02-08-08: FCV Dender (h) 4-1 (HT 3-0) Crowd (7,041)

Programme:

For United’s final pre-season friendly they entertained Belgian First Division side FCV Dender at Elland Road and it saw a first start for Robert Snodgrass and a final chance for others to impress Manager Gary McAllister before the season kicked off one week later. With Luciano Becchio out with a slight injury, the starting eleven was: Casper Ankergren; Frazer Richardson, Paul Huntington, Rui Marques, Alan Sheehan; Robert Snodgrass, David Prutton, Jonathan Howson, Andy Robinson; Enoch Showunmi, Jermaine Beckford. After the poor performance at Darlington Gary McAllister had harsh words with the squad and his starting eleven for the game against the Belgians looked like his strongest team and the eleven that he had in mind for the season’s opener at Scunthorpe United. The first team squad had remained unbeaten in six pre-season friendlies and were looking to add FCV Bender to their list. Enoch Showunmi was obviously keen to impress and started like a house on fire, having one effort cleared and then a dipping shot from distance saved after being set up by Andy Robinson. The Dender goalkeeper Alexandre Martinovic had to be in good form as Andy Robinson, Jermaine Beckford and their fellow strikers all tested him. It came as no surprise when United took the lead after twenty-four minutes, when, after good work by Robert Snodgrass, Enoch Showumni played in Paul Huntington and the central defender powered the ball into the net. Just four minutes later it was 2-0 as Rui Marques headed home a Robert Snodgrass corner. Enoch Showunmi had been the Leeds danger-man from the off and he tried to beat the keeper from distance and was then denied again by the alert keeper. He was not having much luck himself but he laid on a goal for his strike partner Jermaine Beckford after thirty-four minutes and Gary McAllister would have been pleased with his side’s performance and a 3-0 lead they took in at half-time. Dender started off the second half much livelier and pulled a goal back after fifty-five minutes as Bart Van Den Eede finished well after receiving a good through ball. A minute later Gary McAllister started to ring the changes as Robert Bayly and Lubomir Michalik replaced Frazer Richardson and Rui Marques, followed by more changes six minutes later as Scott Gardner replaced Robert Snodgrass, Jonathan Douglas came on for David Prutton and the complete change to the midfield saw Fabian Delph and Peter Sweeney on for Jonathan Howson and Andy Robinson. Three minutes later he sent Ben Parker on for Jermaine Beckford, leaving just the two goalkeepers David Lucas and Alan Martin unused on the bench. With all the changes it was inevitable that United lost their rhythm and the game drifted to its inevitable conclusion. However with four minutes of normal time left Paul Huntington headed home a Peter Sweeney corner for his second and United’s fourth of the game as they cruised to a very satisfying 4-1 victory. The visitors substitutes were goalkeeper Cedric Berthelin, Midfielders Daan De Pever, Wouter Degroote, Steven Jacobs and Frederic Vanderbiest, together with forwards Christophe Copel and Dieter Wittesaele. The referee was Uriah Rennie of Sheffield.