29-07-09: Forest Green Rovers (a) 0-2 (HT 0-1) Crowd (1,165)

Programme:

The "Juniors" took on Forest Green at the New Lawn Stadium on 30th July 2009. They included fringe players Paul Huntington, Alan Sheehan, as well as trialists Tom Beane and Davide Somma, and lined up: Ryan Jones; Liam Darville, Andy Milne, Paul Huntington, Alan Sheehan; Will Hatfield, Joe McCann, Josh Falkingham,Tom Beane; Davide Somma, Tom Elliott. Substitutes: Mike Whitwell, Adam Watson, Sanchez Payne, James Baxendale, James Booker, Nathan Turner, Louis Turner, Alex Cairns. The home side had been hard-hit by illness and injuries and they lacked Andy Taylor, Curtis McDonald, Paul Lloyd and Jonathan Smith. The two teams were initially well matched after Forest Green had taken the lead they also took command of the game. Goals from Steve Davies and Mark Preece either side of half-time proved enough to secure the Blue Square Premier Division side victory in soddened conditions. Their first goal came when Jon Else was able to cross and find Steve Davies, who headed home from close range. San Jose Earthquakes Striker Davide Somma rattled the bar for United and the ball was quickly cleared by the home defence, but otherwise Leeds failed to impress. The second half carried on in the same vein as the first with Michael Fowler taking charge in midfield and marshalling his team to good effect. Constant pressure from the home side saw the second goal arrive when they won a corner on the right. When it was not cleared it fell to Mark Preece who swivelled to lash the ball home past the diving Leeds keeper. In the end Leeds went down 2-0 to a team that adapted to the conditions much better. The home substitutes were defender Paul Casey, central defender Callum Henry, midfielders Ross Stearn and Adam Mann and goalkeeper Tom Pass.