Johnny Giles was made Captain for the Day. Peter Lorimer opened the scoring after Forty minutes and Rod Belfitt added a second, eleven minutes later. For Leeds John Saunders replaced Terry Cooper at left-back. While the home side brought on John McCurdy of Coleraine for John Herrick, Mick Martin of Bohemians for Frank McEwen and Shay Brennan of Waterford for James McGeogh. G. O'Leary of Dublin was the Referee of the match which was played at Dalymount Park. Receipts were £3,500.
Match Reports: From the Irish Times (Thanks to Steve Bell for Report and UCD team etc)
Pre-match Report:
"Don Revie, the Leeds United manager, yesterday paid Irish Football the compliment of naming his strongest available team for today's exhibition game against a team comprised of players from both the League of Ireland and Irish League and chosen by the Soccer Writers' Association at Dalymount Park."
"The only noticable absentee is England centre forward Mick Jones whose recovery from a groin strain has not been as smooth as was first anticipated and who is now likely to miss the opening of the cross channel season next Saturday."
"There is also some doubt about the fitness of Billy Bremner, their volatile Scottish midfielder, who has yet to resume full training after sustaining a hairline fracture of the shin."
"Bremner has been provisionally named for the number four jersey but if he cannot play, Mick Bates that man of many parts will come into the side as midfield partner to Johnny Giles, who has been chosen as captain for the day."
"Otherwise, the full array of Leeds' impressive talent will be on view and with players of the calibre of Terry Cooper, Paul Reaney, Jackie Charlton and Allan Clarke, it all adds up to quite an attraction for the Dalymount patrons."
"Also in the travelling party are Terry Hibbitt and John Saunders, two players at the heart of much early season discussion at Elland Road. Hibbitt, an elusive winger whose talents have never got full range at Leeds, was the subject of a £30,000 transfer bid by Newcastle United on Thursday. He has now asked for time to think the matter over and could indeed be a Newcastle player within the next forty-eight hours."
"Saunders, signed for £10,000 from Newport County last month, is the man most likely to take over from the ageing Charlton at centre-half and as such may be given a run with the team at some stage of today's game."
"As befits the occasion the Irish Selection is a formidable one and includes five players drawn from Irish League clubs. Among them is Alan Fraser, the Linfield full-back, who has been given permission to miss his club's game with Shelbourne at Windsor Park today in order to fit in the Dublin fixture."
"Players like Sean Dunlop and Des Dickson of Coleraine are both familiar by now to Dublin followers as a result of their Blaxnit tournament exploits but the man a lot of people will want to see is Martin O'Neill, the Distillery forward who looks certain to move to English football before long."
"It promises to be quite an enjoyable affair and if Leeds produce anything approaching the form which has established them among the top clubs in Europe over the last six years, the Irish part-timers are in for quite a blistering afternoon."
Post-match Report:
"Leeds United's fleeting visit to Dublin, they were back in Britain within ten hours of their arrival here, provided manager Don Revie with a useful pre-season morale booster...and the prospect of an exciting new goalkeeping discovery in Bangor's Billy Irwin."
"After watching his team record an unhurried 2-0 win over a selection representative of the best local talent in Irish football, Revie confessed that he was 'keenly interested' in the lithe Bangor player who had done so much to keep the score dwn to respectable proportions."
"The Leeds manager declined to elaborate on his statement, but having regard to the baldness of the goalkeeping cover for Gary Sprake at Elland Road an offer may be forthcoming within the next few days."
"Ironically, Irwin's glittering display could spell disappointment for another Irishman, Tom Lally, the former Sligo Rovers goalkeeper whose name has been persistently linked with Leeds in recent days."
"And an added element of irony is lent to the situation by the fact that Irwin turned down an offer to join Glasgow Celtic, before Sean Fallon, the assistant manager at Parkhead, persuaded Lally to move from Sligo to Scotland."
"It is a sobering thought for followers of the League of Ireland football that the individual honours in the home team belong almost exclusively to the Northern players in action. Fraser was at the top of his form, saving his side at crucial moments, while further afield there was much to recommend the performance of Ivan Murray (Coleraine) and Martin O'Neill (Distillery)."
"As such, it was left to Leeds to provide of the entertainment for a crowd representing gate receipts of £3,500 and none took up the challenge better than Johnny Giles. Appointed team captain for the day, the little Irishman stroked the ball around with characteristic authority."
"Up front, it was the sharp reflexes of Peter Lorimer that stretched the Irishmen most frequently, and nobody was really surprised when the vigilant Scot opened the scoring in the fortieth minute. After missing a cross from Giles on the right, Lorimer recovered to beat Irwin with a glancing header when his fellow-Scot, Bremner, returned the ball into the goalmouth."
"It was Lorimer again who opened a path to Leeds' second score in the fifty-first minute, with a perfectly flighted centre that centre-forward Rod Belfitt nonchalantly headed into the corner of the net."
