On Friday next the 9th March 23 members of Ennislusc Branch will leave Shannon en route to Leeds for the Championship match vs Luton Town on Saturday. First timers in the group this time include Kieran & Kaki Ryan and Tadgh Murphy son of fanatical Alan who himself will be making his second trip to Elland Road. Hopefully we can get the three points in our efforts to avoid relegation and no need to ask but we'll have a great weekend. Look out for the trip report next week.

Report from the recent QPR home game.

On Feb 20th John Galvin and Kevin Greene travelled over for as the Yorkshire Post put it “ Tonight it a true 6 pointer”. The game being on over the Feb Mid Term Break suited Kevin and myself. We arrived in Leeds early on the Tuesday morning getting the early flight to Leeds Bradford from Dublin. The atmosphere around the city and out at Elllen Rd, was palpable. We headed out to Ellen Rd, for a few pint at Biddys Bar and some shopping at the Leeds shop. Then back to Bewleys Hotel for a mini rest before the game.

Denis Wise after the Cardiff game urged the Leeds fans to come out in force for this crunch game. Ken Bates, the chairman followed suit and slashed prices for this epic struggle. The fans on the night were not found wanting as over… Read more

Leeds United 2 Sheffield Wednesday 3

On loan signing Radostin Kishishev from Charlton made his debut in midfield in place of want away captain Kevin Nicholls and Ian Moore started up front in place of Robbie Blake. The visitors were quick out of the blocks and on six minutes Deon Burton headed against the bar and when the ball was crossed in again Marcus Tudgay made no mistake with a good header from eight yards. Leeds however started to dominate proceedings and Healy ,Cresswell and Rui Marques had good efforts on goal.

However as so often has been the case Leeds fell to a sucker punch. A poor clearance by Stack was not controlled by Frazier Richardson and from fully 45 yards Northern Ireland International Chris Brunt left Stack stranded in the Leeds goal with a super chip. Just on the stroke of half time Ian Moore went close with a header.… Read more

Wolves 1 Leeds United 0

Another disaster for the Whites when Mick McCarthy's men brushed aside a poor Leeds side to secure three points in their quest for promotion while leaving Wises men routed to the bottom of the table. Once more Leeds were forced to make changes to their starting line up when Alan Thompson and Armado Sa were ruled out through injury with Frazier Richardson and Seb Carole recalled. In the Wolves line up was ex-United youngster Andy Keogh who went on to have a fine game in midfield.

Over the 90 minutes it was all Wolves with Rob Edwards hitting the woodwork twice before the all important winner coming in the 76th minute. Michael Kightly started a run from midfield and skipped past two tackles, one from skipper Kevin Nicholls who made a clumse effort to stop the winger. From 16 yards Kightly hit an unstoppable shot which gave… Read more

Birmingham City 1 Leeds United 0

We should be getting used to this scoreline by now as Leeds draw another blank in front of goal. In what was always going to be a tough fixture Leeds when down to a Nicklas Bendtner headed goal on 15 mins following a Gary McSheffrey corner. However Wises boys were unlucky as they had a goal chalked off by a linesmans flag on 30 mins and Richard Cresswell hit a post after being put through by David Healy.

Try as they may Leeds failed to penetrate a stubborn Birmingham back four and indeed only for a great save by Graham Stack and a post Bendtner would have had his hat trick.

Leeds United 0 Queens Park Rangers 0

Before their biggest crowd of the season Leeds failed to collect a valueable three points and indeed were playing second fiddle to a determined QPR side for most of the second half. Thanks to Casper Ankergren in the Leeds goal it was the home side who will be delighted to gain a point.

Two of our members Kevin Green and John Galvin (who was making a return trip to Leeds after a 20 year absence) were in attendance tonight and hopefully enjoyed the game despite the lack of goals. On their return they will give an update of their trip for EnnisLUSC and it should make interesting reading.

Cardiff City 1 Leeds United 0

Once again Cardiff defeated Leeds and this time despite being down to nine men when the game finished and also having a penalty saved. Not since 1984 have Leeds defeated City in any fixture, Cup or League, and so it was once again on Saturday. In City's lineup were two ex-Leeds players Stephen McPhail and Simon Walton who late on in the game was sent off for a second bookable offence. Leeds made one change from the Palace game with Armando Sa replacing Frazier Richardson in defence.

City started well with Whittingham threatening down the left and top goalscorer Michael Chopra with 18 goals to his credit having a shot at every opportunity. Ian Moore and Ian Westlake were Leeds best players in the first half forcing corners from the City defence but with no results. Then Leeds fell to a sucker punch on 44 mins… Read more

In the coming week we will be replacing the message board with a guestbook and hopefully Leeds supporters far and wide can put their thoughts on the site. All comments are welcome particularly those relating to the site and the present state of Leeds United.

Our First Official Tour

While we had one official trip in our inaugural year to Elland Road some members also went on trips to see the Liverpool game ( unfortunately a 4 nil drubbing ) and to the Gary Kelly Testimonial vs Glasgow Celtic which ended in a 4-1 defeat for Leeds. The highlight of this particular night in May 2002 was the non-stop singing of the Celtic fans from before kick off until well after the game had ended. One can only wonder what it would be like if Celtic were in the Premiership with such support as on this occasion 8,000 fans traveled down from Scotland for the game some even going via Dublin ( we were on the same flight ) as it was a cheaper route for them than traveling direct.

However the highlight of the year has to be the branches first official trip to… Read more

Leeds United 2 Crystal Palace 1

If ever three points were badly needed it was today and particularly after our nearest rivals Southend handed QPR a drubbing on the Friday night live game on Sky. Today we were without Alan Thompson through injury and he was replaced with Eddie Lewis and Wise caused a shock by starting new signing Casper Ankergren in goal in preference to Neil Sullivan.

Palace dominated the early stages with Ankergren saving well on two occassions from Palace midfielder Fletcher but it was Leeds who struck for the all important first goal on 27 mins. Robbie Blake struck a super corner from the left and Matt Heath headed home at the far post for his second goal in three games. Leeds nearly struck again five minutes later when Leon Cort made a goal saving tackle on Ian Moore and on the stroke of half time Gabor Kiraly denied… Read more

Norwich City 2 Leeds United 1

Fresh from their midweek victory at Hull ,Leeds travelled to Carrow in buoyant form. Once again Dennis Wise was forced to make two changes as David Healy and Eddie Lewis were both out injured and were replaced by Robbie Blake and skipper Kevin Nicholls.

Norwich started well and had the ball in the Leeds net after 10 mins but ex Leeds player Darren Huckerby was ruled out for offside. Leeds were defending well and on 20 mins Robbie Blake hit a low cross from the left that was meet by teenager Jonny Howson and he shot home from 15 yards. On the half hour mark Jonathan Douglas was booked for a foul on Huckerby and five minutes later he failed to get on the end of a fantastic cross from Alan Thompson that would have put Leeds in the driving seat.

The second half started with… Read more

Hull City 1 Leeds United 2

This was a must win game for Leeds and the day did'nt start too well for Dennis Wise when he found out that new signing Tore Andre Flo suffered a hairline fracture to his foot in training. Wise made five changes to the team beaten by WBA in the FA Cup with Frazier Richardson, Matt Heath, Jonathan Douglas, Jonny Howson and Trsor Kandol starting. On the bench was England U 17 International Tom Elliott who was having his first start in the squad.

Leeds started brightly with Howson testing Bo Myhill in the Hull goal after 2 mins. Douglas and Alan Thompson were having the better of the midfield exchanges and on 21 mins a free kick from Thompson was flicked home by Matt Heath for his first and most valueable goal for the club. Dean Windass that much travelled player had a snap shot for… Read more

Our Club President Steve Underwood will celebrate his 50th birthday in Tony Mac's pub in Killanena on Friday 9th February and all the memembers wish him long life health and happiness and of course Leeds to stay up! A great night is in store for anyone going to the celebrations and our own club member Cathal Moloney will be providing the music with his band The Naked Bears. Have a good one ,Steve.

Thankfully Luton were beaten in the FA Cup on Saturday last as otherwise it would have presented us with a problem travelling over for the Luton game as in all probability their game with Leeds would have been re arranged thus putting our trip in turmoil. However all is well now and we have 23 hardy souls leaving Shannon on 9th March for the game. Among those on board are Alan Murphy and his son Tadhg who cannot wait to see Elland Road and spend some of dad's money in the Leeds shop.

Also travelling are Kieran Ryan and his wife Kaki, Slim Corry & Steph Bradley along with Marty Brennan and Dom O Rourke. As always it promises to be a great trip but what would make it really memorable would be three points. Let's pray for a result!

Leeds United 2 West Brom 3

Three times Leeds have played The Baggies this season and yes your right we've lost them all. For Saturday's game Wise gave home debuts to Tore Andre Flo, Amanda Sa and ex Celtic playmaker Alan Thompson. It looked like he finally got things right when Flo headed Leeds ahead on 3 mins following a Robbie Elliott cross. But as usual we could'nt hold on to the lead and less than four minutes later Jonathan Greening shot home from 15 yards following a Neil Clements free kick being deflected into his path.

If this was bad worse was to follow when on 19 mins Diomansy Kamara waltz passed Hayden Fox and beat Neil Sullivan from twenty yards. Leeds tried hard to get back on terms with David Healy trying his luck three times from distance with no reward. Then in first half injury time disaster struck again… Read more

The second club trip this season is now proposed for the weekend of 10th and 11th of March, for the fixture against Luton Town at Elland Road. We had looked at going in April to either the Burnley or Ipswich games but the cost are slightly prohibitive (minimum cost €400).

Details of Proposed Trip

1)Depart Shannon Fri March 9th @ 12.40pm, arrive Liverpool 13.40 approx.

2) Transfer by coach to Queens Hotel ,Leeds ,arrive @ 16.00pm approx.

3) Match on Saturday- Kick Off 15.00pm

4) Depart Queens Hotel for Liverpool Airport Sun day March 11th @ 8.45am,flight depart @ 11.45am, arrive Shannon 12.45pm.

Costs

1) Flight Currently is €70 per person

2) Coach should be approx €35 per person ( kids go free).

3) Match Ticket €50

4) Accomodation €110- this is based on 2 nights B&B.

So,all in all,you are looking at approx €265 at the moment. This is almost €70 cheaper than the last few trips so it's a… Read more

West Bromich Albion 3 Leeds United 1

For the fourth time in five seasons Leeds fell at the third round of the FA Cup but gave a spirited display at The Hawthorns. As is usual Dennis Wise made his customary changes bringing in Jonny Hewson for Jonathan Douglas who was beginning a two match ban and Matt Heath in for the injured Frazier Richardson. On the bench were new signings Tore Andre Flo and Mozambique defender Armando Sa.

United who had 2,000 supporters in attendance went behind on 6 mins when a corner conceded by Robbie Elliott was cleared but only fell to the feet of Paul McShane who slotted home from 12 yards. Further woe was to befall United on 15mins when a long punt downfield by Albion keeper Russell Holt eluded Matt Heath and John Hartson beat Neil Sullivan from 15 yards abet with a slight deflection off Sullivan.… Read more

Believe it or not Leeds will be on Sky once again ( our 4th time this season) on the Friday the 30th March when they take on Preston North End at Elland Road. This was a game that Ennislusc had thought about going over for as our second trip of the season but obviously this will not be the case now. Instead we are presently looking at going over to Leeds for either the Burnley game on the 14th April or our last home game of the season vs Ipswich on the 28th April.Further updates re the proposed trip will follow when we have got some feedback from our members.

On Thursday next our member Jimmy Allard will go to Merlin Park Hospital in Galway to get a replacement hip. This is the first of two operations for Jimmy as he'll have to have the other hip replaced before the summer so he'll be out of action for some time. All the club send you our best wishes and hope you'll be back and rearing to go for our first trip next season.

Leeds United 2 Coventry City 1

Three points on the first day of the new year is just the start we so badly needed after an awful run of results in December. Once again Dennis Wise rang the changes with new signing Robbie Elliott starting at left back and Angola World Cup defender Rui Marques getting his first start in the Championship alongside Hayden Fox. Also back were Niall Sullivan in goal, captain Kevin Nicholls back after suspension and Robbie Blake back after injury.

Leeds started brightly with Douglas and Healy unlucky with efforts in the first ten minutes. However on 15 mins David Healy weaved his way into the box and sent a low shot past a desparing Marshell in Coventry goal. Eddie Lewis was tormenting the Coventry defence and following a foul on him, Robbie Blake hit the crossbar from the resultant free kick. Then on 30 minutes Lewis… Read more