Match Report.

Worthington

Cup  

 City v Leeds

Leicester City 4    Leeds United 2 (On Penalties)

An icy reception for Leeds.

Peter Gilbert. 16.12.99

I had to decide last night whether to put another log on the fire and watch Sky or to travel from my home in the icy Peak District to Filbert Street to see our encounter with Leeds in the Worthington Cup. The decision was not difficult really as nothing that Sky can produce can begin to compare with the electric atmosphere at Filbo and so I set off on a dark icy night, turning over in my mind a few dark icy thoughts. Will our defence, in the absence of Sinclair, be quick enough to deal with the youthful Leeds attack who are on a 'roll' at the moment? How will we retain our balance down the left hand side with Guppy missing? Will the Leeds side - top of the table and on fire - just be more than our weakened side can deal with? On my journey to Filbert Street I often see a live fox or sometimes two (a good omen) or a dead fox (definitely a bad omen). I think last night was too cold for our foxy friends and I saw none but as I approached the ground I saw several people trying to catch a swan - what ever could that signify??

When I eventually got into the ground there was an air of slightly anxious anticipation as everyone knew we had to be up for it if we were to beat the recently unbeatable Leeds United but, when the Post Horn Gallop sounded and the boys ran out we were reminded that we support a team who are not daunted by the past performance of the opposition whoever they are.

City found it hard to settle down in the early stages of the game and, as expected, the youthful Leeds attack went in for the kill but not before Heskey had set the alarm bells ringing a couple of times. It was ' all hands on deck' for the first fifteen minutes but our defence weathered the storm and then, what we thought was the ultimate disaster struck. Neil Lennon left the field injured and was replaced by Theo Zagorakis. The departure of Lennon was compensated to a degree when Batty was replaced by Jones in the 20th. minute. We should not have worried too much as Zakorakis stuck to his task well and we gradually turned the tide of Leeds attacks. In the 21st minute Heskey turned the defence and shot just right of the left hand post. In the 28th minute Walsh had a free header which he normally would have put away but this was not to be. Although play could not be described as bad tempered, there were a number of bookings involving Walsh, Bridges, Radabe and Heskey. There was an ongoing struggle between Heskey and Radabe but Emile's strength and agility proved to much for the Leeds man.

After half time City came out and immediately put Leeds under pressure which continually increased. Athough Kewell made a couple of chances it was City who showed the most skill and aggression but neither side could find the back of the net. Heskey was giving the Leeds defence a torrid time but failed to put away several chances. We thought we had clinched it when in the 87th minute when an Elliott header from an Oakes free kick was cleared off the line by Jones. In the 90th minute Radebe was given his second yellow card for a challenge on Heskey and sent off.

We came out for extra time with Gunnlaugsson replacing Cottee. In the absence of Radabe, City were able to take Leeds apart during extra time and their attacks were well contained by Elliott, Walsh and Taggart. At the other end City failed to put away the many chances they made and with a 0-0 score line after extra time all we could do was hope for was a successful penalty shoot out which went as follows:

Gunnlaugsson scores 1.0 Woodgate scores 1-1 Elliott scores 2-1
Harte scores 2-2 Impey scores 3-2 Kelly misses 3-2 Zakorakis misses 3-2
Bowyer misses 3-2 IZZET SCORES 4-2 and WE ARE THROUGH!!!!!!

As I returned home along the dark icy roads - for me -the sun was shining and the birds were singing, and, talking about birds, I'll be looking for swans whenever I travel to see our fantastic team.

Leicester City: Flowers Taggart Walsh   Izzet   Lennon 14   Heskey   Savage  Elliott   Impey     Cottee 90    Oakes Subs:  Gunnlaugsson  90   Gilchrist  Campbell   Arpexad  Zagorakis 14

Leeds United:  Martyn  Kelly  Harte  Radebe90 Woodgate  Bridges90  Kewell  Bowyer Batty 20  McPhail  Bakki    Subs: Huckerby  Robinson  Mills  Jones 20  Duberry  90

Attendance 16,125