23-07-14: Corby Town (a) 2-1 (HT 1-1) Crowd (732)

The Academy team consisting mostly of second year apprentices took on Corby Town at Steel Park on Wednesday 23rd July in an evening kick-off. There was an attendance of 732 and the referee was Ellis Clarke of Kettering. The Leeds starting eleven was: Alex Cairns; Luke Booker, Tyler Denton; Alex Purver, Afolabi Coker, George Swan: Tom Lyman, Kalvin Philips, Eoghan Stokes, Chris Dawson, Luke Parkin. The substitutes were: Eric Grimes, Jake Skelton, Munya Mbanje, Liam Bennett and Robbie McDaid. Paul Malone gave the home side the lead after just ten minutes when he outjumped the Leeds defence to head home a Greg Mills corner. The Corby captain continued to trouble the Leeds defence when the ball was in the air and soon after he was fractionally over the bar with another header. Luke Parkin equalised after thirty-four minutes when a shot from Chris Dawson was blocked by Edi Appleton and the Leeds striker was on hand to take advantage by giving Paul Walker in the Corby goal no chance from close range. The two sides went into the break with the score 1-1. The decider came in the seventy-ninth minute when Tyler Denton forced Paul Walker to save at the expense of a corner. The ensuing corner was only partially cleared as far as substitute Munya Mbanje on the edge of the box and he rifled the ball into the roof of the net for the winner.

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Match Report: Corby Town: by David Tilley: 23-07-2014

The Steelmen suffered their first pre-season defeat against a talented Leeds United side but there were plenty of positives to take from a fixture which attracted a large crowd to Steel Park. The Leeds line up consisted mainly of second year academy players supplemented by first year professional Luke Parkin and goalkeeper Alex Cairns and forward Chris Dawson who had both appeared in the first team. The Championship club’s young professionals gave Corby just the type of work-out manager Tommy Wright would have wanted at this stage of his pre-season preparations. Whenever possible Leeds attempted to play the ball out of defence through the commanding figure of George Swann while Corby’s wide players – Greg Mills and Wilson Carvalho – struggled to have a major impact on the game. It was also a frustrating evening for Spencer Weir-Daley and Ben Milnes who had few opportunities to show their prowess in front of goal. The Steelmen took a tenth minute lead with a goal of utter simplicity – Mills swinging in a left wing corner and skipper Paul Malone literally rising head and shoulders above everyone else to flick the ball past goalkeeper Cairns and high into the net. Leeds had no answer to this aerial threat and minutes later Malone headed another effort fractionally over. The equalising goal came after 34 minutes. A fine tackle by Edi Appleton prevented Welsh Under-21 international Dawson from having a shot at goal but the loose ball fell to Parkin who comfortably beat Paul Walker from close range. Parkin then flashed another attempt narrowly wide but generally the Corby defence was keeping the eager Leeds forwards under control. With the game being so close neither manager was keen to change from his starting line up too early but it was a Leeds substitute who scored what proved to be the deciding goal. In the 57th minute Walker made an outstanding save to keep out an angled effort by Tyler Denton but when the resulting corner was only half cleared to Munya Mbanje on the edge of the box he hammered an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Tommy Wright then began to shuffle his pack, although there was no repeat of the mass changes made against S & L at the weekend. The final chance of the evening fell to Corby substitute Connor Kennedy who blasted his shot high over the bar into the night sky. CORBY TOWN:- Paul Walker; Kalern Thomas, Lewis Jackson; Paul Malone ©, Edi Appleton, Akin Daramola; Greg Mills, Cleveland Taylor, Ben Milnes, Spencer Weir-Daley, Wilson Carvalho. Substitutes: Connor Kennedy, Harry May, Bedimi Afolabi, Curtis Hartley, Sebastian Dziosa, Eric Yeboah, Michael Monticchio, Dan Farrell (GK). LEEDS UNITED XI:- Alex Cairns; Luke Booker, Tyler Dent; Alex Purber ©, Affi Coker, George Swann; Tom Lyman, Calvin Phillips, Eoghan Stokes, Chris Dawson, Luke Parkin. Substitutes:- Jake Skelton, Munya Mbanje, Liam Bennett, Robbie McDaid, Eric Grimes (GK). REFEREE:- Mr Ellis Clarke (Kettering).ATTENDANCE:- 732.