Date: Saturday 18th September 1982.

Venue: Elland Road, Leeds.

Competition: Second Division.

Score: Leeds United 2 Derby County 1

Scorers: Leeds United: F. Gray, Worthington. Derby County: Brolly.

Attendance: 16,889.

Teams:

Leeds United: Lukic; Cherry, E. Gray; Dickinson, Hart, Thomas; Hird (Parlane), Butterworth, Worthington, F. Gray, Graham.

Derby County: Banovic; Barton, Buckley; Skivington, Foster (Emson), Blades; Brolly, Attley, Hill, Wilson, Dalziel.

Referee: D. Owens (Wirral).

Two players, who had put in extra shooting practice in a special session after normal training the day before, grabbed the goals that just managed to earn Leeds United a 2-1 victory over Derby County at Elland Road in September 1982. The two Franks, Gray and Worthington, were the participants in that vital additional session, volleying shots into the net from right wing centres supplied by Assistant Manager Jimmy Lumsden.

United were, however, lucky to get away with their third win in a row, despite being confronted by only ten men for all but twenty-one minutes of the game against the Rams, though they did show tremendous form early in the match. Quick and encouraging play was rewarded when Frank Gray thundered in a tremendous eighteen yard volley after only seven minutes when a goal-bound effort from Paul Hart had been headed out.

Arthur Graham then had goalkeeper Yakka Banovic at full stretch and as United threatened further, Aidan Butterworth hammered a shot narrowly over the bar. After just fifteen minutes central defender George Foster was forced off with a groin strain and replaced by Winger Paul Emson, this meant that Derby had a makeshift central defensive pairing with midfielder Glen Skivington lined up alongside seventeen-year-old Paul Blades, who was making his debut. Things got much worse for the visitors when young defender Glen Skivington sent off for a hauling bank Frank Worthington by the shirt in the twenty-first minute and United then seemed set fair for victory. However, as often happens when a team is reduced to ten men, they rallied round, with Ian Dalziel fitting into his unaccustomed central defensive duties, and in this case Derby found a determination which had not been apparent in their early play and not only did they manage an equaliser from Mike Brolly, but they may have well gone on to snatch a win.

Brolly struck in the twenty-seventh minute when a long pass from seventeen-year-old debut boy Paul Blades caught out United’s defence and Brolly ran forward to lob the ball over the advancing John Lukic. United went on to squander some good chances in the second half but they were a shade fortunate when Kevin Wilson had an effort disallowed twenty minutes from the end. Lukic appeared to drop the ball and Wilson nipped smartly round him to knock it home but the referee explained afterwards there had been no doubt in his mind that Wilson had ‘nicked the ball out of the goalkeeper’s hands’.

Needless to say, the Derby manager John Newman, thought otherwise. United, however, went on to clinch victory when the previously out-of-touch Frank Worthington grabbed a simple goal from six yards after Paul Hart had nodded down Arthur Graham’s right wing cross with eleven minutes left. Even then luckless Derby rattled the United bar with a fierce shot from Paul Emson, leaving United with the points that lifted them a couple of places into fifth place in Division Two.