Leeds United coach admits striker making job ‘harder’ after team record fifth hat-trick of season

One of Leeds’ greatest ironies this season is that while a consistent, well-suited No. 9 at first-team level continues to elude Jesse Marsch, they’re bursting at the seams with them in the Under-21s. Teenage forward Max Dean took home the match ball following United’s 4-2 win over Newcastle in Premier League 2 Division 2 on Monday afternoon, netting three times during the second half to send Leeds six points clear at the top.

In addition to Mateo Joseph’s three hat-tricks and Patrick Bamford’s triple for the junior side, Dean’s exploits mean the team have collectively scored five hat-tricks in nine PL2 fixtures this season.

Mirroring the first-team’s high-scoring win over AFC Bournemouth at the weekend, Leeds went a goal in front early on, Kris Moore finding the net with a towering back post header after less than two minutes. Much like the Cherries’ response at Elland Road last Saturday, Newcastle equalised before the clock had reached double digits, however Leeds’ youngsters maintained control and stood firm.

At the break, Michael Skubala’s young side went in level. Without the likes of Leo Hjelde, Darko Gyabi, Sean McGurk or top scorer Mateo Joseph, Leeds had fared reasonably well against a Newcastle outfit who appeared organised and engaged in closing the home side down inside their own half.

Shortly after the restart, though, Dean scored his first of the afternoon. Wrestling his opponent as he bore down on goal, Dean latched onto Cody Drameh’s pinpoint early cross before toe-poking his effort goalward, underneath stopper Jude Smith, who had made several impressive stops already in the game.

Dean’s second of the day came a minute later, capitalising on an error in Newcastle’s defence to cheekily slot the ball home and open up a two-goal cushion. Goalkeeper Smith had vacated his goalmouth to offer captain Alex Murphy a short passing option, whose ball forwards was intercepted by Joe Snowdon.

Newcastle pulled one back through Harry Barclay mid-way through the second half to make the score 3-2, but it was Barclay who played Dean onside as the forward – hungry for a third – fired underneath Smith to re-establish Leeds’ two-goal advantage and dash any hopes of a black-and-white comeback.

"He was good,” head coach Skubala said at full-time, discussing Dean’s performance. “We talked about at halftime ‘keep challenging the line and we think you'll get in’, because they had a high line at times.

“He's been in and out the squad, it's been a really good day for him because he's come in and I thought he took his hat-trick and his goals really well.

"It's a really proud performance by Deano today.”

"I said to three or four of them today: ‘Look, you've been waiting for this. You've been ready for this. So, go and take a chance go and show that you can perform and make it really difficult going into January who I'm going to pick’, so that's what I really liked.

“They've made my job harder, if you like,” Skubala added.