Leeds United 2 Yeovil Town 0: McCormack puts icing on the cake for Leeds legend Hunter

IT was far from a victory befitting a legendary figure such as Norman Hunter, Leeds United’s guest of honour at the end of the week in which he had celebrated his 70th birthday.
Ross McCormack celebrates his second goal with Dexter Blackstock and Rodolph AustinRoss McCormack celebrates his second goal with Dexter Blackstock and Rodolph Austin
Ross McCormack celebrates his second goal with Dexter Blackstock and Rodolph Austin

But in a Championship that is shaping up to be every bit as unpredictable as last season’s crazy affair, a win is something not to be sneezed at.

So, as Elland Road’s third highest crowd of the campaign filed out into a cold night shortly before 5pm on Saturday, no wonder there was a palpable sense of excitement that Ross McCormack’s double had not only seen off Yeovil Town but also nudged United into a position of promise.

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Just two places and three points now separate United from the play-off places, a welcome turnaround in fortune considering it is not so long ago that Brian McDermott’s side seemed locked in the kind of run that can all but kill off a budding promotion challenge before the hard, slog of winter has even kicked in.

Now, though, Leeds are firmly looking up the table after their own victory over Yeovil coincided with defeats for the five sides that had started the weekend directly above them in the table.

Of course, in the glory days when Hunter, who led the two teams out ahead of kick-off on Saturday and was then presented with a giant birthday cake during the half-time interval, and his Elland Road team ruled the footballing roost alongside Bremner, Giles et al, eighth place in the second tier would have represented an unthinkable come down for the West Yorkshire club.

Times have changed, however, with Leeds currently in their 10th season outside the Premier League and there was no missing the satisfaction felt among the 25,351 crowd at the icing having been put on Hunter’s birthday celebrations by three valuable points.

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McCormack, who took his goal tally for the season to eight with a double against Yeovil, said: “Norman is an important figure but you have to get all that out of your head and go do your own job. First half, we didn’t do that.

“We came in at half-time and said, ‘We have seen what Yeovil can give us but now it is time to push on and take the game to them’. To be fair, in the second half we did that and deserved the three points.

“These guys (from the club’s past) deserve to be remembered but Leeds are in the Championship and it is up to us to try and get them back to where everyone thinks the club deserves to be.

“The club will only deserve to be there if we get them there. That is why it is so important we got the three points.

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“In terms of the league table, it is still early doors. But we are now within touching distance and another couple of wins could see us make the top six.

“We have been a bit ‘one step forward, one step back’ this season. We win at home and then lose away. It is frustrating.

“But if we can win most of our home games and sort ourselves out away from home then we will be close.”

In truth, for much of the contest Leeds looked some distance from being the type of team others will fear once the promotion tussle gets really interesting in the Spring.

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During the first half, in particular, they were largely leaden-footed and lacking in inspiration against a Yeovil side whose victory over Nottingham Forest a week earlier had been only their second of the campaign.

The best United could muster in those dour opening 45 minutes was a glaring miss by Matt Smith and a curled effort from Alex Mowatt that went just wide. That both these came within seconds of each other merely served to underline just how below par the home side’s attacking efforts had been.

After the break, however, it was a different story as Leeds, thanks in the main to the midfield drive of Rodolph Austin, took the game to the Somerset side.

The breakthrough came just 128 seconds after the restart as Austin broke at pace from the centre circle before slipping a neat pass to McCormack, whose finish was so powerful that Wayne Hennessey in the visitors’ goal had no chance of keeping out the Scot’s rasping shot.

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McCormack was similarly clinical midway through the second half when, after once again being fed by Austin, he rolled the ball past the advancing Hennessey and into the net.

Yeovil, who looked neat and tidy on the ball throughout the game without ever really putting Paddy Kenny’s goal under pressure, had no way back.

Their best effort was a shot from Byron Webster on 75 minutes that drifted wide as both Joel Grant and Paddy Madden tried in vain to divert the ball into the net.

All in all, therefore, a satisfying rather than spectacular way for Leeds to mark the birthday of Hunter, a defender guaranteed a place in any Elland Road all-time greats XI.

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McDermott, who had to field Jason Pearce in an unorthodox wing-back role after Stephen Warnock was forced out of the action through injury, said: “It is such a long season with such a lot of games to play.

“But if we can be there or thereabouts come the end of Christmas, we will see where we go.

“We put ourselves under pressure by losing at Huddersfield (the previous Saturday) but we have now won three out of the last five games.

“They were all home games so now we have just got to make sure that we have got the nous to go away and get results.

“I feel like we haven’t really got going but we are still eighth in the league and close to where we want to be.”