddy. Leeds grew stronger after this and gave as good as they got as play continued to swing from end to end. Surman was instrumental in most of City''s moves but too often things broke down on the edge of the Leeds box. The game was certainly open and entertaining and Leeds almost increased their lead when the lively Gradel had a fine 20 yarder tipped over. The same player went close again as City were caught ball watching on a free kick. As the halftime whistle blew I felt Leeds looked quite comfortable with their lead and City would need to up their game to get anything out of the day.There were no changes as the second period began and City piled forward in numbers. Holt and Croft shot over and Chris Martin had a low effort from the edge of the box well saved. Holt was unlucky when his header came back off a post in the keepers arms. On the hour Lambert changed it and Wes and Simeon Kackson came on for Surman and MacNamee. It paid dividends almost immediately as  Wes won a corner on the left and Barnett powered in to head past Scmiechel. It was no more than City deserved and the 26.3k crowd was roaring the team forward for a winner. Jackson skied a decent chance and in a late penalty area melee several City players had chances but could not convert. It had been a fine game and Ref Mick Russell deserves praise for letting it flow. What a difference a decent Ref makes?I was disappointed not to win but honours even was a fair result on balance. MOM for me was Barnett and Surman also looked very impressive.Once again the whole thing was a good team performance and I think we can go into the next match full of confidence after this display. Ricardo will be enjoying his Peroni tonight but its back to flat pack furniture tomorrow.

[Twitchy 0]

Cheers Ricardo, "that''s why you''ll find him in the kitchen at parties" necking a Peroni for sure,

[ron obvious 1,502]

Much ta as usual Ricardo. Coulple of questions for you:Was Ruddy at fault for the first goal? Goreham seemed to think he was, although he backtraked a bit later on.It sounded to me that, although Leeds outplayed us 1st half, they didn''t create as many clear cut chances as we did 2nd half.(That could just have been the crowd getting excited though).Why - with the exception of last week - do we always start brightly, give away a goal or 2, then go mental late on? It''s developed into a standard routine.I must say that, whatever individual results may be, this squad has so much fight in it I can''t see it giving up on the chance of promotion. After the Leeds goal went in, & they were dominating, I was beginning to worry that the crap ref. decisions last week were going to spill over into the rest of the season & disillusion the team - & Lambert. I needn''t have worried.He really is an amazing manager

[Metatron 0]

Fair report (as usual)

Leeds ''won'' the first half and were much the better team. We ''won'' the second half and in that respect a draw was about right if you were a neutral. Shame we didn''t nick it in the end. Grayson was obviously worried and kept slowing the games down with subs.

I agree about the ref - he let the game flow and was right on most decisions (for and against).

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="ron obvious"]Much ta as usual Ricardo. Coulple of questions for you:Was Ruddy at fault for the first goal? Goreham seemed to think he was, although he backtraked a bit later on.It sounded to me that, although Leeds outplayed us 1st half, they didn''t create as many clear cut chances as we did 2nd half.(That could just have been the crowd getting excited though).Why - with the exception of last week - do we always start brightly, give away a goal or 2, then go mental late on? It''s developed into a standard routine.I must say that, whatever individual results may be, this squad has so much fight in it I can''t see it giving up on the chance of promotion. After the Leeds goal went in, & they were dominating, I was beginning to worry that the crap ref. decisions last week were going to spill over into the rest of the season & disillusion the team - & Lambert. I needn''t have worried.He really is an amazing manager

[/quote]yes, the ball did seem to go straight through Ruddy, but in fairness it was a one on one and Ruddy looked pretty solid the rest of the match.Leeds dominated the 20 mins before halftime but City were easily superior in the entire second period. Although Leeds always looked handy on the break they didn''t have any clear cut chances after halftime.

[The Butler 0]

Thanks Ricardo I look forward to your report even when I have seen the game for myself.

It''s a ray of yellow and green sanity in a much to grey world.

Long may the Peroni keep you typing![:D]

[kdncfc 27]

I thought we were the better team until their goal but when they scored it knocked the stuffing out of us and they were the better team for the remainder of the half, having said that Crofts had a decent chance when through on goal and Martins deflected free kick forced their keeper to make a save. Second half was a totally different story and we pummelled them for pretty much the whole half, we had far more chances than they had had in the first half and in the end should probably have nicked it but it was one of them games that you felt pleased to have witnessed. Good atmosphere and on this evidence both teams look more than capable of making the play offs.

[Heresyourfathersgun 0]

I take it ''Kackson'' is a typo and not a freudian slip.................

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="Heresyourfathersgun"]I take it ''Kackson'' is a typo and not a freudian slip.................[/quote]Well spotted HYFG, but after that effort he skied over the bar I think "Kackson" was just about right.

[Sasco 0]

Highly readable and enjoyable report as usual Ricardo. Looking forward to your report has become part of my Saturday evening ritual after home games. I''m interested to hear your opinion on the build-up to the Barnett goal, how was it that Schmeichel end up on his back inside the goal ? Was he pushed by Martin or did something else happen ?

[rondy 0]

i''d say it was a push! Cant believe ref/lino missed it - maybe our luck''s finally turning.. and yes that is the ''N'' word from leeds scumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p12vlmnihE

[Sasco 0]

[quote user="rondy"]i''d say it was a push! Cant believe ref/lino missed it - maybe our luck''s finally turning.. and yes that is the ''N'' word from leeds scumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p12vlmnihE[/quote]

Thanks Rondy, great spot. A push as clear as you like, well done Martin. Shame that we didn''t get a winner as that would have made the Leeds even more demented ........ if that''s possible.

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="Bogbrush99"]Highly readable and enjoyable report as usual Ricardo. Looking forward to your report has become part of my Saturday evening ritual after home games. I''m interested to hear your opinion on the build-up to the Barnett goal, how was it that Schmeichel end up on his back inside the goal ? Was he pushed by Martin or did something else happen ?[/quote]From my view in the River End Upper it is always difficult to be sure and from 100 yds away it looked ok. Ive seen the replay and I think we may have got away with one. If so then it makes up for the Becchio handball but again I was so far away that I couldn''t be sure of that either. You look for the reaction of the players and in both cases the defenders were complaining so it may be that niether goal should have stood. However it all made for as open and entertaining a game as I have witnessed at CR this season.

[Barclay Boy 0]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="ron obvious"]
Much ta as usual Ricardo. Coulple of questions for you:

Was Ruddy at fault for the first goal? Goreham seemed to think he was, although he backtraked a bit later on.

It sounded to me that, although Leeds outplayed us 1st half, they didn''t create as many clear cut chances as we did 2nd half.
(That could just have been the crowd getting excited though).

Why - with the exception of last week - do we always start brightly, give away a goal or 2, then go mental late on? It''s developed into a standard routine.

I must say that, whatever individual results may be, this squad has so much fight in it I can''t see it giving up on the chance of promotion. After the Leeds goal went in, & they were dominating, I was beginning to worry that the crap ref. decisions last week were going to spill over into the rest of the season & disillusion the team - & Lambert. I needn''t have worried.
He really is an amazing manager


[/quote]
yes, the ball did seem to go straight through Ruddy, but in fairness it was a one on one and Ruddy looked pretty solid the rest of the match.

Leeds dominated the 20 mins before halftime but City were easily superior in the entire second period. Although Leeds always looked handy on the break they didn''t have any clear cut chances after halftime.
[/quote]

I sit in the upper Barclay. From my angle it did seem like the ball went right through him. He just didn''t seem to get enough behind it to keep it out.

To be fair I think we are all spoilt from having Forester last season.

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Barclay Boy"]To be fair I think we are all spoilt from having Forester last season.[/quote]

 

You wood say that woodn''t you? [;)]