Leeds United 1-0 Harrogate Town: YEP Reaction

Yorkshire Evening Post

Leeds United 1-0 Harrogate Town: YEP Reaction as Whites book place in FA Cup Fourth Round

Transcript

00:00Well, well, well. Job done, I think, just. Well, it was job done. Leeds United are into

00:07the fourth round. Hat for the FA Cup fourth round draw. But my words, that was not an

00:12uncomfortable ride this evening as Daniel Fax-White recorded a 1-0 victory against Simon

00:18Weaver's Harrogate Townside, League 2 Harrogate Town, who came here fourth bottom in League

00:232. Lots of places between the two sides in the EFL ladder. And I think a lot of the talk

00:29before the game obviously was how many Leeds might score here, etc, etc, especially when

00:34you saw the 11 and bench. But in the end, one goal proved enough. Just one goal seeing

00:39Daniel Farkside through. And the only thing to start with to say here is massive, massive

00:44credit to Harrogate Town, who gave a superb account of themselves. And I mean, I've not

00:49seen what Simon Weaver said yet, but whether he ends up thinking they were unlucky, I don't

00:54know. But they certainly had their chances. And there's no doubt that they caused Leeds

00:57some scares. And definitely, definitely very, very early in the game when Joshua Ghiafoghi

01:02took out, took down March, which looked like a penalty to all of us slotting the stands

01:07anyway. And I think if there was VAR, that might have been interesting. That was definitely

01:11one big scare survived. There were lots of other ones as well. Attacks in the second

01:14half, lots of balls into the box that Leeds had to deal with. Kyle Dallow had a solid

01:19night between the sticks, which was needed. And in the end, yeah, just very, very uncomfortable

01:23really with one goal still proving the deficit right up to the very, very end. And even in

01:27the 94th minute, one late Harrogate Town free kick. Goalkeeper went up for that. I

01:31mean, we all looked at each other then and thought, are we going to wait for extra time

01:33here? But ultimately, Leeds survived it clear, didn't score on the counter when the keeper

01:37was stranded. But one goal proved enough. And that one goal was scored by Largi Ramazzani.

01:42I mean, you know, obviously eight changes were made by Daniel Farke this evening. But

01:47when you're bringing in players like that, it's hardly a weak, weak team. Mulling on

01:51to another one to come in as well. And Ramazzani got the only goal of the game just before

01:56the hour mark. A very, very simple finish, a headed finish from very, very close range.

02:00Goal made by Mana Solomon, who I think was probably just about Leeds United's brightest

02:03spark this evening, certainly from an attacking sense anyway. You would definitely hope that

02:07that would be the case, obviously, against a League Two side. And that's no disrespect

02:10to Harrogate Town. But obviously, you know, there should be a big golfing class between

02:13these two sides. And I suppose in the end, finishing really an attacking player was the

02:17difference. But one goal is the only difference in the scoreline. And really the only takeaway

02:22you can take from this evening is basically that it's job done. And as I say, they are

02:25into the fourth round draw, which takes place on Sunday after Arsenal's game against Manchester

02:31United. So look, everybody knows the promotion to the Premier League is this season's priority.

02:37By a million miles, that's the priority. Of course, it is. If Leeds can have a cup run

02:40at the same time, then great, as long as it doesn't distract the league form. They should

02:44have a big enough squad to be able to do both and get a bit of a run going. Ultimately,

02:47it will all depend on who they get in the fourth round draw and hopefully if they get

02:51through that, who they get thereafter. But as I say, they're into the hat. The other

02:55thing tonight to really take away from it is the injury returns. Two players coming

02:58back, two big players coming back. Junior Firpo, who's obviously been out of his hamstring

03:02injury. He came on as a second half sub. Huge cheers as he came on. Anilia Gruev, who has

03:07obviously been out even longer after knee surgery. He was on as well. I think it was

03:10the 89th minute. Big cheers as he was introduced as well. So those two players both back in

03:15the mix, which is good to see. Pascal Stroik was also here. He started. Guy Arvogui played

03:19as a centre-back tonight, which I don't think many people saw come in. There's no hiding

03:23from it. He struggled as a centre-back this evening. He was given a very, very hard night.

03:26He was booked. March caused him lots and lots of problems. And as I say, it looked to us

03:30a lot like Leeds were very, very lucky to avoid not concede a penalty at that very,

03:35very early stage. And obviously, if that goes in, it maybe changes the game a bit. Although

03:38saying that, I mean, Harrogate Town did just sit back a lot and defend very, very well.

03:42But if they'd have got that penalty, then who knows what would have happened? And as

03:46I say, it wasn't just that penalty shout. There were other chances as well for Simon

03:50Weaver's side, who, like I say, could go away from here with an enormous, enormous

03:54credit. They did very, very well indeed. And obviously, you know, two clubs very friendly

03:57with each other and very, very best of luck for them for the rest of the season. Their

04:01season, obviously, is all about staying in the Football League. They worked very, very

04:04hard to get to Football League status. They worked on the Harrogate Advertiser before

04:08covering that club when they were non-league. And it's great to see them now, obviously,

04:11in the EFL fourth bottom. And it's just all about staying out of those bottom two places

04:15for them. If they play like that, they won't have any problems whatsoever because that

04:19was a very, very good display. Just sort of like that cutting edge at the end. But, you

04:23know, that's not saying much against a lead side, who have obviously been so strong defensively.

04:28Kyle Darno obviously came in to Nets this evening for Hélène Méliès, but that wasn't

04:32really a reflection of his mistakes in the most recent game in the 3-3 draw. At Hull

04:39City, it was always planned that he would come in. I think reading between the lines

04:43from Daniel Fart's comments, it's pretty much pressure. It sounds to me, anyway, like

04:46that Méliès will come back in against Sheffield Wednesday. You know, very, very defensive

04:50for Hélène Méliès in his press conference. He did say, you know, obviously he's not played

04:55great in some games and has cost Leeds some goals this season. But I fully expect him

04:58to come back in. But Darno definitely didn't do his chances any harm this evening. Pretty

05:02solid in between the sticks. He dropped one cross, which was a bit worrying that Leeds

05:06managed to clear. But a couple of good bits of goalkeeping. There was another chance the

05:10second half when March was in again and he came flying out and a big save at his feet.

05:14That was another big scare, really. A big save, that. Good goalkeeping. So he did his

05:18prospects no harm whatsoever. And Isaac Schmidt, who got a very, very rare start. One or two

05:24players would have given a full debut, along with Guy Arvogui. Thought he was very, very

05:27good in the first half, really getting forward from right back. I mean, it's strange that

05:32he hasn't really been given much of a chance, but he definitely looks like an option. He

05:35sort of faded a bit in the second half, but he was definitely one of the better players

05:39as well. Solomon was the one who would look like making things happen. Should be said

05:43also, we can talk about this being a close encounter tonight and whatever, and one goal

05:47in it and Leeds sort of scraping through, if you like, if you want to put it that way.

05:50But they were denied twice by the woodwork as well, the frame of the goal. Matteo Joseph,

05:54I think everyone's just desperate for him to score. I think a goal would do wonders

05:57for his confidence. Very unlucky to sort of create space on the edge of the box. Wriggled

06:02free, really good low shot, cannon back off the post. I mean, just unlucky. And then in

06:06the second half, the crossbar as well, denying Solomon when he cut inside after being played

06:12in by Byron. I mean, that was very, very lucky as well. Just skimmed off the top of the bar.

06:15So, you know, fight margins and stuff. Obviously on another day, those two go in and Leeds win

06:203-0 and maybe take another one of their chances. But like I say, on another day, that penalty

06:24is given at the start and that was very, very early on. And, you know, you just don't know

06:26what happens if that penalty is given. So, you know, all if but some maybes. I mean,

06:31I for one, especially when I saw that team sheet and especially the bench, I thought

06:35Leeds would probably win by three or four. But I mean, you know, all being proved completely

06:39wrong. And as I say, the game was basically in the balance right up until the 94th minute.

06:44But in the end, you know, a win is a win. I don't think anybody wanted extra time in this weather.

06:48I'm struggling to even hold the phone, it's that cold now. But no one wanted extra time.

06:52I mean, we spared extra time and we got the result we wanted with Leeds

06:55united into the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup. We'll wait and see if we have a cup run.

07:00As I say, it's not the priority. Let's not beat around the bush. It definitely isn't.

07:03But if we get one, then great. The other word to say on tonight is the crowd, whatever it was,

07:0735, 36,000, absolutely amazing. You know, it looked like as we were coming up to the game,

07:13we were sort of thinking it might be full and then you sort of emerged that it was a sellout. So

07:16absolutely phenomenal support. Daniel Farke actually said post-match as well that what

07:20do you want from the next round? Basically said he wanted a home draw, which is no surprise.

07:23And I thought it was quite nice to what he said as well. He said he wanted a home draw.

07:27Also, you know, to give up fans who can't get in at league matches, basically a chance to come

07:31and see them again. So, you know, that was a nice touch, really. And I think that, you know,

07:36that's definitely something nice. If you can get another home draw in the second round.

07:41But anyway, it's a bit too cold to be rabbiting on. The bottom line is,

07:44is that Leeds United recorded a 1-0 victory. They're in the hat for the fourth round.

07:49And that is it for now. A very, very cold Ellen Road. Leeds United 1, Harrogate Town 0.

Category

Transcript

Recommended