Andy Parkinson sent Tranmere into the fourth round of the League Cup at the expense of Leeds to lift the spirits of beleaguered Rovers manager John Aldridge at Prenton Park last night.
Tranmere, though beaten finalists last year, had won only one of their last seven first-division games going into this match and appeared to be down and out at the break as Darren Huckerby stepped out of the shadows to fire home a first-half brace.
But Aldridge gambled, bringing on Parkinson early in the second half, with the right winger pulling one back with his first touch and then netting a dramatic deflected winner 25 seconds from the end of extra time.
On the back of an exhausting Yorkshire derby at Bradford, and with key matches against Liverpool in the Premiership and AC Milan in the Champions League looming, extra time was the last thing Leeds manager David O'Leary needed.
The game appeared to be dead and buried thanks to the double strike from Huckerby, given his chance by O'Leary who had decided to rest Alan Smith.
Whether complacency set in during the half-time break is a question only the Leeds players can answer because what followed was a superb second-half fightback.
The turning point was the 50th-minute arrival of Parkinson for Stuart Barlow, and within seconds came the reward as the winger left keeper Paul Robinson rooted to the spot with an 18-yard drive for his first goal of the season.
The equaliser eventually came in the 76th minute and even though shrouded in good fortune it was thoroughly deserved.
Parkinson swung over a corner which was met at the near post by a Wayne Allison flick and although Robinson was beaten, Gary Kelly was on hand to clear off the line.
But to the sheer delight of the Tranmere fans, the ball hit Steve Yates, standing on the six-yard line, and rolled over the line.
Tranmere: Murphy, Yates, Roberts, Challinor, Hill, Hamilton (Allison 19), Flynn, Hinds, Koumas, S Taylor (Gill 115), Barlow (Parkinson 50). Subs not used: Achterberg, Hazell. Booked: Hinds. Goals: Parkinson 52, Yates 76, Parkinson 120.
Leeds: Robinson, Kelly, Harte, Woodgate, Matteo, Hay (Radebe 77), Burns, Jones, Bakke, Viduka, Huckerby (Hackworth 72), Hackworth (Smith 105). Subs not used: Milosevic, Evans. Booked: Bakke, Viduka. Goals: Huckerby 25, 34.
Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville).
