Confident Villa too good for Leeds

THE form book could have been written in stone for this one. Thrillingly, refreshingly, everything Aston Villa have stood for this season was underlined. Ditto sadly, Leeds United.

Superbly masterminded by a young manager with new ideas, Villa came into this game with a settled team and an established system and oozed confidence from every pore. Leeds looked what they have increasingly looked since winning the league in 1992, a spent force.

Disrupted by injuries, suspensions and a comparatively recent conversion to a more cautious version of 3-5-2, Leeds were anything but settled and confident. Perhaps significantly the 18 year old Andy Gray, son of former Leeds full back Frank Gray but more a right footed version of his uncle Eddie, was easily Leeds' most fearless and effective performer on the day.

Thomas Brolin sat on the bench until the game was to all intents and purposes over and just as significantly, Eric Cantona continued his personal crusade to deliver Manchester United another title.

In every department Villa were the masters. They were solid at the back, where the undernourished Tony Yeboah appeared in danger of vanishing inside Paul McGrath's pocket, so masterful was McGrath in a three man central defensive system that might well extend his international career next season if he remains in English club football.

They also dominated midfield. At the risk of becoming a tad parochial about all of this, Andy Townsend won the Man of the Match award with a vintage, all action performance, grasping the match from the early stages of the game. Mark Draper and Ian Taylor ran at Leeds gleefully. Gary McAllister attempted to do the same, but when he set off he often had no option but to beat a plethora of Villa shirts. Carlton Palmer never got into the game.

They also showed more movement up front. Savo Milosevic still takes an awful lot of out of the ball but there is something uncannily well balanced about his partnership with the sublimely skilful Dwight Yorke. They provided movement aplenty and were also invariably quicker to the ball than the Leeds' centre halves. Milosevic set Villa on their way, and fittingly the virtuoso Yorke capped it all.

For once in a cup final, recent form was maintained practically from the kick off. Leeds carried on where they left off against Liverpool in adopting a retreat mentality. Everyone, Yeboah included, was withdrawn for Villa set pieces.

Even when Yeboah was up front, so utterly curtailed was he by McGrath that Leeds had little to aim for anyway. The locally nurtured Gray, selected ahead of £7.5 million worth of front running talent in Brian Deane and Thomas Brolin, encouragingly ran at Villa with each of his first three opportunities.

But elsewhere, Leeds were struggling. Hounded out of possession in midfield, their central defensive trio kept backing off and leaving acres of space for Milosevic, Yorke and Villa's midfield runners to expose their frailties.

Yorke had stung John Lukic's left shoulder with a shuddering shot from an acute angle before the 21st minute breakthrough summed up Leeds' difficulties. Gary Speed's intended square pass to McAllister was impeded by Gary Charles' challenge, Townsend nipping in ahead of the Leeds' playmaker in the centre circle.

Milosevic received the ball no more than 10 yards inside the half way line, but John Pemberton kept backing off and leaving the often one dimensional Serb shooting space on his left foot. That was asking for trouble. Helped by Yorke's diagonal run off the ball, about 22 yards from goal Milosevic unleashed a drive which dipped over Lukic and underneath his top right corner.

Villa were visibly lifted by the goal and Leeds struggled to hang on until the interval. Yeboah flickered to life when he nodded on Kelly's cross almost into the path of Speed at the far post.

For nine minutes after the resumption - the only time in the game the contest came alive. Howard Wilkinson reshuffled his pack, Brian Deane joining Yeboah up front and Gray playing in behind them as Mark Ford was sacrificed.

Twice Gray cut in from the right to test Mark Bosnich, even beating McGrath on the second occasion. But the comeback was strangled practically at source by a 54th minute killer goal.

Townsend picked out Alan Wrights well timed run up the left, and when Radebe hooked the deep cross away under pressure from Milosevic, the incoming Ian Taylor thumped home a first time volley. Two years ago the 21 year old midfielder was cheering for Villa here in their 3-1 win over Manchester United.

That was pretty much that. A malfunctioning Leeds never had a prayer of pulling back two goals against the rock like Villa defence, never mind one.

"Why is Brolin on the bench?" inquired the otherwise somnolent Leeds faithful amongst the 77,056 crowd, to which coincidentally Wilkinson brought on the adored Swede. (One suspects the source of Brolin's adoration is not entirely down to the Swede).

But it was too late. Leeds reverted to type, and pummelled the Villa area, route one yielding a breaking ball for Yeboah which he thumped into the ground and at McGrath. Even McAllister was afflicted, a crossfield ball picking out Mark Draper a minute from time. He released Milosevic who, amazingly, teed up Yorke to score.

As the Villa song says, to the tune of New York New York, "It's up to you Dwight Yorke, Dwight Yorke". Three nil didn't flatter them a bit.