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Action Replay 1990: Leeds United 3 West Ham United 2
Least surprised of all to see Lee Chapman score twice in Leeds United's 3-2 win over West Ham United was visiting defender Colin Foster.
Elland Road, Saturday, March 17, 1990
Division 2
Foster needed no warning about Chapman's quality but the centre-back was at a loss with how best to deal with it and fell short at Elland Road.
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"I first played against Lee when I was with Leyton Orient and he was at Sheffield Wednesday," said Foster.
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"He scored two goals that day and he's haunted me ever since."
As investments of 400,000 went, Howard Wilkinson's purchase of Chapman from Nottingham Forest earlier in the year was beginning to look like excellent business, securing a player whose 10 league appearances had yielded eight goals.
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The money spent by United's manager on Chapman was an indication of his faith in the striker and Foster was glowing in his praise of Chapman at the end of West Ham's defeat.
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"I've faced the top strikers in the first division and I rate him as the best of the lot," he said.
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"People like (Peter) Beardsley and (Ian) Rush have got tremendous pace and may look spectacular but Lee is so awkward to deal with and such a dangerous customer. I sensed I'd be in for a hard time with him up against me."
Foster's fear was realised when Chapman scored in the 17th- minute, firing up the second division's biggest crowd of the season.
Almost 33,000 supporters were tempted to Elland Road by the realisation that United's promotion to Division One was within touching distance.
Chapman made no mistake with a perfectly-placed finish from 12 yards and he was equally clinical when he arrived on the end of headed opportunity four minutes before half-time, leaving Foster in his wake.
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The forward took the adulation of the crowd but there was little doubt that Gordon Strachan – another inspired signing on the part of Wilkinson – had been the architect of United's dominant performance as he was so often.
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The 33-year-old dominated the midfield, felling Martin Allen with a brutal tackle in a demonstration of his commitment, and he was responsible for both the delicately weighted cut-back which supplied Chapman's first goal and the hanging cross that led to his second. West Ham kept goalkeeper Mervyn Day busy with two shots from Trevor Morley which the goalkeeper beat away, but Day was helpless on 51 minutes when Morley met a header from Jimmy Quinn and bundled the ball over the goalline.
For a short time, Leeds were denied the comfort of a two-goal lead but it was restored when Strachan scored his 15th goal of the season, pouncing on a neat cross from John Hendrie.
His finish was enough to put Leeds out of sight, despite West Ham replying again when Foster and Chapman lunged for a loose ball in front of Day's goal.
Foster was initially credited with the goal but he came clean after full-time, admitting Chapman had provided the decisive touch.
"I'm quite happy to give Lee his hat-trick," Foster joked.
United: Day, Sterland, Snodin, Jones, Fairclough, Haddock, Strachan, Speed, Chapman, Varadi, Hendrie.
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