City embarked on their first opening day fixture in the 3rd tier since 1993 with a match against the "giants" of the Division. Paul Tisdale opted to start with a 4-1-4-1 formation, opting for experience in the middle of the park and giving three players a debut. The line-up was Jones in goal, Golbourne and Duffy the full-backs, with Taylor and Seaborne getting the nod at centre-back, Edwards in the holding role with Cozic and Russell ahead of him. Stewart and Harley lined up on the flanks, with Barry Corr a lone striker. On the bench (7 subs this year!) were Marriott, Tully, Archibald-Henville, Burnell, Sercombe, Norwood and McAllister.

One of the most important things Paul Tisdale and his side will have been wary of was the need not to be overawed by playing in front of nearly 30,000 against a side that was playing a Champions League Semi just a few years ago. However, it was the home side who burst out of the blocks, carving City open almost at will while nerves seemed to get the better of the Grecians. Paul Jones was called into early action to make saves from Becchio and Beckford, while the defence had to be alert to marshall a number of dangerous crosses and corners. Another Beckford shot saw Jones reinforce the high opinions formed last season with a fingertip save.

With Leeds swarming all over City, it was vital that they backed up their possession and cutting edge with a goal, and on 12 minutes this was the case. A nice inside pass from Ben Parker released Beckford, springing a fruitless attempt to play him offside, and the fleet-footed striker was away, slipping the ball adroitly inside Jones' post with a little dink.

City were stung into action, and Barry Corr will rue his snatched shot as he was put through by Harley in the inside right channel. Bertie Cozic rolled his sleeves up too and begun to get stuck in, popping up everywhere with the ball to give City some impetus. At the other end, though, Beckford came close to adding a second with a firm header that clipped the crossbar.

With half-time approaching, City had their best spell of the match to date, forcing two corners - the first of which was flicked on to Corr, but failed to drop in time for him to get a decent shot off, enabling the covering defender to block. City also had a great opportunity to level with a free kick after Marcus Stewart was crudely bundled over as he darted in on goal, but the kick tamely thudded into the midriff of the defensive wall.

Into the second half, and Leeds looked to press home the advantage - the ever-dangerous Beckford tried an audacious trip that just cleared the crossbar - while City continued to play with the vigour shown in the latter stages of the first half.

And then came the flashpoint that ought to have killed the game off. Corr gave away what looked a fairly harsh free kick, and then when from the kick a more obvious foul on a City defender was ignored, the giant Irishman seemed to have lost his cool. Play was stopped for a City corner, and the Referee, Mr Miller, called Corr over and brandished a red card. Corr was dumbfounded, as were the City faithful - chants of "Cheat!" ringing out from an away following that sensed the officials were favouring the home side throughout - remembering also that Mr Miller was in charge when Bertie Cozic was sent off at Morecambe last season. City were forced to regroup, Craig McAllister replacing Rob Edwards. Both sides continued to press, with City showing further intent by bringing on youngster James Norwood for Marcus Stewart.

Leeds fans must have thought that against ten men, at home against one of the smallest clubs in the division, that the game would be up. But this is City we're talking about. A long punt from Jones saw Norwood just beaten out to the ball, which fell to McAllister. The big striker tried to cut inside his man 30 yards out, but found his path crudely cut, and a free kick was awarded. Russell and Harley looked to have a plan, Harley standing about three yards in advance of the ball, and sure enough Russell tapped the ball to Harley, who trapped it, leaving Russell to shoot sublimely into the net with the Leeds goalkeeper Higgs an admiring spectator.

Leeds tried hard to step back up a gear, and attacked in numbers, drawing bookings for Golbourne and Harley, while City concentrated on trying to utilise the pace of Norwood and the guile of McAllister in attacking on the break.

With the clock ticking down and a little over a minute plus stoppage time to play, heartache for City. Snodgrass and Crowe found themselves 2-on-1 on Golbourne, enabling Crowe to chip a near-post cross in, that Beckford flicked home. After a mini pitch invasion from a handful of City supporters after the equaliser, an even more mini invasion from one Leeds fan who couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old, who gave a solitary steward the runaround for a couple of minutes, softened the blow for City's dejected supporters.

There was one near miss for City in the dying stages, Higgs just getting to the ball ahead of Norwood from a deep cross, before the final whistle sounded.

The vast majority of "experts" predicted a season of struggle for City in the last week or two. If those experts were at Elland Road on Saturday, they may revise their opinion, as City gave a very good account of themselves against their illustrious opponents, for whom Beckford and Becchio make a huge difference. If Leeds can keep hold of Beckford they will surely go up. For City, it was hard to pick out individuals from a team performance, but Bertie Cozic was superb, Ryan Harley effervescent too, and Marcus Stewart showed his class in the 70 minutes he was on the pitch. Sadly for Barry Corr it was largely a debut to forget - snatching at a good chance in the first half before his red card.

The support from the away end was superb, with the almost 2,800 fans in great voice throughout.

So, onwards to a League Cup encounter with Championship side QPR, followed by a visit from another League One "giant", albeit a humbled one - Norwich conceded 7 at home to Colchester on the opening day.