Men’s Football
Leeds Uni 1s 3-0 Sheffield 3s
On a sunny autumn afternoon at Weetwood, Leeds football mens 1s fought their way past a dogged Sheffield 3s to progress to the next round of the Cup.
After a cagey start, with both teams solid at the back and cautiously testing each other’s midfield, Leeds gradually began to take control after around 20 minutes. The midfield were regularly spraying the ball out to the wings, and striker Danny Cunningham was buzzing around up front, with his movement starting to cause the Sheffield defence some serious problems. After two thumping Mike Stockdale headers from inswinging corners just cleared the bar, Uni scored that all-important first goal after 31 minutes.
A ball through midfield eventually fell to Cunningham about 35 yards from goal, with only the centre-backs to beat. Accelerating into the penalty area, he twisted and turned past the two defenders to find a yard of space, which he then exploited fully with a very neat finish past the Sheffield keeper, who stood no chance.
Instead of then keeping it tight in the 15 minutes before half time, Uni looked keen to go and get that second goal which would surely end the game as a contest. Stockdale, Cunningham and winger Archie Christie were all taking the game to Sheffield, but were just unable to produce that final pass or shot that was needed to double the lead. Half time arrived then with the score at 1-0, but with Uni well aware that a slip-up in the second period could be fatal.
The Gryphons started well after the break, with the constantly nicking the ball off the Sheffield forwards and then starting attacks, meaning the pressure was soon back on the ever-busy opposition rearguard.
It was perhaps ironic then that the vital second goal actually came from a Sheffield set piece. After a deep free kick was cleared out of the box to a Leeds forward, a slick and pacy counter attack brought the play right to the edge of the box, where a neat through-ball from Stockdale sent Christie one-on-one with the keeper. A controlled, curling finish did the rest and made it 2-0.
From here on Uni had the relatively simple task of seeing off a Sheffield attack that worked extremely hard, but failed to pose any real problems with pace or guile. Alex Davies was in good form at the heart of that backline, and they made sure that there were no late scares for the home side. The Gryphons were also looking good on the break, with several substitutes combining with 10 minutes to go to set up a late third goal. A ball across the six-yard box caused havoc amongst the visiting defence, and with the defender facing his own goal, his attempt at a sliding clearance went horribly wrong.
Although Uni perhaps lacked the fluency up front that they have displayed at various other points during the campaign, they were easily good enough to beat a lower-league Sheffield 3s, and advance to the next round of the cup, where they face a long trip to Wales to face Bangor.
Euan Cunningham
Image courtesy of Carlotta Grimaldi