TOM INCE secured a point for Derby two minutes after coming off the bench.
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| Tom Ince's late leveller was his eighth league goal of the season |
Ince, on for Andreas Weimann, fired in from the centre of the box in the 78th minute to cancel out the Chris Wood header which had given Leeds the lead.
Earlier, Lee Grant had cause to regret United’s decision to finally allow the Sky TV cameras into Elland Road.
It meant an embarrassing blunder by the Derby keeper, who gifted an equaliser to Leeds, was witnessed by many more than the 23,207 who were in the ground.
Grant almost escaped analysis from the sofa and in pubs because Leeds owner Massimo Cellino did not back down in his battle with Sky until less than five hours before the kick-off.
He had banned them from the ground because he is furious that his club had already been on live TV nine times, claiming it disrupted the team and affected attendances.
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| Sol Bamba equalised in the first half for Leeds as the Whites drew their third game in five |
Cellino ordered his staff to unlock the gates in the afternoon after an intervention from the Football League, but later accused league bosses of bringing their competition into disrepute.
He said: “The Football League regulations are supposed to be there to protect the integrity of the sporting competition, not to be used as a stick to beat the club on behalf of Sky.
“It is to be noted that the league threaten a disrepute charge against the club. It is the league who are bringing their own competition into disrepute by unfairly prejudicing Leeds (and certain other clubs) by allowing Sky to unfairly disrupt Leeds United for their own commercial purposes.”
Leeds struggled to find their rhythm in this game and went behind after only 13 minutes. Jeff Hendrick, recalled by Derby head coach Paul Clement, tricked his way past two defenders before sliding the ball past Marco Silvestri.
Grant threw away Derby’s lead with his blunder in the 42nd minute. He dropped a cross when not under pressure and desperately flew forward to try and retrieve the ball.
He was rescued once when a shot by Sam Byram was blocked, but was still back-pedalling when he could only parry a cross from Stuart Dallas straight to Sol Bamba, who fired Leeds level.
Grant could not be blamed for United’s second goal which came in the 71st minute after a spell in which the teams cancelled each other out.
Byram provided the chance with a cross that was headed in by Wood from close range.
Leeds (4-1-4-1): Silvestri; Wootton, Bamba, Cooper, Taylor; Bridcutt; Byram (Phillips 89), Adeyemi (Cook 63), Murphy, Dallas ; Wood (Doukara 75). Booked: Byram, Bridcutt, Murphy. Goals: Bamba 42, Wood 71.
Derby (4-1-4-1): Grant; Christie, Keogh, Shackell (Shotton 36), Warnock; Johnson; Russell, Hendrick, Butterfield, Weimann (ince 76); Bent (Martin 62). Booked: Hendrick, Christie. Goals: Hendrick 13, Ince 78.
Referee: M Heywood (West Yorkshire).
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