The most important goal of my life, says home-town hero Howson

The lifelong United fan came off the bench against Bristol Rovers early in the second half to net the equaliser that paved the way for Jermaine Beckford's winner.

It was Morley-born Howson's 15th goal for the club he first joined as a schoolboy, a tally that includes the two goals that were enough to send Leeds to Wembley with a dramatic 3-2 aggregate win over Carlisle United in the 2008 play-offs.

However, when asked where his curled 20-yard effort against the Pirates rates in his personal collection, Howson said: "It is definitely the most important goal I have scored.

"Coming off the bench, I just wanted to make an impact and put myself about. And to try and give the lads a lift.

"I can't remember too much about the goal, it was a bit of pot luck but I knew when I hit it that it had a chance of going in.

"I could see the goalkeeper was struggling to get there.

"We have done it the hard way but the lads have been terrific all season and we really deserve it."

Howson had come off the bench with United's promotion push looking in deep trouble.

Not only had Simon Grayson's side fallen behind to Darryl Duffy's 47th-minute opener, but the first-half dismissal of Max Gradel meant they were also down to 10 men.

With Charlton Athletic leading at Oldham Athletic and both Millwall and Swindon by then level on 83 points with Leeds courtesy of the score at The Den being 1-1, it seemed the Yorkshire club could be destined to miss out.

Howson, for one, admits just such a thought had started to enter his mind when warming up on the touchline.

He said: "Personally, doubts had started to creep in after Max had been sent off and then they scored.

"I know it is not over until the final whistle but one goal down and down to 10 men against any team is a problem.

"But we kept believing and we pulled it off. Being promoted is a very nice feeling."

Another United player willing to admit he had started to fear the worst during the opening exchanges of the second half was Neil Kilkenny.

The Australian said: "You don't want to know what was going through my head (when Bristol Rovers scored).

"I was frustrated and a bit down but we plucked up the courage to get back in it. We showed a lot of character and the manager has been saying that about us all season.

"We proved to people how good we can be when we knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup and now we have finished the job of winning promotion."

United's form after their famous Cup win at Old Trafford nosedived to such an extent that the next 22 league games yielded just 27 points.

Such a low return is why Leeds, who were eight points clear at the top of the table on New Year's Day, had to win against Bristol Rovers to clinch second place behind champions Norwich City.

Kilkenny added: "It has been a long season but we are obviously now very happy. The lads are buzzing and although we made it hard for ourselves, the fact is we are promoted.

"That was the objective at the start of the season and now we have done it. There were periods in the season where we were a bit down and the confidence was a bit low. But against Bristol Rovers you could still see the confidence in the lads."