"...HEY UP, HEY UP, HE'S ONSIDE AS WELL, HE'S ONSIDE, OH MY WORD, OH MY WORD, MARK VIDUKA. AGHHH, IT'S GONE' HE'S DONE IT! OH MY WORD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! IT'S MARK VIDUKA, AND HE'S DONE IT, HE'S DONE IT FOR LEEDS UNITED..."

As final away games of the season go, one is hard pressed to recall a better afternoon than Arsenal away in 2003. With the hosts aiming to claim the title and a rejuvenated Whites bidding to cling on to Premiership status, Peter Reid oversaw one of the most startling victories in the clubs recent history. The financial meltdown off the park had taken its toll and after both the fire sale and ultimate removal of El Tel, Reid was the man handed the task of keeping the club afloat. After a first game defeat at Liverpool, the season was kick-started by thumping Charlton away 6-1. However, as the weeks wore on it was clear that only a last day victory would secure Premiership survival for one more season at least. Arsenal were stalling after awesome form but this was still rightly a home banker. Leeds were given little chance, but as is so often the case in football, it was the unfancied Mighty Whites who struck first. A suspicion of handball was ignored as Kewell twatted home a beauty. The Arse rallied and drew level via the goal machine Henry. In recent weeks, this may have been the signal for surrender, but an Ian Harte freekick ghosted home for 2-1 and we bit our nails praying for the lads to hold out...

The boys had worked their socks off in this game, but when Arse levelled again via Bergkamp and in the face of a Red tide, there seemed no doubt that the hosts would go on and claim all three points. That was until Mark Viduka had the final say, scoring one of the most important goals in his Leeds career. With seconds left on the clock, a through ball saw him bursting down the Arse right hand side. The big man showed great control to bamboozle the last defender, before cutting inside and smash home the most wonderful of goals and sending the travelling support into delirium. The final whistle kept the Whites up and handed the title to Manu. It was the second time in recent years that a Leeds win over the Arse had handed the title to the Red enemy. That was of little concern on the day though and if we needed a cherry on the cake, then it was provided upon hearing the commentary of the winning goal as it happened by the Leeds fan on "SkyFanzone". Its now gone down in Leeds folklore as the lad "Rocked and Rolled" his was through the final moments and summed up the passion of the ecstatic White support perfectly. We all know that moments like this are rare in football, no matter which club you choose to follow. However, when they do come along they somehow seem more sweeter and live longer in the memory:

When the fixture list came out at the beginning of the season, Yeovil Town away was looked at as one of those games you "had" to go to as another ground to tick off the list. However, in the context of needing points to secure a place in the Play Offs, this trip now had much more importance than that. Thanks to the Police deciding to make this a Friday night kick off, meticulous planning was required for the near 4,000 Whites fans attending. With that in mind and a five hour drive ahead, quite how we found ourselves still in Wetherby at 2pm was open to frantic discussion. As was a half arsed plan to camp over "somewhere" in Yeovil. Mind you, as we sped down the M1 it was quickly becoming apparent that the list of things we had forgotten to pack was longer than "Jesus" Prutton's hair. We decided to put that idea on the back burner and concentrate on getting to the ground. After a tortuous trip we eventually arrived, parked up and belted to the ground with just minutes to spare. This was the club's first ever visit to Huish Park and it was packed to the rafters. The ground has 3 seated stands and the away end is uncovered terracing, similar to Swindon Town. Yeovil were out to finish on a high and gain revenge for the late defeat at Elland Road earlier this season...

Wise's side were looking like having to settle for a point when loan striker Mark DeVries headed a late late winner. With a record crowd of 9,527 crammed in and Leeds fans dotted all over the ground, the travelling army were in good spirit's as we looked forward to what we hoped, was history in the making. Macca again made a change and it was the unlucky Prutton dropped to the bench for the returning Dougie. So Casper in goal was protected by an unchanged back line of Lubo, Huntingdon , Fraser and Sheehan. Kilkenny, Johnson, Howson and Douggie made up midfield and the Freedman - Elding partnership continued up the front. The home crowd started in good form as the Leeds boys played away from us in the first half. It was clear from the off however that the hosts appeared in awe of the occasion and gave the Leeds boys too much time and respect. They paid the price on 4 minutes when a cross was lofted in from Fraser on the right. Bradley Johnson met the ball at the far post but couldn't convert what appeared a simple chance. Fortunately Freedman was on hand however to smash home from 6 yards and send us flying around the old school terrace. 1 nil up after 4 minutes and we thanked the gods we had made kick off, I mean you can imagine how gutting it would have been to miss the goal...

With the goal in the bank and Yeovil's reluctance to put a foot in, the boys began to stroke the ball around pretty well. It was worrying however that whilst we had all the play, we never really troubled them again for a long period of time and infact, after dropping a sleep at the back, Yeovil could have been level with their first chance on goal. Old warhorse Marcus Stewart headed one over from a flick on by Skiverton. The Leeds build up play continued to impress, Howson in the thick of it in the centre and Fraser getting forward to good effect. It has to be said though that we were, once again, lacking that killer ball and the off the ball running of Beckford to give us other options. As the half wore on, the pace of the game was beginning to have a "friendly" feel about it and it appeared to lull the Leeds players into thinking it was all too easy. That was until Yeovil awoke and began to find charity from our back line. Williams should have scored, but instead forced Casper into a smart stop. Williams had a second chance from the rebound, but fired just into the side of the goal. It was the signal for the Leeds back line to finally awake however Yeovil were now beginning to put some neat passes together as Smith ended a good move by hitting one over from distance...

With Yeovil pressing, we began to take the chance to hit on the break. Elding, who’s work rate was impressive, had a half decent shot tipped over. After Freedman had another shot saved, it was Elding again who was unlucky when put through and just about to pull the trigger when a Yeovil defender slid in to put the ball out for a corner. Yeovil had the last word however when Stewart had a glorious chance to level, but he snatched at a chance when he was free in the centre of the area and Casper clung on to the ball. 1 up at halftime and another chance for us to see some dodgy dancing from Hughesy as we tried to keep warm from a cold wind smashing into our faces. We knew we were just 45 minutes from the Play Offs and we expected Yeovil to be quick out of the blocks and it proved to be the case. A soft free kick from ref Stroud who, was hardly noticed in the first half set the tone. The free kick routine ended with Barry slicing wide, but doing enough to get the home fans into good voice. With the game opening up, we seemed content to soak up pressure and hit on the break ala Millwall. One great break saw Elding through and fire well wide, only the offside flag spared the lads blushes. Johnson tried one from around 30 yards and had the keeper beaten, alas, the bar as well...

The game could have turned on two moments in which ref Stroud was at the centre of. Firstly Huntingdon had a shot which appeared to hit a Yeovil arm. Stroud waved away our final chance to be awarded a penalty away from home this season. Stroud's second decision minutes later had a more direct influence. It had not been a dirty game by any means, but Sheehan had lost control of the ball coming out of defence on halfway. In a stupid attempt to win it back he dived in on Peitler. From where we were, it looked a nasty and needless challenge. With Yeovil players in his face, Stroud produced Red and we were left to fight out 25 minutes with 10 men. Moments later, Stroud pulled out the yellow card after Bricham flew in on Johnson. With the free kick awarded around 35 yards out, up stepped Lubo to twat a stunning jet propelled scud missile towards the top corner and it took a great save to keep it out. Had it gone it, it would have been up there with "Zico" Sterland's effort at Bramall lane all those years ago. Macca moved swiftly to change the team around. Elding went off for Hughsy who immediately tucked in at left back. We were now coming under some serious arial pressure, however Lubo and the impressive Huntingdon remained calm and tried to break where possible...

Freedman once again came into his own when down to 10 men just as he had at Huddersfield. Clever play coupled with great ball retention giving the defence much needed respite from the Yeovil attack. However the Yeovil attacks became more frequent, and with Yeovil having men over on many occasions, it was brown trousers time. After Dougie had cleared off the line with a great header, Yeovil had their best spell. They pinned us back in our area by having 3 corners on the bounce. Casper eventually getting a free kick when it looked like he had flapped at the last one. Macca threw on Prutton for Johnson as he looked to beef up the midfield and it had a great effect. "Jesus" was able to hold the ball up a lot better than Johnson and was also able to win us a couple of corners as we tried to play down the clock. With 7 minutes left after soaking up all the pressure, we should have killed the game. Kilkenny swung over a rare free kick and at the back post, Freedman some how deflected over from around a yard, if that. Being kind to the fella, he can't have seen it till late but it could have been a very costly miss as Yeovil came right back at us. Rui was thrown on for Kilkenny as we looked to see out the last 5 minutes and Casper's best save of the game thwarted a great effort from Downes...

As the board went up for 4 minutes extra, it was heart in mouths time, especially when Yeovil put together a great passing move, only for Stewart to fire high over the stand. The fulltime whistle was met with massive relief as the players made their way over to thank us for our support. The players deserve massive credit for the spirit and commitment shown in the second half, especially when reduced to 10. This was the type of game we would have gone on to lose just a few weeks ago. Whilst Macca and Stan certainly deserve all credit for the turn around of the team, mention must also be given to first team coach Neil McDonald. It seems no coincidence that performances have been much improved since his arrival a the club. As we wound our way back to the car and enjoyed the good natured banter between both sets of supporters, we decided to scrap the half arsed camping plan and shoot back home, making it back to Gods County in just 4 hours. So, the win cemented the Play Off place as this history making season continues to take twists and turns. We now enter the "big week" and we are left to wonder if the upcoming 37,000 + crowd against Gillingham will be celebrating automatic promotion, or giving the boys our well wishes for the upcoming Play Off fight. Either way, it promises to be one a hell of a day in what has been, one hell of history making season...

Leeds United AFC... "Everyone's Rocking back in Yorkshire, Rocking for Leeds United Football club"... Keep Fighting...