WHEN SCUNTHORPE UNITED LAST played Leeds United at home in the FA Cup the year was 1984 and Allan Clarke, Leeds’s former goal-poacher supreme, was their manager. The home fans, wallowing in the ecstasy of a 4-2 victory in the second replay of a third-round tie, were able to gaze up and contemplate the stars as the pre-match gales had blown off the roof of their old Old Showground stand.

Alas for Scunthorpe last Saturday, the gales cried off and the home supporters were forced to marvel at the stars on the pitch who, depressingly, mostly came from the recently rediscovered Venables constellation.

With the elements conspiring to accommodate the visiting team, Scunthorpe failed to create the necessary mayhem that might have made this match a full-blooded contest. Although Brian Laws, their manager, had promised to provide Leeds with a dizzying dose of havoc, his team seemed intent on playing football to impress the purists. Their folly backfired and Leeds proceeded to exorcise the memory of their debacle against Cardiff City in the third round last season with impressive aplomb.

“We asked the groundsman to put some carthorses on the pitch so it wouldn’t be like a billiard table like it was,” Laws said. “Leeds deserved it on the day.” For the second game in a row, Mark Viduka and Eirik Bakke scored.

Viduka, in role model form, converted the penalty awarded for Mark Sparrow’s naive tackle on Bakke in the first half and provided the pass for the Norway international to place an unstoppable shot past Tom Evans midway through the second. “Viduka did brilliantly,” Terry Venables, the Leeds manager, said. “He gave a great example of how to lead the line.”

Although Stephen Torpey and Martin Carruthers may sound like a team of Victorian sleuths, the Scunthorpe strikers have scored 30 goals between them this season. However, the Leeds defence that welcomed back Dominic Matteo, their captain, after knee surgery, proved one mystery too far for the pair.

It was Mark Jackson, the Scunthorpe centre half, who perhaps best epitomised the inferiority spirit. The former Leeds player was delighted to swap jerseys with Harry Kewell, his former team-mate, after the game. “We didn’t embarrass ourselves,” Jackson said. “Our day’s over and we enjoyed it. I swapped jerseys with Harry. We spoke about our families because we’re both family men now.” It sounded like a servant speaking about his master. If only Scunthorpe had been a bit more bolshy, the home fans might have been able to raise the roof.

Scunthorpe United (4-4-2): T Evans 6 — N Stanton 6, C Byrne 7, M Jackson 6, A Dawson 6 — M Sparrow 7, W Graves 6, I Kilford 5 (sub: A Calvo-Garcia, 64min 5), L Featherstone 5 (sub: S Brough, 70 6) — M Carruthers 6 (sub: A Parton, 87), S Torpey 6. Substitutes not used: J McCombe, L Ridley

Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 7 — G Kelly 7, J Woodgate 7, D Mills 5, D Matteo 6 — A Smith 6, E Bakke 8 (sub: J Milner, 78), P Okon 6, J Wilcox 5 (sub: S Johnson, 86) — H Kewell 7 (sub: R Fowler, 84), M Viduka 8. Substitutes not used: N Martyn, I Harte

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