Howson the hat-trick hero

Leeds United captain John Howson led by example with a fifteen minute second half hat trick to move Leeds back into the top half.

Andy O`Brien made his debut in defence for Leeds whilst Max Gradel and Neil Kilkenny came back into the starting eleven after the 4-0 home defeat to Cardiff on Monday.

O`Brien made an assured start and stopped Leeds falling behind in the opening exchanges with a couple of crucial stops.

Max Gradel had Leeds first chance but Warner in the Scunthorpe goal was equal to his effort.

Gradel did give Leeds the lead in the eight minute, Howson`s through ball found Gradel and his left foot shot beat Warner.

Scunthorpe were level near the half hour mark when Cliff Byrne rose at the far post to head in from a corner.

Leeds nearly went back into the lead soon afterwards when Warner had to make a save from a Snodgrass free kick.

Snodgrass again and Amdy Faye both had chances saved close to half time as the sides went in all square at the break.

Leeds started the second half the better, Gradel thought he should have been awarded a penalty after going down in the area and Neil Kilkenny saw his shot just clear the bar.

John Howson fired Leeds into the lead on the hour when he fired home after Scunthorpe failed to clear their lines.

The same man almost made it 3-1 minutes later when Warner saved his fierce shot.

Scunthorpe could have drawn level when firstly, Schmeichel had to make a smart save to deny Sears and then from the resulting corner Canavan headed over the bar.

That was to prove crucial as Howson scored his second of the afternoon soon afterwards when he got his head on the end of a Gradel cross.

It didn`t take long for him to complete his hat trick and he did it in style when he fired home from the edge of the area.

The goal finished off any hopes that Scunthorpe had of a comeback.

The afternoon was made even better when Billy Paynter came on to make his Leeds debut in the closing minutes, Paynter joined Leeds in the summer but hadn`t been seen since suffering a injury in preseason which had ruled him out of the season so far.

A great win for Leeds after recent results, a win that moves them up to twelfth in the Championship table.

Teams

Scunthorpe
Warner, Byrne, Mirfin (Canavan 46), Raynes, Nolan, Togwell, O`Connor, Woolford, Wright (Forte 76), Dagnell (Thompson 67), Sears

Subs not used:
Slocombe, McClenahan, Grant, Collins

Leeds
Schmeichel, Connolly, Bruce, O`Brien, McCartney, Howson, Faye (Johnson 55), Snodgrass (Nunez 83), Gradel, Becchio (Paynter 80), Kilkenny

Subs not used
Brown, Hughes, Collins, Somma

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