06-07-14: Mansfield Town (a) 0-2 (HT 0-0) Crowd (3,493)

The senior side was back in action on Tuesday, 22nd July 2014 at One Call Stadium, formerly known as Field Mill, to take on League Two side Mansfield Town. There were 923 Leeds supporters in the crowd of 3,493 and the referee was Gary Sutton of Lincolnshire. They kept the same eleven that had finished the game at Guiseley which was: Stuart Taylor; Sam Byram, Scott Wootton, Jason Pearce, Stephen Warnock; Rodolph Austin, Luke Murphy, Aidan White, Noel Hunt; Lewis Walters, Matt Smith. There were some players on the bench and while the opening twenty minutes produced no goals and very little good football from either side, Noel Hunt picked up a knock to his right knee and had to be replaced by Tommaso Bianchi after fifteen minutes. Lewis Walters headed an Aidan White corner wide of the target before United suffered another injury blow when the striker was forced off with a leg injury and Dominic Poleon replaced him just ten minutes after Noel Hunt. Forty minutes had passed before there was a meaningful threat to either goal. It came from the home side when Fergus Bell picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area, but his shot passed wide of the right hand post. The home side also created a further chance before the half-time whistle when Alex Fisher tried a chip which was just over the bar. This stung United into action and Tommaso Bianchi went close to opening his account for United, after Sam Byram had made space down the right, but his cross was turned wide of the post by the Italian. Gaetano Berardi was still on the bench unused at the break. In the second half Leeds had a great chance to take the lead when Luke Murphy got in a slide-rule pass to give Matt Smith the opportunity on goal but Mansfield's Swiss trialist goalkeeper made a good save to keep the game scoreless. With thirty minutes left on the clock United changed almost the entire team, so that the team that remained was: Marco Silvestri; Zac Thompson, Tom Lees, Ross Killock, Charlie Taylor; Tommaso Bianchi, Michael Tonge, Lewis Cook, David Norris; Steve Morison, Souleymane Doukara. Eleven minutes after the change Leeds found themselves behind after a poor backpass from Steve Morison forced goalkeeper Marco Silvestri to have to bring down Liam Heard in the penalty area. The striker took the ensuing penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way to score. United responded with a Zac Thompson cross finding the head of David Norris, but he put it over the bar. Once more the visitors threatened but it came to nothing as Michael Tonge's cross was blocked. In the eighty-third minute Liam Heard got his, and Mansfield's, second of the evening when he capitalised on a Leeds defensive mix-up to guide the ball past Marco Silvestri as he advanced and the home side went on to win 2-0. Mansfield made several changes, Matt Rhead replaced Alex Fisher at half-time, Liam Hearn for Ollie Palmer after sixty-three minutes, Amari'i Bell replacing Lee Beevers and Liam Marsden coming on for trialist Rob Taylor two minutes later, Cris Clements for Simon Heslop a minute after that, then in the seventy-eighth minute trialist Anthony Griffiths replaced Adam Murray and Jack Thomas came on for Fergus Bell, leaving James McGuire and a trialist unused.

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Match Report: Yorkshire Evening Post: 22-07-2014

Mansfield Town 2 Leeds United 0 - Whites handed an early wake-up call

Last night’s friendly – settled in Mansfield’s favour by a second-half brace from Liam Hearn – was a role-reversal from Saturday’s win over Guiseley: the team used for the final 30 minutes at Nethermoor penned in for a full hour against Mansfield as the push towards full appearances continued. Chesterfield away this weekend is likely to see several players break 90 minutes and might also give the first indication of how Hockaday sees his current team at its best. “Chesterfield and Swindon (next Tuesday) will give me a real good picture,” Hockaday said after United’s 2-0 victory over Guiseley. “I’m not saying Mansfield won’t but the nearer you get to the start of the season, the closer I’ll get to my starting line-up.” Gaetano Berardi was given his debut last night, four days after signing on a two-year deal from Sampdoria. The right-back attended Guiseley without playing and Hockaday named him on the bench at Mansfield but declined to use him again after his original plan was broken up by early injuries to Noel Hunt and Lewis Walters. Hunt has found himself in the thick of recent interviews given by United owner Massimo Cellino, left in no doubt that he is part of the furniture at Elland Road despite a difficult first season here. Cellino talked last week of Hunt blossoming again, about the possibility of him becoming prolific, but the striker was bothered by a tight hamstring from an early stage at Field Mill and conceded defeat in his attempt to run it off after 16 minutes. A similar strain was at the root of some of Hunt’s problems last season and Leeds will diagnose the severity of his latest injury today. Nine minutes later, the situation got worse. Walters was injured off the ball, pulling up in a similar fashion to Hunt, and despite asking to stay on the pitch, he was promptly removed when he headed a half-chance wide and crumpled to the floor in a heap. Those two unexpected losses brought Tommaso Bianchi and Dominic Poleon into a game which was already going nowhere. The first half passed without a chance of note for 41 minutes, with Leeds trapped in a narrow system. Rudy Austin drove one free-kick into the crowd and Simon Heslop did likewise at the other end, clearing Stuart Taylor’s crossbar by the height of the stand behind it. Taylor made only one save, from a curling cross which his defence left for him. Fergus Bell eventually produced a better stab at goal with a 41st-minute shot which bounced a yard wide and Alex Fisher wasted an opportunity to steer the ball into an empty net a minute later when Taylor found himself exposed 12 yards in front of his line. Leeds rallied briefly after that and Bianchi should have scored when he met Sam Byram’s cut-back with a loose finish beyond a post. The pace of the game rose noticeably after half-time and Mansfield’s trialist keeper denied Matt Smith with his legs after Luke Murphy slotted the ball through a hole in the home defence. Murphy began to see possession just as his shift ended but Hockaday stuck to his strategy and introduced 10 substitutes on the hour. They fell behind 10 minutes later as another game which looked destined to finish goalless produced a breakthrough late on. Steve Morison sold Marco Silvestri short with a horrible back-pass which committed the keeper to a challenge on one of Mansfield’s trialists. Silvestri took the players legs and Hearn stepped up to take the penalty, slotting it to the keeper’s right and winning the match at a stroke. For good measure, Hearn scored again seven minutes from time as United’s defence made a mess of a simple through-ball and allowed him to stab the ball past a helpless Silvestri. An absent Cellino will digest the feedback with interest. Mansfield: Trialist, Sutton, Dempster, Riley, Beevers, Murray, Heslop, Trialist, F Bell, Palmer, Fisher. Subs: Trialist, Amari’i Bell, Liam Marsden, Jamie McGuire, Chris Clements, Matt Rhead, Liam Hearn, Trialist. Leeds United: S Taylor (Silvestri 60), Byram (Thompson 60), Pearce (Lees 60), Wootton (Killock 60), Warnock (C Taylor 60), White (Norris 60), Austin (Tonge 60), Murphy (Cook 60), Hunt (Bianchi 16), Walters (Poleon 25), Smith (Doukara). Sub (not used): Berardi.