Leeds United 1 Doncaster Rovers 2: Leeds left floundering on rocks as dominant Rovers cut loose

Inside less than a fortnight, Leeds United’s fortunes have unravelled to such an extent that defeat to a Yorkshire rival without a win on the road in six months or a goal in their previous five trips did not have the ability to shock.

Not to a group of supporters who right now are displaying all the signs of being punch-drunk, such have been the number of heavy blows landed on their club in the past fortnight.

Would-be new owner Massimo Cellino’s conviction for tax evasion in his native Sardinia on March 18 over his purchase of a luxury yacht set in motion a chain of events that has left the Elland Road club teetering on the edge of an abyss that fans fear will include administration, a 10-point deduction and a likely return to League One.

Salvation – at least in the eyes of owners Gulf Finance House, who seem to have been blinded to the Italian’s suitability to take charge by the £25m he is willing to stump up for a majority stake – may come today when an appeal against the Football League’s blocking of Cellino’s takeover will be heard.

The smart money, though, is on the governing body’s decision being upheld and if that proves to be the case then, unless another party can move quickly to buy the troubled club, the future looks grim both on and off the pitch for Leeds.

Certainly, there were precious few crumbs of comfort in the way Brian McDermott’s side toiled against Doncaster Rovers.

Leeds may have huffed and puffed after the interval and even went close to snatching what would, on the balance of play across the entire 90 minutes, have been a wholly undeserved equaliser during a late onslaught.

But their overall display was still abject, the depressingly predictable tactic of lumping the ball forward to the head of 6ft 5ins striker Matt Smith being so one dimensional that Rovers’ defence, brilliantly marshalled by Abdoulaye Meite, had worked out how to keep the home side at bay long before the contest had reached even half-time.

In contrast, Doncaster played some lovely football and scored a couple of cracking goals.

First, David Cotterill took advantage of some woefully slow 
reactions from the home defence to fire in an unstoppable shot on 23 minutes.

Then, as the first half moved into stoppage time, a passing move that saw United given the runaround for 90 or so seconds ended with Billy Sharp producing one of his trademark finishes.

The first-half double proved enough for Doncaster to claim a first victory over their Yorkshire rivals in eight attempts, their previous triumph before Saturday having come at Wembley in the 2008 League One play-off final.

For Paul Keegan, the sense of satisfaction was undoubtedly added to by the Rovers midfield player having spent five years at Elland Road as a youngster after moving from his native Ireland in 2000.

“Leeds, as a club, were flying when I first came here as a 16-year-old,” said Keegan, who never made a senior appearance for Leeds, but was on the bench a couple of times in the Premier League.

“Eddie Gray (then manager) was pushing me and trying to get me a chance. It is a massive club, just look at the players that have come through here. I played with Robbie Keane, Alan Smith, Rio Ferdinand and Jonathan Woodgate. Then there were Harry Kewell and David Batty, so training became my learning curve.

“I had a great time here as a kid and loved it. That is why it is so sad to see what is happening.

“When I was here, there was a lot of stuff going on with wage cuts and it does creep onto the pitch. It is unsettling.

“With what is happening (at Leeds), we sensed an opportunity. We played some pretty good stuff to go in 2-0 ahead. We cut them open at times. We knew they would throw everything at us after the break and they did get the goal.

“That allowed Leeds to put us under massive pressure, but we defended really well and that win is for the fans.”

The 764 Rovers supporters who made the trip to Leeds will, no doubt, appreciate that sentiment.

They will also know that the win was deserved, even if the home side did give it everything in the second half.

McDermott’s decision to bring Michael Tonge and Aidy White off the bench helped. Not only did that mean Rodolph Austin and Luke Murphy, the central midfield duo who were simply over-run by Keegan and Ritchie Wellens, were out of harm’s way but United finally had some passing accuracy in the form of Tonge and genuine width down the left through White.

That helped Danny Pugh and it was a free-kick from the one-time Manchester United trainee, who had been fouled by James Coppinger to earn the set-piece, that led to United halving the deficit as Ross McCormack headed his 28th goal of the season from Smith’s knock-down.

That set up a frantic final half-hour, but Rovers held on comfortably to claim a first win on the road since the September 28 triumph at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.