20-03-05: Drogheda United (a) 1-1 (HT 1-0) Crowd (4,500)

Ian Stokes of Dublin was the Referee of the game which was played at United Park, Drogheda. It was staged in conjunction with the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre in Drogheda and Gary Kelly was captain of the Leeds team against his home town team. There was a crowd of about 4,500 and it included a fair number of Leeds supporters. The home side held their own in the early exchanges, with both Declan O’Brien and Tony Bird having chances to beat the Leeds keeper, Kevin Pressman, but at the other end Brian Deane and Julian Joachim went close. It was Julian Joachim who gave Leeds the lead after thirty-five minutes when a long ball from Gary Kelly was flicked on by Brian Deane for Joachim to force the ball past home keeper Tony O’Dowd. O’Dowd was one of three ex-Leeds Junior players in the Drogheda side, along with defenders Damian Lynch and Derek Tyrrell. Tony Bird had a chance to level just before the interval but he was unable to get his header on target. Leeds brought on Robert Bayly at Right-Back for Gary Kelly and Drogheda replaced goalkeeper Tony O'Dowd by Dan Connor and replaced central defenders Steven Gray and Derek Tyrell with Stuart Malcolm and Graham Gartland and striker Tony Bird with Mark Leech for the start of the second half. The home side was soon on level terms when, after a minute of the new half, Alan Reilly equalized from the penalty spot after Declan O'Brien had been fouled by Gylfi Einarsson. Both sides were close to getting the elusive winner, as Julian Joachim tested replacement keeper Dan Connor and one of Drogheda half-time substitutes, Mark Leech, forced Kevin Pressman to make a good save late in the half. Both sides made further substitutions with Ryan Rooney coming on for Stephen Bradley after fifty-nine minutes and Leeds sent on Martin Woods to replace Gylfi Einarsson a minute later. David Freeman replaced goalscorer Alan Reilly for the home team after sixty-seven minutes and Leeds sent on Nick Gray for Jermaine Wright three minutes later. Ciaran Hartnett was Drogheda's final change when he came on for Sami Ristila with ten minutes left on the clock, while Jermaine Wright came back on for Brian Deane with six minutes to go, but neither side could add to the score.

Programme & Teamsheet: Courtesy Mark Ledgard