SWINDON PAY THE PENALTY

SWINDON PAY THE PENALTY

Rudy Austin penalty settles friendly encounter...

SWINDON 1 (Smith 31), UNITED 2 (Morison 15, Austin pen 47).

Swindon: Foderingham, Lelan, Branco, Turnbull, N Thompson, Luongo (Randell 87), Kasim (Gladwin 68), L Thompson (Rodgers 68), Byrne, Smith (Waldon 80), Williams (Barker 62). Subs. Antonio, Gladwin, Da Costa, Marshall, Jones.

United: Taylor, Byram (Berardi 46), Pearce, Wootton, Warnock, Murphy, Tonge, Bianchi (Cook 80), Austin, Morison, Doukara (Smith 87). Subs. Silvestri, Lees, Berardi, Mowatt, Dawson.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

Att: 3,769 (Leeds 961)

United head coach made four changes to his starting 11 for the trip to Swindon Town on Tuesday evening. The changes saw Stuart Taylor, Michael Tonge, Tommaso Bianchi and Souleymane Doukara come in from the start. The friendly match also saw the return of Alex Mowatt to the first team as he took his place on the United substitutes bench.

United started the game well and dominated the opening 15 minutes of the game. Doukara looked dangerous going forward from the first minute of the match and was prevented an early goal by fast thinking from the Swindon goalkeeper who was quick off his line.

United were close to opening the scoring in the 11th minute when Tonge and Stephen Warnock both had good chances in front of goal. But United were rewarded for their great start on the quarter hour mark when Steve Morison opened the scoring. A great passing move involving Sam Byram, Bianchi and Doukara led to Morison having a tap-in right in the heart of the penalty area.

United continued to dominate after going ahead and Doukara went close to getting his first Leeds goal. The powerful striker made a 30-yard run down the left-hand side and once he arrived in the box he shot for goal, only for the ball to smash against Wes Foderingham's post.

The home looked threatening on the break and caught United napping twice before the 30-minute mark. Firstly a great cross from Swindon full-back Nathan Byrne gave United problems but the ball was cleared by Jason Pearce, then a mix-up involving Warnock and Taylor invited Nathan Thompson in but the defender's volley went just wide of the mark.

The home side piled on the pressure and in the 31st minute they equalised from a corner. Yaser Kasim floated the dead ball into the box for Joshua Lelan to head the ball back into the danger zone, where Michael Smith was waiting to finish with a clever volley.

United had the chance to regain the lead towards the end of an entertaining first half. A good passing move involving Byram once again opened up the home side. The United full-back pulled the ball back for Doukara who looked certain to score but his shot was deflected behind for a corner. The resulting Luke Murphy corner was met by Pearce but his header hit the base of the post and rebounded away from danger.

United had the perfect start the second half when Doukara was brought down in the area by the Swindon keeper after a fantastic through ball from Bianchi. Just like on Saturday at Chesterfield Rudy Austin stepped up and smashed the ball into the back of the net to give United the lead for the second time in the game.

After regaining the lead United looked comfortable in possession of the ball and prior to the hour Bianchi sent a shot just inches wide after great forward play from Doukara.

With the majority of the football being played in the home side's half of the pitch United were showing their dominance. The away side continued to create space and gaps for the forward players to operate in but the only thing missing was the killer touch in the final third.

This was a much improved performance from United but they were almost made to pay for not finishing Swindon off when Nathan Thompson headed a deflection straight into Taylor's hands in the dying minutes.

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