A victory of bloody-minded resilience against Tranmere Rovers on the first day of last season set United on course for the play-off final, and an exhilarating fightback at Glanford Park today lit the fuse of a campaign which Gary McAllister hopes will hand his club a bigger prize.

Twelve months ago, Tresor Kandol's last-minute header sunk Tranmere and sent optimism flooding through United's veins. The feeling was comparable yesterday when Jermaine Beckford bundled home a crucial goal and floored Scunthorpe United with 10 minutes remaining.

Beckford's goal came 19 minutes after Enoch Showunmi had struck with a timely header, beating Scunthorpe goalkeeper Josh Lillis within moments of the hosts breaking the deadlock.

Nigel Adkins considers his team to be candidates for promotion in their own right and they were equal to Leeds for much of the noon kick-off which launched England's domestic season, but the sight of United turning the screw in the closing stages was clinical and impressive.

The issue of McAllister's captain was publicly resolved an hour before kick-off with confirmation that Frazer Richardson would carry the armband for the first game of the season, and United's boss predictability retained the same line-up fielded in their final pre-season friendly seven days earlier.

A 4-1 victory over FCV Dender at Elland Road last Saturday was enough to settle McAllister's selection policy and, in pouring rain, his players wasted fewer than two minutes in finding a path through to Scunthorpe's goal.

A curling corner from Andy Robinson dropped kindly for Paul Huntington, whose weak header from eight yards failed to exploit the sort of chance which the centre-back tends to make the most of.But from a promising opening, Leeds were drawn into a congested scrap which persisted throughout a dogged first half.

Glanford Park's narrow pitch prevented Robinson and Robert Snodgrass from finding space on the flanks, and possession was traded readily in a busy midfield.

The hosts had two chances to take the lead during the opening 20 minutes.