Tadcaster Albion 0-2 Leeds United U21's

It was another fantastic night for the club all round with the i2i stadium completely packed out with the always impressive Leeds fans flooding in in their droves.

It is still absolutely remarkable to see the turnaround the club has made following the devastating floods which occurred over the winter period sustaining over £200,000’s worth of damage.

The sun was beaming down on the hottest day of the year, the pitch was quite simply faultless after Dave Wakefield’s none stop work, the clubhouse was packed, the queue for the bar was out the door – it was fantastic to see.

We were unsure as to what kind of Leeds team would make the short journey to Tadcaster however with the first-team just returning from a pre-season tour in Ireland as well as training on the day, it was primarily an U18’s side that featured. The majority of the U21’s side were also with the first-team but it was still a great test for The Brewers.

Tadcaster First-Half Team: Murphy, Trialist, Milne, Morgan, Jeff, Trialist, Jono Greening, Mycoe, Baker, Josh Greening, Beadle

As expected, the team in the famous white started the contest confidently and assertively passing the ball around crisply. The visitors came within inches of taking the lead inside ten minutes but Tom Pearce saw his cutely clipped free-kick from the edge of the area kiss off the underside of the bar and into the grateful hands of young stopper Charlie Murphy.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell is one of Leeds’ up and coming stars and is highly regarded by all at the club. Taddy did have several opportunities to test the young goalkeeper from set-pieces in the opening stages and did just that but Peacock-Farrell was looking like an experienced and confident head on young shoulders.

He did however fail to punch one corner clear but Jono Greening’s close-range blast was superbly blocked by forward Jack McKay.

As assured as Peacock-Farrell was with claiming cross after cross, set-pieces were looking like Taddy’s best chance to find the net with Jimmy Beadle heading over the mark on a couple of occasions.

With 18 minutes on the clock it looked like the home side were going to have a clear one v one chance to beat Peacock-Farrell. A trialist surged in behind the whites’ backline but a brilliant last ditch touch from Callum Nicell saw what looked to be a great chance, vanish.

Leeds were looking potent in patches on what was the hottest day of the year. Following on from some good battling in midfield by A Trialist and a perfect through ball by A Trialist, McKay struck low but Murphy got down well with a strong left hand.

Right on the stroke of half-time LUFC took the lead and in some style. You wouldn’t have guessed it but it was the omnipresent A Trialist who broke the deadlock.

The number 4 received the ball 25 yards from goal and despite some late pressure from Adam Baker, he rifled a thunderbolt into the top corner leaving Murphy left to simply admire the rasping strike.

Tadcaster Second-Half Team: Trialist, Trialist, Anderson, Barrett, Woodhead, Clayton, Trialist, Shepherd, Youhill, Corner, Sellars
The second half began in the same vein with Leeds trying their luck from distance, this time it was Number 8 Trialist who tested the now Trialist Taddy goalkeeper.

Jack McKay was looking lively up top for LUFC, his movement was impressive but it was just beating the goalkeeper which was proving a problem for the striker. He squandered another good chance when Jack Shackleton drove forward and timed his threaded ball to perfection but Mckay could only hit the keeper’s legs.

The Trialist stopper for TAFC was to be very busy in his 45 minutes in the spotlight as Tom Pearce made him get down to save well once more.

The Brewers were putting together some nice passages of play but just couldn’t quite produce in the final third. Although Rob Youhill did give full-back Tom Pearce something to think about when driving at the Leeds man. Youhill got his cross past Pearce but it couldn’t find the loitering Tom Corner.

With just under 20 minutes to go, LUFC squandered a glorious chance to double their lead. Some Nice intricate play by Henry Rollinson and Lewis Knight lead to Clarke Oduor in behind The Brewers’ backline but blazed narrowly over the crossbar.

Taddy were still defending well in numbers and looking to carve open Leeds on the counter and Dan Clayton almost did just that in the 76th minute. A strong positive run down the left and cross down the corridor from Clayton almost fell perfectly for the on-running Tom Corner but a fantastic recovery from Bobby Kamwa halted the attack.

TAFC’s Trialist goalkeeper was tested several times in the second half but was determined to keep a clean sheet, and he did so up until the 80th minute.

Leeds United made it two with ten minutes to go as at full stretch Sammy Ammisah impressively guided into the far corner to seal the win.

We would like to thank Leeds for the match and we hope to see you all again next year – Good luck for the upcoming season!