A sixth minute goal from Luke Varney proved to be enough to secure our second successive away win, with the aid of some pretty wayward finishing from Bolton Wanderers.

Once again Leeds had the backing of a huge away following, and despite Bolton’s generosity in giving us the whole of the south end and about 4,000 tickets, they still found room to leave some gaping great gaps in the crowd in the other three stands. I pitied the couple of dozen Bolton fans in the corner to our right who kept on trying to raise some atmosphere among the home support, which was always going to be hard work.

The only change to our starting line-up was that Tonge replaced Green on the right side of midfield, so the Bolton fans who were desperate for another sight of Diouf were to be disappointed, as he got no further than the bench. Despite the talk of Byram’s recovery he wasn’t fit enough to make the squad, but the subs did include another promising youngster in the shape of Alex Mowatt.

After an even start, Leeds took the lead in the sixth minute with a simple goal straight from Murphy’s corner. Varney got in front of two defenders as he ran in to meet it and guide the ball into the far corner. It was probably a move that was well practised on the training ground, but it was poor defending from Bolton’s point of view, with nobody tracking Varney’s run or challenging for the header.

We tried to repay the favour straight away by backing off to leave Eagles a free run as he cut in from the left, despite his ability to shoot from distance. I remember him crashing a shot against a post in the same fixture last season, and this time he sent it just wide of the post. Eagles was of course reminded that he was a “shit scum b****d”, for having dared to start his career at Old Trafford.

Bolton started to enjoy more of the possession and put us under a bit pressure for much of the first half, but their finishing was getting worse. Pratley shot well wide when Ngog set him up, and that was fairly typical of their efforts.

At the other end Noel Hunt was again working hard to little effect, and he could really have done with a first Leeds goal to silence his critics. So it’s a shame that when McCormack set him up on the edge of the box he could only drag it wide of the far post. And just before half time Varney had a great chance for his second on the break when McCormack sent him through on goal, but he could only send his shot just wide.

Shortly after the break Peltier went down injured and Tom Lees came on to take his place at right back. But otherwise the game continued in a similar pattern to the first half, with Bolton’s finishing still looking woeful, but Leeds also lacking the cutting edge we needed up front to kill the game off. As McDermott had several attacking options on the bench, I started to wonder if he would make a change, but then Warnock started hobbling and he might have decided it was too risky to use another substitute with plenty of the game still to go.
One change we did see was the introduction of our former hero Jermaine Beckford (“you’re Leeds and you know you are”) but his presence didn’t seem to add much to the potency of the Bolton attack. Meanwhile, our rumoured transfer target Matt Mills showed his dirty Leeds credentials with a crude challenge as McCormack went past him, and Spearing earned Bolton’s second booking for dissent.

Luke Murphy sent a shot over the bar as we moved into the last 10 minutes, but otherwise Leeds were content to run down the clock and absorb the pressure. Still no second substitute, much to my frustration as I’d bet on Matt Smith for the last goal and Leeds to win 2-0. And we could have paid for this negative approach, as Bolton finally managed to create some decent chances in the final few minutes.

First Ngog shot just wide after Beckford set him up in crowded penalty area, and from the other end it looked like the shot had gone in. And as we moved into five minutes injury time Pratley was sent through on goal and I thought Kenny had got down to make a great save, but according to the report on the official site his shot hit the post. After that scare we played out the rest of the time by keeping the ball in the Bolton half, until the final whistle confirmed our second successive victory on our travels.

With the players at their disposal I would have thought that Bolton ought to start getting better results sooner or later, and it might be handy if they did, as they could take some points off our rivals in the top half of the table. This win takes us back into the top six, and our ability to grind out results in tight games should be enough to take us into the play-offs at the end of the season. We could do with another striker, but until we get one we’ll just have to appreciate good old Luke Varney.

Photo: Action Images

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