Ill tempered Villa and Leeds make their point

13 April 2012

John Gregory took the law into his own hands at Elland Road by dragging young Lee Hendrie off the pitch and ordering him to the dressing room for landing a punch Lennox Lewis would have thrown with pride.

Referee Neale Barry failed to spot the haymaker which midfielder Hendrie landed on Danny Mills' chin and, after consulting his assistant, showed only a yellow card. That was not enough for disciplinarian Gregory, who made his substitution within three minutes.

When Hendrie went to take his place among the other substitutes, an angry Gregory waved an arm towards the dressing room. Embarrassment before the main stand will no doubt be followed by punishment in the pocket.

It proved a bad day for Scun-thorpe referee Barry. He had shown a red card earlier in this bad-tempered game to Leeds striker Alan Smith for what had appeared a less dangerous action.

Smith, whose choirboy looks belie his belligerent nature, learned the hard way that a jutting elbow in football is now regarded as an offensive weapon but when he landed it into Alpay's ribs, the Turk went down as if he had been shot.

There can be little sympathy for Smith. This was his fifth red card in three seasons, one of which he spent mostly sidelined, and he has to rid himself of his petulance if he is to be considered a candidate for England's World Cup squad.

In the circumstances, Leeds did well to hold Villa, playing for an hour with 10 men, most of them weary from a UEFA Cup game played in the Zurich rain on Thursday.

Indeed, they might well have won the game in the four minutes of added time when Rio Ferdinand climbed majestically to meet an Ian Harte free-kick, only for his glancing header to come back off a post.

David O'Leary had suggested before the match that fatigue would be a decisive factor before the dismissal of Smith left his team even more seriously handicapped.

Yet, Leeds had looked the brighter, more imaginative side in the opening half hour, even without absent Australians Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell.

Robbie Keane ought to have given them the lead in the fourth minute when Peter Schmeichel flapped at a Smith cross, allowing Jason Wilcox to slide the ball back. But the Irishman miscued from four yards.

Smith gave Leeds the lead in the 16th minute with a fine piece of opportunism which made his sub-sequent behaviour all the more regrettable.

A poor back pass from the bye-line from Alan Wright was intercepted by Keane, who laid the ball back for Smith to drive his angled shot off Steve Stone on the line and into the net.

Smith might well have had a second from a free header after another of Harte's menacinglyplaced corner kicks but he headed it straight at Schmeichel's midriff.

The young striker was causing Villa all kinds of problems before his moment of insanity. He was backing into Alpay right in front of referee Barry, who stayed focused on the Leeds player after the ball had gone.

The elbow struck into Alpay's ribs - and the defender clutched his head in agony. When will play-ers stop this nonsense of getting their fellow professionals sent off?

It was a gesture that left Leeds with a daunting task and, within three minutes, Villa were level thanks to a spectacular sidewayson volley from Hassan Kachloul from a well-flighted Paul Merson free-kick.

Yet, Villa failed to capitalise and Nigel Martyn did not have a single save to make in the second half, when the 10 men of Leeds finished the stronger.

Under the circumstances, it was a good point for both clubs.

MORE ABOUT

Alan Smithers

Aston Villa

David Jones (Footballer)

Leeds

Lennox Lewis

Referee

Ill tempered Villa and Leeds make their point

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