Premier League
| Southampton 0 | |
|---|---|
| Leeds United 3 |
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday August 12 1999 23.03 BST
No Jimmy, no hassle. Michael Bridges last night proved that there is life after Mr Floyd Hasselbaink by scoring a hat-trick to lead an impressive Leeds United to a comfortable win at Southampton.
Leeds can hardly have been looking forward to this encounter. Not since Boxing Day had Southampton been beaten at The Dell, and David O'Leary's previous visit in late January ended in a 3-0 defeat.
Yet the Leeds manager knew how important this victory was in confirming that his "babies" - surely infants by now - were serious championship contenders after the disappointing draw at home to Derby County on Saturday.
Not surprisingly, David Jones stuck with side which won at Coventry to give Southampton their first opening-day win since 1988 but O'Leary was forced to make a change.
His forward line, already shorn of Hasselbaink, also had to cope without the injured Alan Smith. Harry Kewell moved up front and Michael Duberry came in for his debut in defence.
The former Chelsea defender was almost immediately effective at the other end of the field, having a hand - or at least a head - in the build-up to Michael Bridges' 10th-minute goal.
His flick from Ian Harte's free-kick fell into the path of the England Under-21 striker who, perhaps aware that his place is threatened by the arrival of Darren Huckerby from Coventry, clipped a delightful volley over Paul Jones to set his ball rolling.
Lee Bowyer seemed certain to strech the lead soon after from Kewell's cutback but somehow Jones deflected the ball over the bar.
Southampton could create little until two chances arrived in quick succession shortly before half-time. First Matthew Le Tissier volleyed over then Mark Hughes had a shot stopped by Bridges on the line.
In the aftermath of Le Tissier's volley, Lee Mills looked fortunate to be shown only a yellow card for pushing the England midfielder, adding to earlier bookings for his team-mates David Batty and Bowyer, and for Le Tissier.
But Southampton had no such luck in the 51st minute when Bridges added his second. Mills burst past Francis Benali on the right flank and took advantage of a slip by Jason Dodd to pull the ball back for Bridges to sidefoot home.
Leeds always threatened and only a diving save by Jones prevented Bridges claiming his hat-trick in the 66th minute. But he did not have to wait long for No3, heading in Harte's corner from six yards after 72 minutes.
