At Half-Time, Mark Gavin replaced Scott Sellars at Right Half, while Martin Dickinson came on for Andy Linighan at Centre Half and George McCluskey faced his old club when he came on for Tommy Wright at Outside Right in the seventy-seventh minute. John Stiles and Tony Brown were the unused Leeds Substitutes. The Referee was J. McAuley of Crossgates, Leeds as the game started with a crowd of 6,136, of which 500 had made the trek from Glasgow. Celtic had Peter Latchford, Davie Provan Peter Grant and Pearce O'Leary on the bench, but only Davie Provan, who replaced John Colquhoun at Outside Right, at half-time, and Peter Grant, who came on for Alan McInally at Outside Left, in the sixty-third minute were used.
Celtic had lost their striker Frank McGarvey, who had picked up a bout of flu on the trip down from Glasgow, had to withdraw and this gave Alan McInally his chance. However the driving sllet and snow did not make for good conditions and apart from deterring a potentially much larger crowd, it inhibited both sides from playing good football in the atrocious conditions. Celtic had opted for a lime green outfit but fashion took second place as they turned out for the second half in fresh kit and reinforced themselves from the cold by wearing tracksuit tops under their shirts.
The game was not without its highlights, as Leeds' young Scottish sensation, Tommy Wright, was twice thwarted by fine saves from Pat Bonner as Celtic were fortunate to go into the break on level terms. In the thirty-sixth minute, from what appeared to be an offside position, Bonner was able to get one hand to the ball and dispossess the young striker when he appeared to be certain to score as he bore down on the goal. The second came minutes before the interval when the Irish keeper pulled off a fine save to touch a fine shot over the bar.
It appeared as though Celtic were going to go back to Parkhead with a win under their belts, after they had taken the lead in the fifty-sixth minute, when a fine move featuring Tommy Burns and substitute Davie Provan, saw Brian McClair finish the move with a fine header. After that Celtic seemed to run out of steam and allowed Leeds to go on the ascendency and deservedly, with just five minutes left on the clock, they equalised. Veteran Scottish International Peter Lorimer took an inswinging corner from the left and Andy Ritchie was able to back-head the ball into the visitors net with the Celtic defence guilty of ball-watching.
Programme and Match Report:
Match Report by David Hopps: Courtesy Mark Ledgard
Ritchie's late reward
The drawing power of Celtic brought some valuable relief to Leeds United's financial situation last night as a crowd of 6,136 braved driving sleet for a hastily arranged Elland Road friendly. On the field too Leeds found some reward as Andy Ritchie's equaliser five minutes from time prevented them losing against opponents outside the Second Division for the fourth time this season. The young Leeds side, whose soccer education has already been sharpened in defeats against Everton, Watford and Aston Villa, looked set for another in a low-key if entertaining match when Ritchie found space on the near post to head Lorimer's corner back over the goalkeeper Bonner. Celtic, last in action, on New Year's Day, had an effort by McInally disallowed after fifty-two minutes for a foul on Apin before they took the lead five minutes later. The strong running McClair, who had just been denied by Hughes' excellent save at his feet, escaped the Leeds central defenders to head firmly into the corner. About 500 Celtic supporters made the trip south and, as they became increasingly sodden on the open Lowfield Road terracing, Leeds made a splendid gesture by allowing them under cover. Both sides produced some quick, open football despite the conditions. McInally drove narrowly wide after Colquhoun outfought Hamson by the corner flag and, for Leeds, Wright evaded the offside trapto collect Aspin's through-ball but his tame effort to round Bonner, allowed the goalkeeper to make a fine save. McCluskey, the former Celtic striker, came on as a substitute with thirteen minutes left to a warm greeting from the Scottish contingent but, ironically, it was Ritchie, the man keeping him out of the Leeds side, who cojured up the equaliser. A match desribed as a "worthwhile exercise" by both clubs attracted almost four times the crowd drawn in by Aston Villa a week ago.
