THE draw-meisters have done it again. Wolves bagged their 19th all-square of the season in an exciting encounter at Elland Road. Both teams were involved in a relegation dogfight in the Premiership last season and Leeds won 4-1 when they met at Elland Road, but yesterday they at least gave the lie to the term “mid-table mediocrity”.

Paul Butler was a tower of strength against his old team-mates and Paul Ince was the visitors’ midfield dynamo as Wolves closed in for the kill in the game’s final minutes.

While Glenn Hoddle’s Wolves were able to resort to their time-tested formation with only Ky-Heong Seol’s injury restricting him to the bench, Leeds’ shake-up included new boys Marlon King and Ian Moore, Seth Johnson returning from long-term injury and a host of men playing out of position. Wolves dominated the opening exchanges, asserting their aerial superiority and niftier footwork, but nothing of substance emerged from their efforts. Kenny Miller looked sharp, but Hoddle ’s preferred diamond shape meant he was slightly behind the front line when a couple of openings emerged.

Aaron Lennon, a Leeds player mysteriously still in search of a contract, caught the eye as the hosts found their feet, and King’s speculative shot would have troubled Michael Oakes had it dipped sooner.

King looked eager to please and worked in concert with Rob Hulse to create a dual spearhead, but service to the home strikers, with the notable exception of Lennon, favoured ambition rather than accuracy.

Naylor’s 40th-minute corner found the Leeds back-line looking for a high ball and missing out on the relatively low drive that Carl Cort stooped to head home for the lead.

At the other end, Hulse troubled first Jody Craddock then Joleon Lescott with drives which were respectively high and wide.

When Seyi Olofinjana gave away a free kick for a foul on Lennon, Leeds made the most of the 10-yard advancement awarded them for Rob Edwards’s verbal intervention and Shaun Derry’s curling shot deceived Oakes for the equaliser five minutes into the second half.

With Moore pushed forward and King asserting himself on the right, Hulse began to emerge as a credible forward threat. The former Crewe and West Brom man could well prove the long-term answer to Kevin Blackwell’s search for an effective striker.

When Lennon got free on the left, he did everything right, setting up King for a piledriver that was blocked at the last second by Craddock.

Seol had been substituted for Rowan Ricketts, but such was the ferocity of Leeds’ forward drive that the Korean’s first eight minutes were spent deep in defence.

Hulse and Johnson, key Leeds players on the day but both somewhat battle-scarred, were withdrawn from the action with a quarter-hour remaining, allowing Wolves to briefly retake the initiative.

Where Wolves’ substitutions appeared to be an attempt to make tactical capital, Leeds’ were more to do with tired bodies and by the final 10 minutes their trio of strikers had been completely renewed. From earnestly seeking for three points, the closing minutes found them desperately seeking to hold on to one.

STAR MAN: Paul Ince (Wolves)

Player ratings. Leeds: Sullivan 7, Walton 6, Butler 7, Kilgallon 7, Pugh 7, Moore 6, Derry 7, Johnson 7 (Einarsson 73min, 5), King 7 (Spring 85min, 6), Lennon 7, Hulse 7 (Healy 75min, 6)

Wolves: Oakes 6, Naylor 7, Olofinjana 6, Lescott 7, Craddock 7, Ince 7, Kennedy 7 (Cameron 82min, 5), Edwards 6, Miller 7, Cort 7, Ricketts 6 (Seol 61min, 7)

Referee: P. Crossley

Attendance: 29,773

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