8 Sept 2007 :: by
Chris Hudson
Proudly bottom, no points and no defeats! How does it feel Mawhinney?
A crowd of 26,877 filled Elland Road with raucous noise and the deadly duo of Tresor Kandol and Jermaine Beckford
delivered what they were baying for - two goals and zero points! A strike in each half secured the points and the 2-0 victory means that the unjust fifteen point penalty imposed by Mawhinney and the Football League have been totally eradicated.
Leeds United now sit proudly at the bottom of League One with zero points and the only 100% record in the entire Football League! The juxtaposition of those facts should have Mal-whinney squirming with embarrassment that his pathetic power-game has gone so horribly wrong.
While new signing Paul Huntingdon started on the bench (there was no sign of Alan Martin or Filipe da Costa) the match did see the welcome return of two old Leeds faces, now in the colours (red and black) of Hartlepool United: Robbie Elliot and Ian Moore. Both were substituted late on in the game as Hartlepool sought to take advantage of their huge advantage in terms of possession, corners and shots at goal.
Leeds United had the one advantage that counted though: goals!
The first goal resulted from a cross from Frazer Richardson on the right; it was met by Tresor and it went in the top left of the goal. Nineteen minutes gone and Leeds had the vital start they were looking for.
Hartlepool had a "goal" disallowed when Richard Barker's header hit the cross bar and came down on the line. The linesmen said it had not crossed the line.
Leeds fans had to wait exactly thirty minutes from the first for the next Leeds United goal. Just after half-time Seb Carole made a far-sighted pass from his own half, and Jermaine Beckford chipped the oncoming keeper into the top left of the goal from twenty yards.
Brown, Barker, Monkhouse and Ian Moore all had chances to put Hartlepool back in the game; in fact Hartlepool had twenty shots during the match and Casper Ankergren was a busy man with half of them being on target. Leeds had just four on target and scored with 50% of them! In the end that is the only statistic that mattered.
Ian Westlake came on for Seb Carole in the 83rd minute and new boy Paul Huntingdon made his debut coming on in the 90th minute for Jonny Howson who had just been booked for a foul on Hartlepool's Ritchie Humphreys.
That was the only booking for Leeds but Hartlepool had Antwi and Nelson booked.
Dennis Wise was clearly pleased with his fifth straight league victory, particularly one against Danny Wilson's side that had achieved victories in their previous three games and are seen by many as serious play-off contenders.
LEEDS UNITED (4-4-2): Ankergren, Richardson, Marques, Heath, Clapham; Prutton, Howson (Huntington 90), Hughes, Carole (Westlake 82); Kandol, Beckford
Unused subs: Bayly, Parker, Ameobi.
HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-4-2): Budtz, McCunnie, Nelson, Antwi, Elliott (Gibb 67); Brown, Liddle, Humphreys, Monkhouse, Barker, Moore (Porter 73)
Unused subs: Clark, Foley, Lee-Barrett.
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