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Action replay 1985: Portsmouth 3 Leeds United 1
A bizarre clash at Fratton Park, ending in a 3-1 victory for Portsmouth, gave Leeds United the feeling that a miracle was required to lift them out of Division Two at the end of the 1984-85 season.
Fratton Park, Tuesday, March 12, 1985
Divison 2
The fixture saw three penalty saves – two of which came at the expense of United striker Peter Lorimer – and eight bookings, but the more telling statistic was the 10-point margin separating Leeds from the top of the division after their frustrating loss.
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Leeds had enough chances to take a victory away from Fratton Park, but they failed to recover from the concession of a deflected goal to Kevin Dillon in the opening minutes while fans continued to stream into the stadium.
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Mervyn Day prevented a second Portsmouth goal shortly after when he dived to keep out a penalty from Dillon, awarded after Tony Brown fouled Neil Webb, but Day was left to remonstrate with his defenders when Nicky Morgan rose to glance the resulting throw-in inside the goalkeeper's near post.
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With 12 minutes gone, United seemed to be beaten but they rallied impressively and scored amid a flurry of incidents 10 minutes before half-time.
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Frank Gray found the net by converting Andy Ritchie's clever pass but referee Colin Downey disallowed the effort, awarding a penalty for a foul on Ian Baird instead.
Alan Knight reacted brilliantly to keep out Lorimer's effort but John Sheridan followed up to convert the rebound.
Portsmouth held their nerve, however, and ended United's attempt at a fightback when Kevin O'Callaghan found the net through a crowd of players. Not even a second penalty on 90 minutes could bring consolation for Leeds as Lorimer's tame shot was saved again by Knight.
United: Day, Irwin, Hamson (Wright 72), Sellars, Linighan, Brown, Baird, Sheridan, Ritchie, Lorimer, Gray.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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