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Leeds United 1, Millwall 1
WITH his 34 goals, Jermaine Beckford did more than anyone to get Leeds United into the League One play-offs, but his crucial penalty miss ultimately cost them as they crashed out at the semi-final stage to Millwall at a noisy Elland Road.
Beckford was given the chance to shoot the Whites into the lead after referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot three minutes into the second half for a foul on Sam Sodje.
But his weak shot was saved by Millwall keeper David Forde and Andy Robinson fired the rebound wide.
Within five minutes Leeds were ahead when Ben Parker produced a fantastic run from his own area to get a cross in for Luciano Becchio to score from close range.
However, they were made to pay for their fifth miss from the penalty spot this season when the visitors grabbed an equaliser on 74 minutes as Jimmy Abdou turned in Lewis Grabban's low cross.
This gave Millwall a 2-1 aggregate win and they will now be taking their place at Wembley with Leeds left to plan a third season in League One.
They will wonder quite how they did not win this second leg after dominating much of it without quite having the killer touch with the final pass or shot.
And Millwall somehow got through even though they only managed four shots on target over the two legs. It is the first time in five play-off ties that they have made it through to the final so it was maybe just their turn while for United it was the first time in four attempts that they have lost in the semis.
Millwall had to contend with a snarling Elland Road crowd contesting every decision and showed their intentions to get in the Leeds players' faces from the second minute when Adam Bolder earned himself a deserved booking for a heavy tackle on Robert Snodgrass.
With the tackles flying in there was little time on the ball and the game took some time to get going, but the Whites got the first shot in when Snodgrass latched on to Jonny Howson's astute pass only for his shot to be easily saved by Forde.
A better chance on 23 minutes saw Beckford set free on the right hand edge of the box and his shot was parried by Forde. Fabian Delph latched on to the rebound only to slip and his shot was also saved by the keeper.
Another weak Snodgrass shot was easily dealt with by Forde while Andy Frampton hit an angled drive at the other end that brought a first save for Casper Ankergren.
Leeds were dealt a blow when they lost Neil Kilkenny to injury in the 36th minute and Robinson came on with Delph moving inside to partner Howson in a young central midfield.
They still had the edge up to half-time with Becchio having a header deflected wide and Robinson curling a 20-yard free-kick over.
United started the second half with a bang as Richard Naylor had a shot blocked and looked up to see the referee had given a penalty after spotting that Sodje had been wrestled to the floor.
The penalty miss was quickly shrugged off by the Becchio goal and Leeds were piling forward now, urged on by a raucous 37,036 crowd.
Millwall were helped, however, as lengthy stoppages gave them time to get their breath back, first when Forde went down for a mystery injury then when centre half Zak Whitbread appeared to be seriously hurt only to make a miracle recovery to play the rest of the game.
A substitution of Lewis Grabban for the ineffective Neil Harris also improved matters for the visitors and with their first real chance of the night they stunned the home crowd by equalising as David Martin got the better of Jonathan Douglas to cross from the left wing. The ball went over the head of all the players in the middle, but Grabban latched onto it and crossed it back for midfielder Abdou to stab home.
One more goal would have taken the tie to extra-time, but Millwall defended well in the closing stages and had luck on their side when a Bradley Johnson strike fizzed inches the wrong side of the post.
Six minutes of injury time gave fresh hope, but United ran out of ideas and after another Johnson long shot went well over their fate was sealed. In fact it was Millwall who went closest to adding a goal in injury time when Grabban raced away only to hit a shot over.
Most of the crowd stayed behind to show their support for the effort made by the players and they sang the name of manager Simon Grayson at the end to show that they appreciate the work he has done since taking over in December.
Match facts
Leeds United 1
(Becchio 53)
Millwall 1
(Abdou 74)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Coca-Cola League One play-off semi-final, second leg
Att: 37,036
Leeds: Ankergren, Douglas, Naylor, Sodje, Parker (Johnson 78), Snodgrass, Kilkenny (Robinson 36), Howson (Grella 90), Delph, Beckford, Becchio.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Craig, Whitbread, Frampton, Henry (Robinson), Bolder, Abdou, Martin, Harris (Grabban), Alexander.
Referee: Mark Halsey
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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