BrayfordWatch

Sheffield United U21 0 v Leeds United U21 1

Thursday 19 November 2015

U21 Premier League Cup, Round of 32

Twitter @ball_sup

My first time in Portland House. The Welbeck Abbey micropub outlet on Ecclesall Road. 6 handpulls. Urquell, Kozel, their own lager & one pukka craft keg. The casks went four of theirs, two guests. Very helpful & welcoming. Pushing tastes on me.

School classroom seats. White tiles behind the jump. Some character. In an identikit way.

Welbeck Abbey, Cubitt's Voyage on cask at 3.5%. Nice beer. Fairly easy drinking. Quite thin in the mouth. But I'm alright with that for three and half. Hopping comes up New World citrus. Nothing too much. Gentle. Refreshing & some icing sugar.

And then. Hopcraft Gazza pushing all my buttons. As if a brewery with a track record of heavily hopped, high IBU beers ain't enough. He's called it No Pasarán & it commemorates the Battle Of Cable Street.

A lovely head. Kicks straight into a thick, chewy mouthfeel. The bitterness comes off a bit of sharpness. Leaning green apples. The bitterness grabs the roof of your mouth rather than a tongue tingler. The hops get there early. The taste stays. But, it's not a growing finish. Love that. Tastes more than 5%.

Leeds were worth that. Although Utd had the best of the first 30 mins. Leeds just got stronger. It seemed to be a very open game with lots of space. Brayford played down the right & seemed to have acres. He did a proper best part of 80 minutes shift. Once he got into it, he looked fit n strong enough.

He didn't have much to deal with defensively. As the game went on, it looked like he was enjoying it. He got forward. A few surges. Was up front for corners. He was in a few strong challenges. With no ill effects. He didn't stand out. But, he looked comfortable enough.

Otherwise; too many mainly anonymous players for the Blades. Dimaio, Coustrain, Hamilton. All for eg. Brooks shone in parts. But was gone in others.

Jake Wright was busy at times. He had a really good chance at nil nil. But their keeper did well.

241/485