Bristol City v Leeds United | 2nd February 2024 |Ashton Gate
Home at 4am after an 18 hour round trip, at least our southern based fans such as Isle of Wight, Weymouth and Swindon whites, will be happy after a shorter journey for them for once. As they do long trips for every home game, I should count myself lucky that it’s not every week for us, but we have a very challenging month for long distance games with Plymouth away twice and Swansea to still come. We had only covered a distance of 20 miles from Leeds before hitting traffic delays of 100+ minutes although on hearing an air ambulance was brought in, it hits home that a bad accident had occurred. All the delays were worth it though when we saw Leeds United get a convincing win and three points away from home which takes us second in the table, even if it is for a short while with other games today.
Before the game kicked off, I saw our mascot Jackson with his dad so managed to get some photos of him then. It was a bit disappointing that he was on the far side of the teams coming out and then the mascots didn’t stay on the pitch for a photo like they do at Elland Road which meant I couldn’t get any more decent photos of him. The fans of both Bristol and Leeds unanimously joined in with two minutes of clapping for two Bristol boys Max and Mason who were both brutally stabbed to death.
Leeds had an early chance when Summerville won the ball and was through on the keeper. Sadly, their keeper got a hand to it to prevent him scoring as Summerville tried to chip the ball over him. Their keeper was in action shortly after making a save from a powerful shot from Bamford and making another save from Rutter. Leeds had been in total control for most of the first half but managed to keep Bristol out after a free kick just before the break.
The second half got off to a fantastic start as Leeds took the lead with a goal from Gnonto from Firpo’s pass. He cut in from the right-hand side, moved over to the left and sent a shot into the net within two minutes of the restart with some of our fans still downstairs on the concourse. It’s the first time I’ve seen him really happy for a long time. The Leeds fans had been in fine voice all the way through the game which was great and part of what I love about following our team. Leeds had another chance when through on goal, but Kamara saw his shot saved. Meslier had very little to do during the game but had to be on his toes to keep them out to send the Leeds fans home very happy with the win.
Luckily, we had a decent run home, but I must remember to bring a pillow with for Tuesday’s long trip to Plymouth. It’s just coming up to the one-year anniversary of my hip operation, but it was aching badly by the time we got back. At least I managed to sleep most of the way, and I found as with our relegation last year, listening to Westlife music, makes for a relaxing trip. I’ve just got to remember not to burst into song when I’ve headphones on as I forget others can hear me. Also, I must take care of my actions as bending over the barrier to let someone pass was the wrong thing to do. There is always one, but I just shook my head at his comments which used to be a common occurrence back in the day. See you on Tuesday where we will be joining up with South Kirkby branch for the FA Cup replay.
LUFC – Marching on Together!
Leeds won the game 1-0 with Gnonto scoring the Leeds goal (48)
Team: Meslier, Ampadu, Rodon, Gray, Firpo, Kamara, Rutter, Summerville, Bamford, Gnonto, Gruev
Subs: Anthony for Gnonto (83), Byram for Kamara (86), Piroe for Summerville (90)
Unused Subs: Klaesson, Joseph, Shackleton, Cooper, Cresswell, Gelhardt
Attendance: 25,429 (2,982 Leeds Fans)
Referee: Stephen Martin
Booked: None from Leeds
