When the sun was out, we dominated them, and when the rain came and the sky turned black, they threatened to spoil the party and Miller missed a sitter. But that would have been cruel if it happened again. We were as dominant in the first half as we were at Leeds and the game at times had the same 'not our day' feel. Parkin had a volley disallowed, Ellison forced a good save, Sullivan saved well from Green and then Parkin poked a great chance straight at him right on half time. With the referee giving them every 50/50 decision (and a few 40/60's too), when Sullivan saved magnificently from Cort in the second half, you couldn't help but wonder.
At the other end, Boaz only made one save, from a free-kick in the first minute. That was in no small part to Delaney, who was brilliant, the pick of the bunch, for me. He won every header, he was calm and cool. We had a nice line of defence that stopped Hulse and Blake getting behind. Thelwell and Rogers coped brilliantly with the wingers and Cort was his usual self. Only a couple of jittery moments in possession stopped the defence being perfect, but on the whole, they were superb. Easily Thelwell's best City game.
The central midfield looked fresh and worked incredibly hard, right across the field. They made challenges and used the ball well, Welsh in particular. Only the usual complaint, on occasion they sat on top of Cort and Delaney, forcing Green to come inside and close down. When they pushed up a bit, they were effective and didn't give Leeds an inch. Hopefully, they can start to see this, because they really did well. In wide areas, Ellison and Green both supported well and wanted the ball. The full backs pushed on a bit, but both stuck to the task. Green's distribution was hit and miss, but he never hid, always showed for the ball and I loved watching him. The cross for the goal was a pearler. Simply beautiful. Elliott when he came on worked hard to give them something to worry about, but distributed woefully again.
Up front, Parkin and Fagan always looks a good pair. I was disappointed with Parkin on the floor today, he got the ball stuck under his feet and several good moves broke down at his feet. However, everything else was great. He put himself about, kept 2 defenders occupied, won headers and scored the sweetest tigers goal that a generation of us will remember. Fagan worked hard as ever, was everywhere and linked up well with the midfield. No wonder Duffy can't get a place.
Just a few complaints. Firstly, the ref was pathetic. There's no way he was able enough to handle a big game, he gave them everything. Secondly, our stewards. Despite 2,800 Leeds fans standing for the entire game, they waded into the East Stand to tell people to sit down (the people at the back too). When 1,000 people refused to sit down, they dragged out the smallest guy they could find. Completely unnecessary. Lastly, a hideous crime, robbery. I'm sorry for this, it's a disgrace to our football club. I've heard that Damien Delaney headed out of the KC today with £1million worth of striker in his pocket
Ratings: Bo 7, Thelwell 8, Rogers 7, Cort 8, Delaney 9, Green 7 (Paynter), Ellison 7 (Elliott), Andrews 7, Parkin 7, Fagan 8.
Safety assured, job done. Thanks boys, what a game.