Preseason Match Recap: North Ferriby United v Leeds United

Leeds United traveled to North Ferriby on the Humber for their last preseason match before leaving for several fixtures in Austria. Will they be joined by a new face or two next week? Rumors indicate that a few players might still be on their way to Elland Road, and at least one player, Giuseppe Bellusci, appears to be headed out the door.

Of course, the big “news” from the team that was Rob Green was “dropped” from the squad. He traveled with the club and was at the match, but it appeared he made way for Marco Silvestri to get a game in during the preseason.

The first half was well dominated by Leeds United, with the team creating chances while North Ferriby, understandably, sat deep and allowed the game to come to them. The team was rewarded in the 18th minute when Antonsson did well to get a shot off and into the net.

Leeds United continued to dominate the game during the first half, and while they kept a clean sheet, they left a few chances go to waste. Kemar Roofe missed on a fine shot in the 24th minute that went just wide. Eunan O’Kane got the ball to Antonsson a few minutes later, but the chance went wasted as the forward let the North Ferriby defender see too much of the ball and missed the shot. Souleymane Doukara later hit the post in the 39th minute. Leeds were unlucky to be up by only one goal at half-time, but also were a little nonchalant in their attacking play, and against a better side it could have been a problem.

A few changes were made at the half with Vurnon Anita making his debut for the club and Silvestri coming on for the first time this preseason as well, getting 45 minutes of action in relief of Flex Wiedwald.

The second half started much like the first, with Leeds dominating possession and the attempts on goal and Roofe was rewarded in the 55th minute after sending a shot off the crossbar that just barely crossed the line to give Leeds a 2-0 lead.

Madger Gomes once again made the most of his chance with the first team, doing well to get a few shots on goal that won Leeds corners, and had a fine cross that went begging as Roofe sent the ball into the sky and over the goal. Gomes was extremely active in the second half, but with North Ferriby largely sitting back and not really attacking, the wingers for Leeds had almost no defensive responsibilities and were able to attack almost at will.

The final change of the match was made in the 71st minute with Eoghan Stokes and Paudie O’Connor coming on to finish out the match. Leeds were never really threatened in the second half, and did good enough to win 2-0 on the evening. As much as it would have pleased to see Christiansen to see the team (finally) keep a clean sheet this preseason, he couldn’t have been happy to see so many good chances be wasted, especially in the first half.

All’s well that ends well, anyway, and so Leeds are still undefeated this preseason, for whatever that’s worth, before heading on a trip to Austria. Christiansen will be pleased with the results, if not all of the process, and should be looking forward to testing his players against some stiffer competition next week. MOT