Moments of Champions: Rocky Balboa at Preston

To quote one of the great philosophers of our time, Rocky Balboa: “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

It’s a philosophy that resonates with Leeds United in the Championship. From the days of Marcelo Bielsa’s altruistic approach to referees and opponents to Daniel Farke’s young lads being picked on by the other boys, physical force has often been the only real way to break Leeds down.

Few teams knew that better than Preston and their manager, Paul Heckingbottom, put that to good use against his old club when they came to Deepdale last December.

Leeds’ away form at that stage had been holding them back in their pursuit of promotion, having won only three of nine matches and losing to both Millwall and Blackburn in November.

Leeds’ trip to Preston began with an early goal from the home side after some sloppy play in midfield caused Ao Tanaka to lose the ball and nobody showed the presence of mind to kick a Preston player before things got out of hand. Instead, the hateful Milutin Osmajic was allowed to cross into the path of Brad Potts, whose shot evaded Illan Meslier’s feeble grasp.

Going a goal down early in an away match: hello darkness my old friend. Leeds were bullied and referee John Busby did little to exert any authority over proceedings, especially when Preston midfielder Ben Whiteman — already on a yellow card — recklessly clattered Jayden Bogle. Everyone expected to see Busby produce a second yellow card, even Whiteman. But he didn’t and Whiteman survived until half-time at which point Hecky hauled him off, of course. Nice one, justice denied.

Osmajic also spent most of the first half trying to provoke Joe Rodon into doing something stupid. A kick here, a shove there.

Opponents went to ridiculous lengths to ensure that, at all costs, Leeds United were prevented from doing the one thing that could win them matches: play football. Content with their 1-0 lead, Preston sat back and did their level best to frustrate, kick, moan and whatever Robbie Brady does when he’s on the pitch. Probably a bit of all three, really.

Leeds grew into the match and resisted all temptation to level any Preston player that wronged them. Chances started to come, including one to substitute Patrick Bamford who attempted a back heel into an almost empty goal — a chance with an expected goals of 0.98 — but missed.

If ever Leeds needed a sign that this wasn’t to be their day and they’d better give up, then that was it. The introduction of Ethan Ampadu and Mateo Joseph in the 82nd minute gave Leeds an added dimension, a captain returning to fitness after two months out injured and a hungry young striker.

Leeds continued to press and press, hunting for an equaliser that few other than the players in yellow believed they could produce. It was a Saturday lunchtime in the Champo and the Peacocks were 1-0 down. How else was this supposed to end?

Dan James continued to try his utmost to beat his man and get a cross in. His desire to be the driving force down the right gave Leeds fans that faint hope, the type that kills you. Then, in the 93rd minute, James beat his man and delivered a low cross that skimmed through the six-yard box for Joseph to back heel off Preston defender Jack Whatmough and into the goal.

Leeds equalised with seconds remaining, turning a nightmarish loss into a point. It was a result that allowed the team and coach Daniel Farke to reframe an incredibly frustrating ninety minutes at Deepdale as a valuable point earned through pain and patience.

The draw meant Leeds avoided consecutive away defeats in the league and kept them in the automatic promotion positions ahead of a favourable festive run that saw them win three matches in a row until the end of the calendar year, which they ended atop the Championship.

Rather than accepting what appeared to be fate, Leeds persevered and were rewarded with a point that should be remembered as more than just a kicking match in Lancashire on a cold, grey Saturday.

(Photograph by Lee Durkin, via Alamy)