One regular was bemused to find his seat taken by a journalist who had failed to find a place in the main stand press box.When Gascoigne did appear, in a Bee Gees-inspired open shirt, his understated wave to the fans suggested a man who had grown up from his days of driving team buses and rebranding himself as "G8". In truth, the defender Stephan Morley had been injured, and the new first-team coach, Paul Davis, had been the one to take him off.A crowd of 2,060, more than twice the usual number, had piled into the tin shed that is Rockingham Road, and not all of them were impressed by "Gazzamania". The reincarnation of Paul Gascoigne as a serious football manager has begun in earnest, even though some of his charges at non-League Kettering Town are still struggling to believe it. When the former England star called up his players, half of them laughed, before putting the phone down. "It's one of those things where they did not believe I was coming and they can't believe that I am actually here," he said. Even when a shrewd pass from Kitson left Kevin Doyle free to shoot, Neil Sullivan made a sturdy block to keep Reading out. In the 62nd minute, however, Brynjar Gunnarsson swivelled to drive in a shot from Bobby Convey's corner.That seemed the finish for Leeds, but Reading's defence lapsed in the 75th minute Ivar Ingimarsson gave the ball away.
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Leeds substitute David Healy hit a shot that clipped the doubly unfortunate Ingimarsson's heel and went under Marcus Hahnemann's body to equalise.. That also negated energetic midfield work from James Harper and Glen Little.The pummelling of the Leeds defence continued into the second half with frustrating results for Reading. "I'm only interested in our performance today and it was excellent," he said, which slightly overlooked the fact that Reading went to sleep in the last half-hour and Leeds capitalised. In recent years Reading fans have got used to unfulfilled promise, but this season's impressive flow of games without defeat had been extended in midweek with a Carling Cup victory over the Championship leaders, Sheffield United, and here was an opportunity to further optimism by taking on another of the table's top four.At the outset it seemed that they would dispose of Leeds without difficulty. However, every time they offered up a threatening centre, that threat expired on the brow of Dave Kitson. Minutes later Leeds battled back to deprive them of victory, but Reading's unbeaten run has extended to a record 18 matches. Steve Coppell, their phlegmatic manager, was totally under whelmed by both the record and the prospect of facing Arsenal. "It hit their lad but they probably had a good shout turned down when one hit Chris Barker on the knee and then the hand in the first half," conceded the defender Darren Purse..
At one moment the home fans yesterday were chanting "Bring on the Arsenal", who will be Reading's opponents in the Carling Cup at the end of next month. Three times Koumas set him free with excellent passes but he could not take advantage, allowing himself to be crowded out in the first instance and then twice failing to beat Kenny.Cardiff's penalty appeal came deep into stoppage time. "Their player had his arm raised."None the less, both managers declared themselves satisfied with a point, Cardiff stretching their recent run to one defeat in 11 games, United maintaining their lead as a result of Reading's failure to beat Leeds.However, a little more composure from the striker Cameron Jerome might have earned Cardiff three points. "Neil sees things that I can't see and will doubtless claim he should have had several penalties and maybe they had one good shout - but the one we didn't get was clear-cut," Jones said. Yet he admitted the close-range effort by Nick Montgomery that Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Alexander somehow kept out 10 minutes into the second half was his side's only real chance. The Welsh side drew a number of saves from Paddy Kenny, who saved a free-kick from the influential Jason Koumas in stoppage time, after which their manager, Dave Jones, was equally adamant that a penalty should have been awarded for handball when Alan Quinn got in the way of a Koumas shot. Cardiff set out to frustrate the Championship leaders and succeeded as Sheffield United's 100 per cent home record fell, though they were a touch unlucky not to have won.