As we went into injury time at Molyneaux it looked as though Leeds were about to claim a rare away victory, but we failed to close the game out, and Wolverhampton Wanderers took advantage of a Paddy Kenny error to snatch a draw right at the end.
As expected Neil Warnock gave new signings Morison and Stephen Warnock their debuts, but one surprise was that Barkley was left out of the starting line-up, so we were left with a midfield quartet that was workmanlike but a little bit lacking in flair. And you could probably use that description to describe the first half a whole, as both teams battled hard, but without a great deal of quality or goalmouth action to show for it.
Leeds began the game well, and forced a several corners early on, and saw a shot from Norris deflected just over the bar. Morison looked keen to impress and was showing more mobility than Becchio ever did, though I thought he strayed into offside positions a little too often. I was also impressed with the barrel chested younger Warnock, who was in position to make a couple of good blocks, and also made a couple of decent runs into forward positions.
But from the mid-point of the half Wolves started to get into the game and look a bit threatening on the break, though their attacks ended with them shooting straight at Kenny or getting caught offside. By this stage the crowd were starting to make their own entertainment, with a bit of banter between a full Leeds section and the most vocal Wolves support on the south bank.
To be honest, I was quite impressed with the size of the home crowd despite their terrible form, with the only notable gaps being in the newly extended Stan Cullis stand. Or was it just that they’d all bought season tickets, thinking they would go straight back up? Shortly before the break Sako nearly put their team in front with the best chance of the half, but Kenny got down well to turn his shot round the post.
But Wolves did take the lead nine minutes into the second half. A neat passing move on their left flank between Sako and Doumbia led to a dangerous ball across the face of the goal, which Peltier tried to clear but could only divert into his own net. That seemed to boost Wolves brittle confidence and twice in the next few minutes they could have extended their lead, only to be denied by Kenny.
At the other end Norris and Brown sent shots well over the bar and it was starting to look like yet another of those days. But that was until the 65th minute when McCormack created an excellent chance with a quick turn on the edge of the box and an excellent through ball, and Varney curled his shot into the far corner for the equaliser.
The second half was proving to be far more eventful than the first and Green blocked a Berra header on the line, with the home fans mindlessly appealing for handball even though it had hit him in the middle of the chest. At the other end Varney was close to scoring his second only for Ikeme to turn it round the post, but Leeds did take the lead with 12 minutes remaining.
Byram’s late run into the box was rudely interrupted by a clumsy forwards challenge by Saki before he’d caught up with the bottom, and McCormack stepped up to roll the ball into the corner of the net as Ikeme dived the wrong way. But Wolves were determined to take at least a point from the game while Leeds fell back and invited pressure, much as I’d have preferred a more gung-ho approach after betting on a 3-1 Leeds win at odds of 25/1.
Lees and Byram made clearing headers as Leeds seemed to be holding out, but just as we went into the four minutes injury time Kenny let a ball run out for what he thought would be a goal kick, only to be caught out as it touched him before it had crossed the line. The corner was cleared straight back to O’Hara, and from his second cross Batth climbed higher than the Leeds defenders to direct his header out of Kenny’s reach into the far corner.
I suppose it makes a change to get a draw away from home after all those defeats we’ve suffered recently, but this is a very disappointing result against dispirited opposition who should have been there for the taking. In truth we hadn’t shown enough quality to deserve all three points today and tonight Neil Warmock’s record-breaking promotion looks as far away as ever.