Leeds Reserves 1 Rotherham Reserves 0

Last updated : 01 May 2009 By Kevin Markey
The reserves registered the victory they needed to beat nearest rivals Huddersfield Town to the top of totesport.com League East Division.

A 9th-minute goal from David Prutton was as all Leeds needed against a spirited but weaker Rotherham United outfit and the result expected by Huddersfield, the one club with hopes of denying United the title, was gained by an experienced Whites line-up.

Huddersfield completed their own league season last week, climbing ahead of Leeds by a single point and with a better goal difference, but a United squad with ten successive wins behind them before last night's game, nine claimed with the help of clean sheets, never looked like handing the championship to their West Yorkshire neighbours.

Academy boss Neil Thompson used a blend of experienced professional and young prospects for Leeds' final fixture at Elland Road, reflecting a second-string campaign which has relied on both groups of players.

The title secured on an evening was nothing spectacular, mainly due to the bad weather conditions, but the sequence of 11 victories produced by Leeds has been worth the trophy that Thompson is expected to collect before Saturday's first-team game against Northampton Town.

The number of first-team players included by Thompson, seven in total, including a first appearance for on-loan goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan, was as much a matter of maintaining fitness before the League One play-offs as it was to guarantee the victory Leeds needed.

Nevertheless, the comparative strength of the teams on display at Elland Road made the outcome predictable and the hundreds of senior appearances shared among United's players was a contrast to the inexperience of Rotherham's squad.

It has often been that way this season, though not without exception. A fortnight ago, for example, Thompson was left without a single senior player to work with due to the exertions of the first team over Easter, but a youthful squad chosen by him reacted with a 1-0 victory at Rotherham.

That win was their 10th in succession and enough to leave the title in Leeds' hands against the same opposition last night.