A fixture most fans winced at, much like you would removing a plaster from an especially hairy shin. Bournemouth have been unstoppable in the league, famously the most free-scoring side in the football league. YOU WOT M8? WE WON? Woah.

What seemed like a strange team selection before kick-off had Steve Morison as a lone striker, with Cook and Murphy as central midfield, with Austin in an advanced attacking role. While we’ve seen improved performances from Leeds since switching to 4-2-3-1, not many expected our best performance since the win over Derby to come against the league leaders.

But it did.

How we played and why it worked

Very similar to our tactics against Derby (when at home, not the dreadful away performance), we identified that they’re a passing side and fortunately Redfearn has a strategy to combat that. Press mercilessly, maintain your shape and break with pace.

Bournemouth were unable to play the slick passing game they’re used to doing, we frustrated them and asserted ourselves on the game. For the first half it was only a matter of time before Leeds’ pressure paid off and what a goal it was.

Million Dollar Murph, a man reborn, took the ball outside the penalty area and smashed it into the top left corner. Murphy’s recent resurgence paradoxical of Leeds’ shifting fortunes on the pitch. The second half was distinctly more flat the longer it went on, with Bournemouth pressing more and Leeds breaking with increasing threat.

Ultimately we rode our luck a little as the Cherries hit the post and played the ball into dangerous areas without a finish. Perhaps where we’d have conceded in previous matches we didn’t. It wasn’t until a dubious (read: completely wrong) penalty that Bournemouth were properly invited back into the game. The resulting spot-kick was smashed into the bar and over, justice for the fact that the challenge (which resulted in a red card for Bellusci) was made 5ft outside the box.

An unlikely set of superb players

It won’t surprise anyone to read that Lewis Cook was outstanding; in a more familiar central role he controlled everything. His pace was proving to be a real handful for a Bournemouth side uncomfortable with a team asserting themselves on the game. But we expect the 17 year old wonderkid to be good. What we didn’t expect is some of the other good performers.

Rudy Austin in a more advanced role was superb – we’ve shown that he doesn’t have the discipline (or footballing brain) to be useful in a playmaking sense, nor as a ball-winning holding player, but in a more free attacking role he can be lethal. What makes him invaluable is his ability to pick up the ball outside our area and go box-to-box. Bournemouth really struggled with his directness and pace, sure, his decision making was still suspect at times but he was the engine we knew he was capable of being.

Luke Murphy has found a new lease of life since being recalled into the side. Where in previous fixtures his introduction has marked the beginning of the end, as the midfield inevitably loses whatever tenuous grasp it had on the match, Neil has seemingly found the way to utilise him. In a central midfield position, buoyed by a goal against Birmingham Luke seemed ready to take on the world. And take on the world he did. If it weren’t for Cook, he’d have easily been MOTM. He covered ground like a man possessed, closed down the opposition, showed maturity and confidence in his distribution of the ball… Even the goal shows he’s a man with the confidence the wider squad has been lacking.

Whatever has been done to Million Dollar Murph is working, even if it’s just playing him in his best position and giving him some confidence back.

The final unlikely hero of the game was Steve Morison – a man I’ve never been overly fond of, but he was an unrelenting nightmare on the opposition defense. Continually closing down, forcing errors and ensuring they don’t have time on the ball. He might not have been rewarded with a goal, but Steve was inexplicably unplayable. Added to an impressive display against Birmingham, Steve is making a strong claim on that solo attacking slot. Substituted late into the second half due to a hip injury, Billy Sharp came on and wasn’t quite as effective.

If you’d have told me 3 months ago that in January a home crowd would be singing Morison’s name as we beat league leaders Bournemouth at home, I’d have assumed you were mad. But here we are.

Now what?

We have a little break to reflect on things; have Leeds turned a corner? Hopefully, but we’ve been here before. We absolutely dominated Derby (which, in earnest, we didn’t do tonight – we deserved the win, but a draw wouldn’t have been outrageous) and slumped to a poor defeat afterwards.

But Leeds have played quite well in the last 4 matches and deservedly got 3 points to show for it tonight; let’s not forget that this was only the third time Bournemouth have failed to score this season – AND we scored from open play. We kept a clean sheet, even if we did ride our luck a little.

Heading into an away match at Huddersfield towards the end of the month, you have to consider that distinctly winnable too, this new formation has brought life into the squad. My only criticism would be that there isn’t a left-sided player able to offer what Sam Byram does on the right. As much as I rate Alex Mowatt, his form has dipped recently and it would be useful to have a tricky wide player, because I’m sure many teams would recognise that we create far more down the right than the left at the moment.

Credit where it’s due, though, Charlie Taylor has done well since coming in.

And with that I’m going to crawl into bed, adrenaline levels declining and coherent thought returning. Only Leeds could be so utterly clueless against poor sides, to then perform admirably against some of the top form teams – taking 6 points from the league leaders. We’re 19th. Two more wins could see us mid-table – the margins are so fine.

The biggest mission now is to get Lewis Cook to sign a contract longer than most mortgages. Byram too.

The cynic in me would highlight how few “Cellino” players were in that squad tonight, with Redders leaning on Championship experience and that decision bearing fruit. He’s only young, but Lewis Cook could well be our Steven Gerrard. He just needs to avoid punching people in nightclubs.

On and on. Suck on that, Luke Varney.