Leeds shattered by a great Scott

Bottles thrown at players and officials throughout the game, an incendiary walk round the touchline by Cardiff owner Sam Hammam, and a disgraceful and uncontrollable mob reaction at the final whistle indelibly scarred memories of a game that could have been proof of the magic of the Cup.

O'Leary's disbelief at what he had witnessed before, during and after this match was genuine and understandable. Defeat for his Premiership leaders, confirmed when Young smashed the ball home from close range after Leeds failed to deal with Graham Kavanagh's corner four minutes from time, was a painful blow.

But the most damaging of all could be felt as a direct result of Smith's attempt to shrug Legg away from him after a free-kick had already been given in his favour.

Legg may have made far more of the clash than was necessary but Smith must ask himself why he risked so much with an act of petulance, as he brought up his arm in a gesture that was more disdainful than dangerous.

Unless Mr D'Urso undergoes a dramatic change of heart, Smith will miss four games for his fourth red card in nine months, and second of the season.

That ban will start with the visit of Arsenal to Elland Road on Sunday week and also include subsequent games against Chelsea and Liverpool. With Rio Ferdinand-caught late by a dreadful challenge by Gavin Gordon that was missed by the referee, joining the injury list which already includes Harry Kewell, Olivier Dacourt, Eirik Bakke and Robbie Keane, the loss of another key man is a potentially crippling blow.

O'Leary, struggling to keep his temper, admitted: 'We've got nine players out now. We've had a terrible period in the last 12 months and the amount of players we have out is scandalous.

'When you're playing big games, you need big players. But we've got nobody to come back.'

However, this was Cardiff's day before a full house. Even when Mark Viduka took Gary Kelly's pass in his stride to crack home his 12th of the season from 20 yards after 12 minutes, the Welsh team kept on coming.

Their reward came in the 20th minute, Smith upending Legg and allowing Kavanagh to hit a peach of a free-kick beyond Nigel Martyn from 25 yards.

Cardiff sensed their moment was nigh and substitute Leo Fortune-West won the battle for Kavanagh's corner and David Batty's failure to clear allowed Young the chance to crash past Martyn three minutes from time.