Leeds United 2 - West Bromwich Albion 3

Dave Watkin:

After trailing to an early goal against Leeds United at Elland Road, Albion netted three times before the break and then withstood a spirited comeback by the home side, to earn a welcome three points.

I thought Curtis Davies was outstanding at the back and Diomansy Kamara a constant threat up front. However the game was won in midfield where for periods of the game we moved the ball around really well. Whilst Jonathan Greening was the pick of the four, both Richard Chaplow and a seemingly rejuvenated Zoltan Gera played well and Robert Koren on his full debut looked sharp and a particularly good passer of the ball.

There was extensive coverage of our game on ITV?s Championship highlights programme and this was just as well, because our viewpoint from the corner of a half empty ground was pretty poor. I was inclined to give the man-of-the-match award to Greening, or perhaps Davies, but seeing the quality of Kamara?s two goals on screen gives him my vote. The assault on Kamara near the end-of-the-game looked even worse on the box and the commentator summed it up when he said that Nicholls led with his elbow. As for Dennis Wise, surely I wasn?t the only one who smiled when in his interview he criticised Kamara for traits such as gamesmanship, which were such an essential part of the Cockney barrow boy?s own career.

TEAM NEWS

The starting eleven showed three changes, two of which were due to one-match bans for Jason Koumas and John Hartson. Paul McShane returned from suspension in place of Steve Watson at right back. Robert Koren made his full debut as a straight replacement for Koumas and Zoltan Gera reappeared on the right wing, allowing Diomansy Kamara to play as a striker.

HIGHLIGHTS

Albion didn?t have time to settle before they were a goal down. In the 3rd minute, McShane failed to clear under pressure from Lewis whose shot was saved by a sliding Russell Hoult. The ball rebounded to Healey, but Curtis Davies anticipated his first time shot and cleared off the line. Credit here to the ball-boy, who with Davies and Hoult struggling to recover, quickly fed the thrower and when Elliott crossed, FLO rose unchallenged to head home, with Hoult in no-mans land.

By the 7th minute the Baggies were level. A free kick from almost forty yards from Neil Clement was charged down by the wall, but only as far as JONATHAN GREENING, who from well outside the box rifled a low shot through a crowd of players into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.

Things got even better in the 19th minute, when with a few quick passes Albion switched the ball from the left wing to Zoltan Gera on the right. The Hungarian international picked out DIOMANSY KAMARA with an astute first time pass and he shrugged off his marker and faced with keeper Sullivan coolly passed the ball into the back of the net.

The match was virtually settled in the last few minutes of the half. Flo was played through on goal, but before he could pick his spot, the recovering Curtis Davies was back to block. Most fans would have settled for a single goal half time lead, but in the 2nd minute of stoppage time Albion scored the goal-of-the-game. A series of ten crisp passes, ended when Paul Robinson fed DIOMANSY KAMARA a few yards outside the penalty area. The bamboozled home defence stood off the Senegalese international as he controlled the pass before imperialistically curling a twenty-five yard shot into the top right hand corner.

Albion, led by Jonathan Greening and Richard Chaplow, dominated after the break, but there were no more goals, despite Phillips and Gera both testing keeper Sullivan. In the 66th minute Flo engineered a free kick just outside the area with a dramatic fall and fellow full debutant THOMPSON hammered a bullet shot into the top left hand corner. Leeds were now playing with four strikers but Albion weathered the storm.

There was a dramatic incident as we approached the final whistle. Kamara cut in from the left and inside the centre circle was felled under a violent challenge from Nicholls. The referee, who I thought had had a pretty good game to this point, was only feet from the incident and we waited to see whether he would produce a yellow or a straight red card. Bizarrely, he awarded the free kick to Leeds! A clearly dazed Kamara was led from the field to be replaced by substitute Stuart Nicholson. Admittedly he took his time, but in an extraordinary outburst, when he reached the touchline he was assaulted by the Leeds manager Dennis Wise, who then departed to the stand under the instruction of the officials. The Baggies played out the four minutes of stoppage time and received a standing ovation from the travelling support. We?re top scorers in the division, with 54, 6 more than our nearest challengers, whilst Leeds have conceded 52, 2 more than anyone else.

ALBION FORMRATE: GOOD

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: DIOMANSY KAMARA

STATISTICS (against Leeds United)

The Baggies went to Elland Road hoping to break a run of 8 matches without a win dating back to October 14th 1978, when a Tony Brown goal and two from Cyrille Regis in a 3-1 victory, took us up two places to 4th in the old First Division. We succeeded and the 3-2 win also sees us placed 4th, albeit a division below where we were 28 seasons ago. It was our first double over the Yorkshire side since 1959-60, when weirdly, in the top flight, Albion finished 4th (Leeds were relegated). Of course, this season we?ve recorded a unique treble over United, leading to chants of ?10-5 to the Albion? as we trooped home!

Alan Care:

As a long distance Baggies fan I have been a visitor to the BOING site for several years but have never posted before except as part of the promotion celebrations in 2002.

I am a 4th generation Baggies fan brought up in Halfords Lane, Smethwick and following the Baggies from the Smethwick End in my youth. I have lived in Leeds since 1984 and have to make do with watching the team on their trips north over the years although I did manage to get to the home game against Coventry before Xmas - a good choice of fixture. I have witnessed some poor performances by us at Elland Road over the years with little prospect of ever seeing us win there. I have never disguised my support for the Baggies during my time in Yorkshire but after yesterday's result (and the 2 earlier victories) I have the bragging rights for at least the next 12 months and probably longer than that as I expect we will not be in the same Division as Leeds come next season.

Not only was yesterday's game a great result but, more importantly, an excellent performance, particularly given how mixed our away form has been this season. The most pleasing feature was our passing and ball retention and the patient build-up compared to Leeds' long ball approach. Davies was outstanding at the back but the defence did look vulnerable at times. McShane was torn apart by Lewis in the first 15 minutes and I am surprised Leeds did not concentrate on that area. Kamara & Phillips looked dangerous throughout and Koren looked promising. After reading recent reports about Gera I was pleasantly surprised by his performance - his first time pass to put Kamara through for our second goal was top quality. Sadly Hoult still looks dodgy when kicking from the floor and this contributed to Leeds' 2nd goal when a poor clearance by him put us under unnecessary pressure.

Overall though a great day which puts us in good shape for the run in to the season (and the Wolves game). I will remember this game for a long time.

Cuzer:

Comfortable as you like yesterday, despite the narrow scoreline. Don't want to get too carried away, despite the win as Leeds are piss poor and look certs to go down on that showing. Our achilles heel of Centre Mid was stamped out by the good work of Chaplow and especially Greening. Nicholls and Thompson were chasing shadows most of the day due to our slick, one touch passing.

• Hoult 6: At fault for 1st, little else to do
• Mcshane 5: Totally at fault for 1st and poor throughout
• Robinson 7: Steady if unspectacular
• Clement 6: Good one moment, poor the next, did well last 10 after a shaky 20 minutes in the 2nd half
• Davies 9: Immense, remembered how to attack the ball again won everything and was a class above
• Gera 7: Good performance, Gera of old, looked hungry, kept the ball well and challenged, impressive
• Chaplow 7: Hungry, worked his socks off and supported the front well too
• Greening 8: Bossed the game, good passing, good feet and a great strike for goal
• Koren 7: Liked what I saw, tidy player, always keen to get forward, will only get better and a good start for the lad
• Phillips 7: Worked hard, won fair amount of headers for his size and movement as good as ever
• Kamara 9* Better forward in the Championship? Not on this form, glides past players, scared Leeds to death and could have easily of had a hat trick

Subs

• Nicholson 6: Only on for last few minutes