"The game will have done the younger boys a lot of good  but we folded in the second half and that's something they can learn from.

"There were a lot of good things and a lot of bad things in the game. It was a very black and white game  if you pardon the pun."

Team news: Cort, Acuna, Steve Caldwell, Kerr and Farce-lino were all unfit. Everyone else was in the squad for the Feyenoord game.

Seven times Tommy Craig has led his reserve troops into battle against fellow Scot and toon old boy Roy Aitken's Leeds second string, and seven times he's failed to score a victory.

After a bright opening and a sparkling first goal, we again struggled to put real pressure on the opposition goalkeeper. Carrying on from the mackem game last week, the front players lacked support and service from the midfield ranks, and both Chopra and Offiong faded after the break as Leeds came into their own and deservedly regained their top spot in the league.

So it's played two at Gateshead, won none. The scoreline is secondary to the performance, but nobody really caught the eye over the ninety minutes. Hopefully the younger element of the team found it a beneficial exercise, but for the likes of Karelse it's a complete waste of time. Better to lose surely with the likes of Adam Collin between the posts than a bloke simply marking time.

PS - Leeds were expected to include David Batty in their reserve squad, but Terry Venables declared that the former Newcastle player wasn't fit enough, a view apparently not held by the player. Speaking of toon connections, Michael Bridges also didn't get a run out after his successful return to first team action, but his dad was spotted in the stand.

PPS - we only report the facts. Wayne Quinn parked his car adjacent to the stadium for this match. In a disabled parking bay. Insert own punchline here.

Biffa

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