Heidi's Blog - Swansea v Leeds United
Swansea v Leeds United | 24th November 2024 Swansea.com Stadium
It was a very emotional day yesterday as the celebration of my husband’s life took place at Rastrick Cricket Club. Waking up to a white out with snow giving him a Leeds United send off, this impacted on some getting there with ice, flooding and jack-knifed lorries causing severe travel issues. We are so grateful for everyone who did make it to share our memories of Phillip/Captain. Thank you to Malta Whites for the mention of him in their remembrance service, LUFC South Kirkby for raising a glass to him on the way to the game and Shuy in Australia arranging for a wreath to be delivered from the Halifax Whites.
If we thought the storms were over, they impacted on fans travelling to the game with flooded roads in Wales. I’m glad I was travelling by coach and luckily slept most of the way there and back. By the time we did stop though I needed the break as I was in a lot of pain which at least eased with painkillers and something to eat. Thank you to everyone at the game for their hugs, good wishes and love sent our way which were greatly appreciated. It shows how much I know about previous results here as I didn’t realise our win today was the third in a row! It’s a good job I don’t rely on my memory because despite being at the games I had no recollection of scores.
Although the game ended with seven goals scored it felt a very surreal scoreline. Leeds had the first attack and from the corner the ball reached James at the far post who saw his shot go over the bar. Swansea were lucky they weren’t penalised for a pull on Rodon’s shirt. We were frustrated with the referee blowing for any little touch on Swansea players. They were given a free kick for an innocuous challenge, which we were made to pay for when they scored from the set play when their player got past our defence in acres of space. Luckily for us we got back into the game relatively quickly and a fantastic pass through to James saw him run forward and unselfishly pass the ball across the box for Solomon to get his first goal for the club.
Three minutes of injury time were given for the first half which felt more than was needed, but they got a second goal when we lost the ball in midfield, then a wicked deflection from Bogle, took the ball into the bottom corner of the goal, just of our Meslier’s full stretch reach. Without the deflection he would have saved the shot. That was a disappointing one to concede as we went into the break.
Ten minutes into the second half we were back on level terms after Tanaka broke up a Swansea attack. Rodon got the ball, passed forward to Bogle and his first time pass saw the speed of James on the wing run forward. He passed the ball into the box and their player trying to stop the ball getting to Piroe, put it into the net for an own goal. It was nice to have a bit of luck for once. We took the lead when a fantastic ball from Struijk through to Byram who was onside and in acres of space, ran forward and passed into the middle for Solomon to get his second goal of the game and for Leeds to take the lead for the first time. It shows how much I know as Farke got it right. We’d taken a quick thrown in with our first subs waiting to come onto the pitch and I felt we should have made the subs rather than carry on playing. As Solomon went off shortly afterwards, he obviously wouldn’t have scored the goal! With fans singing top of the league, I couldn’t do that in case it came back to bite us on the bum.
As the game drew to a close, we started to defend deep and the only thing you could see was Swansea scoring which turned out to be the case. Meslier had made a great save from a shot but on full time they equalised, after a cross into the middle of the box saw their player get in between ours to score. That was a big disappointment as we thought we’d thrown it away only for Gnonto to come on as sub and get a dramatic winner in injury time when James put him through in the penalty area. The Leeds fans erupted then as the goal sent Leeds to the top of the table. This time I’d no problem singing it and it was a great feeling to get the win and three points. Thank you Phillip for looking down on us today.
Luckily our journey home was relatively smooth, and it was only as we neared Leeds that the reality of going back home hit me as listening to music finally saw the tears come. I’d done better than I dared hope and as usual, being with our Leeds United family, is the best tonic and I’m under no illusions that things will take time to ease. See you against Luton on Wednesday.
LUFC – Marching on Together!
Leeds won the game 4-3 with our goals scored by a brace for Solomon (20, 73), an own goal from Cabango (55) and the winner from Gnonto in injury time (90+1).
Team: Meslier, Struijk, Rodon, Bogle, James, Byram, Soloman, Rothwell, Aaronson, Tanaka, Piroe
Subs: Joseph for Piroe (74), Solomon for Gnonto (75), Wober for Byram (84), Guilavogui for Rothwell (84), Debayo for James (90)
Subs not used: Darlow, Crew, Bamford, Ramazani
Attendance: 17,125 (1,976 Leeds Fans)
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Booked: James, Byram