The illustrious names of Leeds United's yesteryear could never have conceived of a result such as this, as one of the leaders of the Blue Square Premier Division inflicted on Leeds one of the most embarrassing results in their celebrated history.

There were tears of joy at the Glass World Stadium, where the part-timers powered into the FA Cup third round with a performance that was even more convincing than the scoreline would suggest.

Although Leeds huffed and puffed and came desperately close to an equaliser midway through the second period, when Lubomir Michalik struck a 15-yard shot against a post, Histon also had opportunities to increase their advantage and increase the humiliation of the League One side.

In truth, the stage could not have been better suited for the proverbial Cup upset.

Histon have been flying of late – seven straight league wins have raised hopes of a first-ever promotion to the Football League – and Leeds have been frustratingly inconsistent – one minute inspired, the next insipid.

Throw into the mix a 4,500 full house, a partisan atmosphere and rain-swept conditions that negated Leeds's passing game, and the portents were not good for a side who found themselves horribly bogged down in the mother of all battles.

"The biggest game in the history of little old Histon", as the matchday announcer put it prior to kick-off, unfolded into one of the most stunningly inglorious in that of Leeds, who have surely sunk no lower in footballing terms since the heady heights of seven years ago, when they contested the Champions League semi-finals.

Leeds's involvement in that competition seems utterly incredulous now, as does the fact Histon were a Southern League club in 2001, and although Leeds's decline and fall has rightly hogged the headlines, the rise of Histon is, in its own small way, no less dramatic or worthy of attention.

The decisive moment in this gritty, hard-fought game came six minutes before half-time when Matthew Langston, a postman by trade, delivered a firm header past Leeds's goalkeeper David Lucas after rising to meet a corner by Gareth Gwillim.

As befits a team coached by John Beck, the notorious long-ball merchant, many of Histon's attacks came from set-plays – in particular corners – and Gwillim summoned the quality of delivery to complement the tactics.

But Histon were not all about balls launched long down the channels and terrier-like tackling; they also produced some genuine skill.

Danny Wright gave Leeds a torrid afternoon, while leading scorer Jack Midson showed the touch of a man punching a good couple of divisions below his weight.

Midson initially drew Beck's wrath when, straight from the kick-off, he played the ball backwards – the cardinal sin in the eyes of the former Cambridge United, Preston North End and Lincoln City manager.

"Aim for the corners," screamed Beck, expletive deleted, but the coach was applauding Midson in the fifth minute when he went close to giving the home side the lead, nodding Jamie Barker's cross fractionally wide.

Leeds did their best to keep the ball on the ground and a neat midfield inter-change almost produced the opening goal in the 20th minute when Luciano Becchio was teed-up in a central position 10 yards from goal.

But the striker blazed the ball over the bar and out of the ground – almost taking out a lone cameraman in the process, who cut a forlorn figure perched on a primitive set of scaffolding high behind the goal.

Midson almost doubled Histon's lead in the 54th minute when he dispossessed Rui Marques on the left edge of the penalty area, cut inside and struck a vicious right-footed shot which Alan Sheehan somehow headed over the bar. From the resultant corner, Antonio Murray drew a good smothering stop from Lucas, diving to his right.

Leeds had chances towards the end: Becchio drove into the side-netting from the left of the area, Fabian Delph hammered a drive over the top from 25 yards and the luckless Michalik had a spectacular 18-yard volley cleared off the line by Murray.

But Histon held on for a deserved victory, the final whistle heralding a huge outpouring of emotion among the elated home support.

An hour or so after kick-off, Beck could be seen with a cigar in one hand and a pint of lager in the other, saying: "We've beaten Leeds! Who'd have thought it?"


Histon: Naisbitt; Oyebanjo, Ada, Langston, Gwillim; Barker (Murray 49), Simpson, Mitchel-King, Knight-Percival; Midson, Wright. Unused substitutes: Welch, Pope, Okay, Kennedy, Andrews, Reeve.

Leeds United: Lucas; Richardson, Marques, Michalik, Sheehan; Hughes (Howson 59), Douglas, Delph, Robinson (Showunmi 52); Snodgrass, Becchio. Unused substitutes: Ankergren, Prutton, Kilkenny, Parker, Telfer.

Referee: N Swarbrick (Lancashire).