Fifteen minutes before kickoff, Elland Road was oddly quiet, as spectators made their way to their seats (or in the case of toon fans, to the space in front of them.)

And while the away sections were packed by the time the teams came down the tunnel, whole sections of shiny blue seats remained visible in home areas - evidence of another Reid team failing to inspire confidence off the pitch.

A look at the two lineups seemed to suggest that this was a slightly unequal contest, something which the papers had seized on in the previous week, along with an underwhelming pre-season for Leeds - as if that makes any real difference when hostilities get underway.

Despite our recent good record on this ground, we've been on the receiving end of Viduka more than once (even back to the days when he called himself Marco and turned out for Zagreb) and then there's always Alan Smith, naughtily linked with a toon move in recent days and doubtless ready to give what Peter Lorimer would term a "whole-hearted display" i.e. try and damage opponents.

Add to that raised emotions due to the double "homecoming" of Woodgate and Bowyer and the non-emotional pundit could have made a good case for taking the draw. 20/20 hindsight would have paired that with a Shearer first goal punt.

As it was, the game saw four goals scored that were all the result of individual errors and that neither Robinson or Given could reasonably be blamed for conceding.

Once the hullabaloo had died down (and to be honest the ride given to Bowyer was more bumpy than genuinely rough), things settled into what seemed to be a familiar pattern.

We seemed happy to wait for an opening to get at a sluggish home defence, while the Whites were all bustle and effort, albeit in a slightly desperate, aimless manner. New boy Sakho in particular seemed to be trying too hard to impress his potential new employers, lacking composure and to be frank getting a little bit over-excited.

Then, in the manner of our opening goal last season, we counter-attacked in deadly fashion and referee Wiley was pointing to the spot almost before one had time to draw breath. Cue Big Al to start off where he left off last time and it all seemed to be going according to the script, almost without sweat being broken.

Reality quickly intervened though, with one of a series of instances of us losing the ball in dangerous midfield areas. Cue Viduka to ram the ball past Given, just as the chorus of "just a fat aussie basket" rose to a crescendo from the away sections.

Leeds players and fans alike seemed satisfied that they'd managed to score a goal against us and Reid's team failed to contribute much else of note before the break, leaving the toon contingent still with a general air of inevitability in terms of second half goals being scored at their end as a precursor to maximum points being collected.

Maybe the team thought that was a foregone conclusion as well, showing little urgency before or immediately after we were rocked back by Bernard's present for Smith to put Leeds in front.

An imbalance in the centre of the park seemed to blunt our attacking moves, while a lack of genuine width made the game very narrow and aided Leeds as they attempted to defend their slightly unexpected lead by the simple expidient of hoying bodies in front of the ball.

By now Bowyer had given up totally on patrolling the right flank, leaving the lone figure of Hughes to try and overlap and produce crosses for the strikers from that side. A better side than Leeds would surely have punished by isolating the defender in the wrong half and punching through the gap left behind him, but that didn't happen.

On the opposite flank we saw plenty of industry and commitment from Robert, frequently tracking back and getting in some well-timed tackles and interceptions. Unfortunately that was almost inevitably followed by him charging upfield to try and dribble past half of the Leeds side, rather than working the flanks or passing the ball.

This was interspersed with some vastly over-ambitious shooting from distance, that was at first irritating and then increasingly maddening when Dyer started to follow a similar pattern of selfish play.

The solution seemed to be obvious to a great number of those behind Robinson's goal, but Solano remained on the sidelines and we remained in the same gear, seemingly unable to build up a head of steam and hurt Leeds by getting bodies and balls into their box at the same time.

Things started to change for the better when Jenas and Ameobi came on and we moved to three at the back - at least now we were posing Leeds some different questions.

Gradually we started to stretch and tease the home side apart, while our undoubted fitness saw us start to gain that extra vital yard of pace when chasing causes, lost or otherwise.

With Bellamy once again noticeable more for his moaning and tangling with other players than for his goalscoring, shooting, creation or in fact anything positive, our sole hope of salvation looking to be Shearer, straining every muscle to try and connect with anything that came his way in the vicinity of goal.  

It was only with the belated introduction of Solano though that the breakthrough came, the trickle of crosses into the middle suddenly became a flood, the home side started to ship water and a certain number nine banged home his umpteenth goal on this ground to earn a point and crush home hopes. 

Once back at 2-2, even with barely 90 seconds left plus what turned out to be five minutes of added time, the feeling was that we could win this, as Leeds looked to be on the ropes, holding on for the final bell. Perhaps if Solano had been introduced instead of JJ? Who knows.

With the visit of Fergie's boys next week, I'm bloody glad we didn't lose this one but there's a part of me sore that we took so damn long to get worked up into a lather.

Putting aside the non-footballing reservations about Bowyer, this right wing role doesn't seem a good use of his talents, while Sir Bobby will no doubt do his nut about those individual defensive errors. 

The question has to be asked one more time though, what the hell are we without Shearer? 

At times we look like an exciting group ready to step up a grade, but just as often we're a collection of egos and strutters with one thing in common - nobody has ever won owt.

Hopefully we'll have cause to eat our own words, but there's no real evidence of progression from last season at this admittedly very early stage. Next week could be painful.

Biffa