Leeds 1 City 2
Report by Colin Hall
A stoppage-time winner by 17-year-old debutant Harry Panayiotou enabled Leicester City to end the Championship season on a high-note.
The Leicester-born youngster, a product of the club's high-flying academy, diverted a Ben Marshall shot past Leeds goalkeeper Andy Lonergan to earn the Foxes a 2-1 victory and lift them to a final league placing of 9th.
It was a dream come true for Panayiotou, a 72nd-minute substitute for Lloyd Dyer, who had already impressed many visiting fans with his tenacity, pace and composure beyond his years.
However, the goal also provided a positive ending to an away day which had seemed destined to be as frustrating as so many that had preceded it during a long and largely unfulfilling campaign.
With several stalwarts unavailable, Nigel Pearson rang the changes from the previous week's dispiriting defeat by West Ham. Dyer, Sean St Ledger, Martyn Waghorn and Liam Moore replaced Richie Wellens, Andy King, David Nugent and Lee Peltier. In addition, Kasper Schmeichel was made captain for the day on his return to his previous club.
The Dane was forced into two early saves, as first Robert Snodgrass, then Luciano Becchio burst clear on goal. But a biting cross-wind made quality football difficult, and both sides struggled to establish a rhythm during a tetchy first half.
City created chances of their own, testing Lonergan with a Marshall freekick and a Wes Morgan header. However just as the half looked like meandering to a quiet end, the visitors took the lead through a move of rare quality.
Waghorn, making his first league start for the Foxes since November 2010, seized upon a miscued Leeds clearance, tricked his way past former team-mate Alex Bruce and beat Lonergan with a well-placed near-post finish for his first City goal in 14 months.
His strike brought a special cheer from the visiting hordes, who had braved the elements, the ludicrously-high ticket prices and some particularly officious home stewards.
At the break this correspondent retreated to the concourse to seek warmth and peruse the Leeds programme (at £4, the most expensive of the season). Those complaining about the rise in our season ticket prices should take pity on our Elland Road counterparts, faced with forking out a minimum of £522 for adult tickets.
Readers were also regaled by the chairman's notorious column, which, as expected, provided an intriguing mix of ignorance and irony. The whinge about “sugar daddies of doubtful origin and funds” provided particular amusement to those familiar with his own largely inglorious history.
The match resumed and the wind chill increased still further. Darius Vassell, making his first appearance for six months after a serious knee injury, replaced Jermaine Beckford, who in marked contrast to Schmeichel, never looked at ease on returning to his former stamping ground.
City stepped up a gear and despite the predictable – and all too often, unpunished – physical aggression from their hosts, began to exert an iron grip on the game, with Marshall and Danny Drinkwater especially impressive. However, not for the first time this season, a cutting edge in front of goal proved elusive.
As the rains came, along with the discovery of leaks in the main stand roof which discomforted away fans even further, fears grew that a defensive aberration could again undo the work of the rest of the side. Leeds boss Neil Warnock threw on extra strikers in a bid to increase his team's firepower.
One of them, Mikael Forssell, revived the previously-dormant home crowd by forcing Schmeichel into a smart save. But it was fellow sub Danny Webber who brought the home side level, prodding home from point-blank range after Snodgrass and Ross McCormack had exploited a lapse in the Leicester defence.
City responded to setback with far more resilience than in many recent games. They pressed forward in search of a winner, and Drinkwater was denied two very plausible penalty claims before Panayiotou's last-gasp winner.
Although the failure to mount a sustained promotion challenge was a massive disappointment for Foxes this season, the emergence of young talent in the City ranks in recent weeks provides grounds for guarded optimism about the future. There is also a sense of relief that, despite the numerous upsets, the outlook remains a lot brighter at the KP Stadium than it does at old adversaries like Nottingham Forest, Coventry and Portsmouth.
With Steve Howard, Alexander Tunchev, and John Pantsil all departing the club, the task of clearing the desks is already well under way. While fans eagerly anticipate new arrivals that are planned, there will also be hopes that other academy prospects can emulate Panayiotou and break through into the first team.
Pearson will dearly hope that he succeeds in securing promotion for City at the third time of asking – especially as a fourth opportunity is unlikely to be offered to him.
City (4-4-2): Schmeichel (c); Moore, Morgan, St. Ledger, Konchesky; Marshall, Drinkwater, Bamba, Dyer (Panayiotou 73); Beckford, (Vassell 46), Waghorn (Nugent 63). Unused subs: Peltier, Logan.
Goals: Waghorn 39, Panayiotou 90+3 Booked: St. Ledger
Leeds (4-4-2): Lonergan, Connolly, Lees, Bruce, Pugh; Snodgrass (c), Clayton, Brown, Thompson (Webber 58); Becchio (Forssell 75), McCormack. Unused subs: O'Brien, Nunez, Taylor.
Goal: Webber 82 Booked: Pugh, Brown
Attendance: 25,664 Referee: Danny McDermid
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation
Colin Hall was a season-ticket holder in Block SK1. His book: “Catalonia Dreamin' : A Collection of Online Articles, Blogs, Reports and Rants 2002-2012” will be published in August 2012. He can be followed at http://Twitter.com/Ultra_Fox.