21-07-09: Wealdstone (a) 1-2 (HT 1-1) Crowd (1,102)

Programme:

Wealdstone "Old Boy" Jermaine brought his present club to play his former club as part of the deal that brought him to Leeds and it resulted in Leeds being surprised by Wealdstone and slipped to a 2-1 defeat. Prior to kick off Jermaine Beckford, Leeds skipper for the match, was presented with a framed montage of images of his time at Wealdstone as a record Vale crowd of 1102 looked on in anticipation. The Leeds team lined up as: Shane Higgs; Liam Darville. Paul Huntington, Andy Milne, Alan Sheehan; David Prutton, Josh Falkingham, Bradley Johnson, Enoch Showumni; Tresor Kandol, Jermaine Beckford. Substitutes: Ryan Jones, Will Hatfield, Mike Whitwell. The game provided first games of the season to Tresor Kandol and junior, Josh Falkingham, with two more juniors, goalkeeper Ryan Jones and midfielder Will Hatfield experience of a first team game from the bench. There was the expected bustle from the home sode in the first stanza, as they forced three corners and Alan Massey and Darren Locke both tested Shane Higgs, while Ross Lafayette got in a decent strike. Jermaine Beckford was one of the more senior members of the United squad, but it was his strike partner from two seasons previous that stole the limelight with a twenty-second minute first goal as United were the better team in the first half hour. Playing his first game of the season Kandol scored with a header into the corner of the net past Sean Thomas in the Wealdstone goal after Josh Falkingham had provided him with a superb cross to give him the chance and Kandol registered his first goal for the club since May 2008. The referee suggested an enforced substitution og the rugged home defender James Gray, after several fouls had resulted in a scuffle with Bradley Johnson. He was replaced by Garry Jones. Both Bradley Johnson and Jermaine Beckford went close, forcing the Wealdstone keeper to good saves, but it was Keiron Forbes that equalized for the home team two minutes from half-time. After a corner from Danny Spendlove on the left was not cleared he hit a bullet-like shot into the net. Midfielder Jamie Osborne replaced Ben Alexander for the second-half for Wealdstone. While United tended to dominate proceedings in the second half, it was Wealdstone who capitalized on another error by the United defence for Ross Lafayette to find space, turn, and fire the home side into the lead after sixty-three minutes, as he easily beat the exposed Shane Higgs. United sent on Mike Whitwell for Jermaine Beckford after seventy-five minutes and it was he that came closest to putting the visitors on even terms, but he was narrowly wide. So, it was not to be as Wealdstone recorded a memorable 2-1 victory as Ryan Jones and Will Hatfield remained unused on the bench, while Midfielder David Hicks and forward Greg Ngoyi together with Smith, During and Lewis were the home side's other substitutes.