It only took Jermaine Beckford 3 minutes to answer that one. A long clearance from Ankergren saw the ball coming down between ex-Leeds defender, Paul Butler and the Leeds striker - Beckford managed to muscle his way past and sweep the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
It got worse quite quickly for Chester, some excellent link up play saw Delph in space on the left, who delivered a fine cross in for Snodgrass who again left the keeper no chance - Leeds were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes.Leeds were in control and cruising. so it came against the run of play on 15 minutes when Chester broke.
The defence gave far too much room Lowe who found himself gearing up for a shot on the edge of the area. A last ditch tackle for Marques was only enough to deflect the ball and loop it over the grounded Ankergren who could do nothing but watch. Were Chester going to fight back?No is the simple answer - within ten minutes,
Beckford picked up the ball half way inside the Chester half and within a couple of strides, unleashed a curling shot that bent past the keepers right hand upright.
Four minutes later, Robinson added a fourth with a neat side foot, but the final word was left to Beckford just four minutes later - a powerful lob from 20 yards, and leaving Leeds 5-1 up on 34 minutes, and Beckford with his hat-trick.
Leeds continued to dominate, with match possession as high as 70% with away fans chanting for 6 until the half-time.
Second half and Leeds took the foot of the pedal. McAllister introduced three changes, bringing off Beckford, Howson and Robinson for Showumni, Douglas and Johnson - and whilst Chester hardly threatened, it was left to a few runs from Showumni to excite the crowd as the game ebbed out.
Chester took some consolation when they were awarded a penalty on 75 minutes, Richardson judged to have pushed Mozika inside the box in a decision that inspires the quote "I've seen them given and not given before". Lowe stepped up and slotted home his second but it was no real threat to Leeds.
Showumni continued to find space, and his shooting became a little more accurate but the job here was done in the first half and Leeds looked to be conserving energy.
Leeds: Ankergren, Richardson, Marques, Huntington, Sheehan, Delph, Robinson(52), Howson (52), Snodgrass, Beckford(52), Becchio - SUBS: Douglas (52), Johnson (52), Showumni (52), Lucas, Michalik, Telfor, Elliot
Scunthorpe | 1-2 | Leeds United |
3644 (Total) | Attendance | - |
3 | Shots on Target | 10 |
1 | Shots off Target | 5 |
Vaughan | Bookings | Richardson |
1 | Corners | 3 |
42% | Possession | 58% |
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