Capital One Cup: Leeds young guns shine in 3-1 defeat of Doncaster

Leeds continued to turn the screw in the 2nd half with Ross Mac, Austin, Mowatt, Smith and Poleon to the fore whilst the back four looked rock solid. Ross Mac had a chance to kill the tie as Mowatt released him, but Turnbull got down well to his goal bound shot. Leeds were well on top and both Poleon and then Smith spurned chances to take the tie away from the South Yorkshiremen.

Brian McDermott, manager of Leeds United (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

On the hour, ex-Leeds man Billy Paynter came off the bench for Doncaster. “He’s nailed on to score” I commented. That despite the fact that when he wore a Leeds shirt, I thought the exact opposite. So as if to prove the taunting Leeds fans wrong, he did just that with only his third touch. A cross from the left fizzed into the box and Billy was on it like a flash and thumped a header past the motionless Kenny. Unbelievable. It must have been the Leeds shirt that stopped him scoring for us! 1-1. Buoyed by the goal and the home fans’ noise, Donny then had a purple patch as they went for the win. Leeds started to rock as substitute Duffy found space in the middle of the park.

The stadium was now rocking as the game swung from end to end. Smith brought a spectacular save from Turnbull with a swivelling volley from inside the box as Leeds recovered from the equaliser. On 74 minutes, the tiring Mowatt was replaced by Murphy and received a thunderous ovation from the appreciative travelling fans. What a debut for the lad!

Murphy made an immediate impact as he added fresh legs and a touch of composure to the Leeds midfield. On 77 minutes, he picked up a nothing ball in the centre of the park and spread it wide to Peltier, who advanced towards the box using Ross Mac as foil before swinging a sweet cross into the Rovers’ box, where Smith rose above the crowd and smashed a header past Turnbull. 2-1 to Leeds and the away fans were delirious.

Leeds now went for the kill, as Donny pushed for an equaliser, they calmly moved the ball around the pitch looking for a chink in the home defence. Poleon ran at Wabara for the umpteenth time, teasing him into dragging him down inside the box……PENALTY. Ross Mac stepped up and despatched the ball past the giant Turnbull. 3-1 and game over. “That’s how you win 3-1″ the Leeds fans taunted Doncaster, after their abandoned match on Saturday.

Leeds played out the remaining time with a swagger. The referee blew for time and signalled Leeds’ passage into the third round. Six games undefeated and some real good football to boot. Not sure we’re allowed this luxury supporting Leeds, are we? Lots of smiling faces from the Leeds fans as we streamed away from the ground. How good did that feel?

Brian McD will have a selection headache for the QPR game after this performance. Wootton had an excellent debut whilst Mowatt was a revelation in midfield. Up front, Smith and Poleon were a constant threat whilst Drury didn’t put a foot wrong at left back. Ross Mac just gets better with each game. Man of the match? For me, a toss up between Mowatt and Smith.

Suddenly there is a real buzz about the club. It’s early days but the green shoots of recovery are starting to blossom under Brian McD’s leadership. QPR up next with ‘Arry and his expensive team of contenders. If we are still unbeaten by 3 pm Saturday, the seven nation army beat of “Ohhh Brian McDermott” will be on everybody’s lips as Leeds march on. Delicious!