Heidi's blog Leeds United v Cardiff City 6th August 2023
Back at Elland Road for the start of the season albeit this time in the Championship after our relegation from the Premier League. With the season finishing late and attending preseason games, I think the time has flown but it’s been busy for me with other things. On 3rd July I was asked to go into St Michaels CE Academy in Wakefield to talk about my books which linked into Resilience. There were plenty of Leeds fans in both KS1 and KS2, but I was very impressed with the input of all the children. Last Tuesday evening I was asked to appear on BBC Radio 5 Live about the forthcoming season. Thank you for the feedback which has been appreciated. It was also nice that Farke’s interview after I’d said what I wanted to say, confirmed everything that I had said. The last two preseason games have given me some hope for the season, but as there is still a chance that we will lose more players before the end of the transfer window, we are still in limbo. I don’t take anything for granted and I know we will be up against it no matter what happens next. Sam Byram has been given a one-year contract and looking at the team selection, Cooper and Ayling are going to be important for the old heads in the squad, giving their support to a very young team. With all the changes made for referees this season, some of the decisions today were baffling. With all the challenges in the penalty area resulting in play on, there was no VAR this season due to being in the Championship to look at those again. Also, some of the offside decisions from the linesman were again, baffling. So many times, we brought the ball through only to be flagged offside. All I could think of was that we were going back to flagging for offside straight away but that said, I couldn’t see anyone offside in the middle anyway. Hopefully someone can enlighten me! It was great catching up with lots of our fans today and good to be back at the football. It was good to see Pablo Hernandez appear on the pitch before the start who received a rapturous applause from the Leeds fans. Nice to see we had new hand driers in the ladies loos at long last and hot water.
Thank you LUFCdata.com for the following stat:
LANDMARK: Archie Gray becomes the youngest member of his football family to make his senior debut for Leeds. ◉ Archie Gray: 17 years, 147 days ◉ Andy Gray: 17 years, 308 days ◉ Eddie Gray: 17 years, 350 days ◉ Frank Gray: 18 years, 106 days.
Team: Meslier, Ayling, Cooper, Hjelde, Ampadu, Gray, Gnonto, Summerville, Sinisterra, James, Struijk.
Subs: Byram for Hjelde (45), Gelhardt for Gnonto (82), Poveda for James (82), Perkins for Gray (90).
Subs not used: Darlow, Cresswell, Gyabi, Bate, Shackleton.
Leeds drew the game 2-2 after coming back from 2-0 down. Cooper (49), Summerville (90+5) were the scorers.
Attendance: 36,368, 2,026 Cardiff fans.
Referee: Josh Smith.
Booked: Ampadu, Summerville.
After an applause for all the Leeds fans who have died, we had a bright start from Leeds with plenty of possession going forward with a great volley from Gnonto being the closest to us opening the scoring. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse even though we’d already had a warning when leaving their player unmarked on the right-hand side in loads of space. Ampadu stopped their first attempt, but they hit a low shot through three of our players to put them one goal up with their first shot on target. Summerville came close to an equaliser with a shot from the edge of the box which was saved by their keeper. Cardiff went further into the lead just before the break as Hjelde held off bringing their player down for a penalty when wrong sided. As the ball spun across the penalty area, Ayling was drawn into the middle but with two players behind him, one unmarked, they bundled the ball over the line to take a two-goal lead going into half time. Lots of fans went for their break early by the look of it. It was disappointing to see us going into the break two goals down as I didn’t think we deserved to be losing at that point.
The second half saw Leeds make a substitution with Byram replacing Hjelde. Within four minutes, Leeds had pulled a goal back when Cooper rose above everyone in the penalty area to head Summerville’s corner into the net. Sadly, once again things transpired against us as Cooper landed awkwardly and was subbed. It was good to see a stretcher appear with Leeds personnel carrying it, so at least he didn’t make the injury worse by hobbling around the pitch. Leeds started getting into the game and Gnonto made a good run into the penalty area and his shot just touched the top of the cross bar then into the netting. A good low shot from James brought a save out of their keeper to push the ball past the post. A low shot from Summerville went wide of the post as Leeds piled on the pressure and it paid off. As Sinsterra’s shot bounced back off a couple of Cardiff players, Summerville hit a low shot into the bottom corner of the net to equalise in the dying moments of injury time. It brought him a booking for taking his shirt off but what an equaliser.
We didn’t deserve to lose the game today so that was a welcome point as we had dominated for a lot of it. There were a few weak moments, especially in defence but overall, this was a positive performance and building on the last couple of pre-season games. What we saw today was a Leeds side creating many chances, having shots on target, or coming close to scoring with a very young side. By building on this, despite our injury situation, we have hope that things will come good in the long run. With Shrewsbury in the Carabao Cup at home on Wednesday, then our first away game at Birmingham next Saturday, we will have a better picture hopefully of how things are progressing. I hope Leeds remember to announce the attendance before the end of the game though as it was missing today.
I just want to send my condolences to the family of my friend Mark Dovey who sadly lost his life on Thursday. Mark was one of my Selby Whites when I ran the Supporters Club there starting in 1985. He was one of the regulars and a loyal Leeds fan who will be sadly missed by many, including his current branch the Garforth Whites. My daughter Danielle also didn’t make the game today after her recent operation but instead of meeting the rest of the family after the game at my grandson Freddie’s birthday party, she was back in A and E. Sadly she has an abscess under her wound but luckily, because the wound has been caught early (despite all the leakage), she has been allowed home with antibiotics. With this being my first game back in my seat after my hip operation in February, I realised at half time that there was a good reason that I stuck with the scooter until the end of last season. Suddenly, I went very hot, sweating profusely on my forehead which meant I took my beret off as I was very close to fainting. Being on my feet for so long had taken its toll as I was escorted back to my seat by my elder daughter to sit down. Things aren’t 100% as I had pain too so I will see what happens with the game on Wednesday as it may mean I have to move further down the stand so I can sit down during the game. See you then, LUFC – Marching on Together!