Derby v Leeds United 29th December 2024at Pride Park
After waking up to a croaky voice it doesn’t look like a good end to the year for me. Reflecting on 2024 as a family, it has been bittersweet for us. My daughter Danielle got her wish for her dad to walk her down the aisle then four days later our baby granddaughter was born. That in itself has been challenging when she ended up in hospital four times. Leeds then lost the play off final, but it wasn’t a surprise to a lot of us. Having supported Leeds United since the glory days of the great Don Revie side, we have seen many ups and downs along the way. Things went downhill for us in August when I had a birthday to remember when finding my husband collapsed in the shower. From then on until October when he died, things were very stressful for us all. Thankfully the Leeds United family have been a tower of strength to us all and we are very grateful for the support. As we headed to Derby for the last game of 2024, after our win at Stoke we were top of the league but that changed during the day with other results. We were back on top again after beating Derby 1-0 so will just take the good times whilst they are there. We have done really well with games over the Christmas period which is good to see. We all know it’s where we are at the end of the season that counts, so I will never take anything for granted.
Team: Meslier, Ampadu, Struijk, Rodon, Bogle, Byram, Aaronson, Joseph, Gnonto, Tanaka, Ramazani.
Subs: Piroe for Joseph (71), Solomon for Ramazani (71), James for Gnonto (71), Bamford for Aaronson (89), Guilavogui for Tanaka (90+2).
Subs not used: Darlow, Schmidt, Debayo, Rothwell.
Leeds won the game with Aaronson scoring the only goal (79).
Attendance: 32,240, 3,111 Leeds fans.
Referee: Andy Davies.
Booked: Ampadu.
The game itself was at a very fast pace starting with Gnonto seeing his cross come shot pushed away by their keeper. Although we didn’t score, the first 20 minutes saw Leeds keeping possession of the ball with constant attacking and Derby being alert to put the ball behind for a corner. Joseph saw his shot saved but Derby would be thankful that the whistle blew for half time as Derby saw their clearance go outside the post. I did feel that they could cause us trouble and we would need to be alert, but it was equal terms at half time. Once again it was noted how tall some of Derby’s defenders were.
Meslier made a great save to deny Derby taking the lead, plus he stood tall to grasp the ball. Derby saw their keeper make saves from Aaronson and Ramazani and when it looked like we were making a triple sub, we waited until the ball was at the far end which we were attacking before bringing them on. James was denied a goal by their keeper, but it was good seeing us utilise our squad today and it was only 8 minutes later that we got our just rewards. Some great passing between our players saw Aaronson in the box after Piroe put him through and as the ball hit the back of the net the away end erupted. As the final whistle blew, we had another clean sheet, another win and headed the table going into 2025. Long may this continue.
After getting hit with a bottle outside Stoke’s ground last week, I couldn’t believe my eyes when a Derby fan climbed over the wall from behind the goal and ran towards the Leeds fans in the corner at half time as I headed to the tunnel. He didn’t stand a chance as the stewards and police forcibly threw him back into the stand before escorting him away. I’ve no idea what he was trying to achieve but realistically, let’s not go back to the days where trouble was a regular occurrence on the terraces. Having suffered as a Leeds fan trying to support her team, that’s the last thing I want to see. It was nice to have a Derby steward say how much he liked my beret from ‘the art of football’ too. Thank you for the lovely comments I received at half time too.
For those who are facing their own battles during 2025, I wish you all the luck in the world but in the meantime, I wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. LUFC – Marching on Together!
