York City's youth team supremo Paul Stancliffe had nothing but praise for his young Minstermen after they put up a brave display against Leeds United last night, writes Peter Martini.

City boss Terry Dolan substituted his entire starting eleven at half-time with the score at 1-0 and replaced them with a mixture of reserves and trainees.

And although Leeds scored three goals more after the break - including two stunning individual goals by Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane - Stancliffe remained proud of his charges.

"I thought the kids did very well," he told the Evening Press.

"It was always going to be very difficult for them at that level, but to come up against that class was good experience for them.

"We could be cruel and say some of them may never come up against that level again in their careers; hopefully they will."

As for Keane and his two wonder-strikes, he added: "How much did Leeds pay for him, £11million?

"He's expected to do that against Premiership defenders never mind York City trainees. No-one should be surprised.

"But the kids weren't overawed by him or the occasion, playing in front of over 5,000.

"When they got on the ball they passed it well and I was pleased with them.

"I thought Marc Salvati's header (that came off the underside of the bar) bounced over the line and he also hit the post so it was nice to cause them a few problems along the way."

City boss Dolan added: "The kids will have learned a great deal from playing against players that are top class like Keane and he is the sort of player they should be striving to follow."

Defender John Fielding was back in training after a calf strain ruled him out last night. But Chris Smith (flu) is expected to be out with flu for a week.

Updated: 12:01 Thursday, August 09, 2001