In the opening stages of the game, seemingly willing to settle for a scoreless stalemate, Everton invited Leeds to create chances: Knarvik going close with a good effort on 4 mins.

Leeds, (who were attacking the Gwladys Street end in the first half) were taking advantage of Everton's weak right side; Regan in particular struggling to adapt. After 12 mins, Hackworth's header clipped the top of the bar leaving Delany stranded. They got their just reward a minute later, Hackworth firing home to bring the tie level on aggregate.

Colin Harvey, preferring to watch the first half from the Directors Box, was looking increasingly nervous whenever Leeds (who were clearly dominating the match) had possession. The anxiety of the management appeared to be apparent in some of the players; Delany's confidence, reflected in his distribution was suffering. Harvey's fears were somewhat assuaged in the 20th minute when Everton had their first noteworthy opportunity: Regan providing a cross for Cadamarteri whose effort went narrowly over.

As the half progressed, Everton were coming more and more into the game and in the last minute of the first half Jevons's shot was blocked by Robinson's legs.

Polite applause greeted Everton off the pitch at the end of the half, when a dramatic transformation took place. When the teams strode out for the second half (Everton several minutes before the allotted time of 15 mins) they appeared to be two completely different sides. Everton's renaissance left them rejuvenated; Leeds, who had probably given their all in the first period, looked lackluster.

The re-birth of the Blues gave extra spice to the 6,509 crowd. All watched with baited breath as Jevons, Poppleton and Osman went close in the opening minutes of the first half. Everton's hard work and pressure paid off when Milligan on the left-hand side found O'Brien who in turn found Osman. Regan broke the Leeds offside trap and fired home leaving Robinson stranded. The equaliser on the night made Everton 2-1 up on aggregate, but their pressure did not cease.

With 17 mins left to play, Cadamarteri's pace was causing problems for the Leeds defence. His blocked shot fell to the waiting Regan who could only blast it straight into the arms of the impressive Paul Robinson. On 76 mins Poppleton's excellent work resulted in a poor shot which beat both Robinson and the Leeds defence and appeared to be sliding out for a goal kick. However, striker Phil Jevons seized the opportunity and slid it home from close range. The heads of the Leeds players dropped while Everton began their celebrations.

Bradford-born Danny Cadamarteri was a constant thorn in Leeds's side during the closing stages and his pace left Tommy Knarvik to use any means possible to stop him, which usually resulted in a free kick to the Blues. However, Leeds went out fighting: with nine minutes to go, a goal-bound shot was hacked clear by the ever-impressive Richard Dunne; Dixon, who had clipped the post in the first half, had a long-range effort which sailed over the bar; and it was only excellent work by Delany which denied Tony Hackworth a certain second goal for himself, and for Leeds.

The sound of Uriah Rennie's whistle to end the match was music to the Evertonians's ears as they celebrated whilst the Leeds players slumped to the turf. The young guns of Goodison were given an impressive ovation by the crowd who eagerly anticipate their opponents in the final: Blackburn or Peterborough...

MAN OF THE MATCH: Richard Dunne

The 'Honey Monster' clearly deserves this award for not only his outstanding performance but his marshaling and his organisational skills. He was a solid as a rock and led the Everton defence with bravery and passion.

We played 4-4-2 with Dean Delaney in goal. Richard Dunne was the rock in the centre of the back four and did not miss a header all night. He was supported by Carl Regan, Adam Eaton and Adam Farley. The midfield had Michael O'Brien the captain and Leon Osman in the centre with David Poppleton and Jamie Milligan as wingbacks. Danny Cadamarteri and Phillip Jevons provided the strike force.

We started quite brightly but did not really threaten to score. Leeds came more and more into the game and, after several close shots, hit the bar. They then scored a rather soft goal when our back four were caught square; a ball was headed on and their forward got the wrong side of Adam Farley and beat Delany as he ran in on goal.

The heads did go down a little bit but only for a few minutes and there were signs towards the end of the first half that we were becoming more dangerous. In one attempt Phil Jevons challenged the goalkeeper and for a moment it looked as if he might score. However, it was 1-1 on aggregate at half time and we were being told there would be extra time and then penalties if it was still square after that.

We bossed the second half in fine style as we attacked the Street end. In the first half, Phil Jevons had been the central striker with Danny behind. They swapped for the second half and this bore fruit. We gradually got more and more dominant in midfield. After one period of pressure, the ball broke to the right side of the box and we were told Carl Regan slotted the ball home (I thought it had been David Poppleton). Leeds tried to respond but we kept control.

Then, after another good attacking movement on the left-hand side, the ball went to Poppleton who shot from the left side of the box but it went across the face of the goal. Jevons ran in and met it outside the right-hand post and put it in the net. This caused some frantic Leeds attacking but we remain composed and in truth did not have a great deal of trouble keeping them out.

Delany looked solid and particularly good on crosses. He came out well when needed but his kicking was very wayward at times. Eaton and Regan looked good at the back and Dunne was the organiser. I thought Farley made the most mistakes but his ball-control looks good and he comes froward like a continental sweeper. O'Brien and Osman did well in midfield. Someone said Osman ran the midfield at Leeds but he was not that dominant tonight. I like him and posted some details last summer when I saw him play for England under 15s. Some of his ball-control in tight situations and running at defenders was out of this world.

Poppleton and Milligan are fast wingers who come back and defend in the modern style. Jevons is I suppose as near as we have to a traditional centre-forward. He is big, quite quick and has good ball-control when he does – not looking a bit clumsy, as quite often this type of player does. He gave the Leeds defenders a problem all night. Danny came into his own in the second half with some good runs although my daughter thinks he has lost some of his speed. He show-boated a bit but definitely earned his squash in the dressing room.

The whole thing was reffed by Mr Rennie who played good advantage and was generally on top of things. He must be one of our best refs now. He took charge from the start and after about 5 minutes Leon Osman was a bit late on a tackle. He played advantage but screamed 'NOOOOO!!!' at him. Osman looked terrified and I bet he has nightmares tonight.

The whole experience made you want to go to sleep and wake up in about 4 years time when we are winning everything. However, life's not like that is it? Look at Rhino. Whatever our present immediate troubles, we now must have the best set of young players we have had for ages and we look set for some interesting seasons seeing them develop.

Leeds declared their commitment to the competition by selecting Stephen McPhail, one of six survivors from the successful side of 1996-97. He will link up with the first-team squad for the FA Carling Premiership game against Chelsea tonight having established himself as the outstanding player on view at Goodison Park, only to fade when Everton seized control.

In the thirteenth minute, McPhail whipped in a cross that surprised the Everton defence and presented Hackworth with an opportunity at the near post. They may have failed then, but, within a minute, the visitors were rewarded for their bright opening. A long ball from Jones caught Farley and Dunne dreaming and Hackworth drove home from 12 yards.

Singh tested Delany with a 25-yard shot in the 33rd minute, but Everton nearly equalised on the stroke of half-time. Milligan found Jevons and the striker gathered control but Robinson, the England Under-18 goalkeeper, thwarted him at point-blank range.

Everton resumed much the brighter and never relinquished their grip. Only a sliding tackle by Butler denied Cadamarteri and then, after leaving McPhail and Knarvik in his tracks, Osman prompted an alert stop from Robinson.

Control had swung to such a degree that nobody was surprised when Everton equalised in the 63rd minute. Robinson decided to throw the ball out quickly, when really his defence needed respite. Farley beat Hackworth and Regan nipped inside Evans to shoot home.

Everton sealed their place in the final – against Blackburn Rovers or Peterborough United, who play the first leg of their semi-final tonight – after 77 minutes. O'Brien caught McPhail in possession and fed Poppleton, whose cross-cum-shot was turned in by Jevons.

Having defended impeccably at Elland Road six days ago, Everton's rearguard looked decidedly on edge and they conceded an early goal in front of watching chairman Peter Johnson and manager Howard Kendall.

Volley

Leeds striker Tony Hackworth went close with a lob after six minutes, before seeing a header cannon onto the crossbar from Stephen McPhail's excellent curling cross. But the lanky forward made it third time lucky when he levelled the scores on aggregate just 30 seconds later.

Midfielder Matthew Jones pumped a hopeful pass forward which Irish keeper Dean Delaney chose against coming for and Hackworth outpaced the centre-back pairing of Adam Farley and Richard Dunne to crash a volley into the net. It was no more than the visitors, who started with six of last year's final winning side, deserved as they took advantage of some sloppy and over-ambitious passing from Everton to launch a series of slick and incisive counter-attacks.

The young Blues had done themselves little justice but they improved towards the end of the half and Phil Jevons almost grabbed a precious goal on the stroke of half-time.

Authority

He brilliantly controlled Scottish youth international Jamie Milligan's 40-yard pass on his chest to escape the Leeds defence, but saw England Under-18 goalkeeper Paul Robinson react quickly to block a shot that rolled agonisingly towards an empty goal before being cleared.

Fresh from an ear-bashing, Everton re-emerged for the second-half a more cohesive unit and began to stamp their authority on the game. Jevons glanced a header wide from Milligan's corner within a minute of the restart; and they kept up the pressure when a mazy run from the increasingly influential Leon Osman took him past four defenders, only for his shot to lack power.

Despite putting together a sustained spell of pressure, Everton struggled to break down the resolute pairing of Jonathan Woodgate and Tommy Knarvik in the Leeds defence. Their perseverance, however, was rewarded on the hour when Adam Farley's flicked header was touched on by skipper Mick O'Brien and defender Carl Regan found himself in space on the left side of the penalty area.

The right-back, another player discovered by prolific Blues scout Syd Benson, has been one of the most consistent performers in the run in the tournament and he showed the touch of a striker to drill a low shot past Robinson to delight a crowd of more than 6,000.

Buoyed by his goal, Regan then saw an ambitious 25-yard drive held by Robinson before Jevons settled the tie with 15 minutes remaining. Shaven-headed Danny Cadamarteri's pass released David Poppleton in the area and although he mishit his shot the ball reached Jevons.

Charge

The striker gleefully tucked away the chance at the far post for his third goal of the competition. Delaney then twice kept the lively Hackworth at bay as Leeds tried in vain to mount a late charge.