BUOYANT York City boss Chris Brass has thrown down the gauntlet to his young squad.

He has challenged them to keep up the good work after last night's sparkling 1-1 draw with Premiership neighbours Leeds United at Bootham Crescent.

A delighted Brass said: "The players have set the standard now and that is what I will expect of them. They really impressed me.

"They all played well individually, but also played well as a team. We got the ball down and passed it with purpose."

His sentiments were echoed by Leeds boss Peter Reid whose first words, unprompted, when he emerged to face the media after the match were to hail City's performance.

"I have to say York were excellent and it proved a really good workout for us," he said.

Had City taken their chances, particularly in the first half, they would have claimed a notable scalp just a week after losing 5-0 to Sunderland.

Player-manager Brass revealed that he talked to the players at their training camp at Keele University about the defeat at the claws of the Black Cats.

"We spoke about passing the ball with purpose rather than knocking the ball from side to side. We spoke about getting in more crosses and shots and we did that," he said.

Brass used virtually two teams against Leeds, including ten trialists, with only Scott Jones of his current squad missing because of a virus.

"Because they all played so well it has left me plenty to think about when it comes to offering contracts," said Brass.

He already has 14 players signed on and is looking to operate with a squad

of 18 to 20, so not all last night's trialists will be offered terms.

Brass was sitting down with the City board today to discuss what budget he can work within before making a final decision on who he wants to keep.

The large majority of the City players on show last night will be involved in Saturday's home friendly with Scarborough.

Of the trialists, centre-back Andrew Jordan, watched by his father Joe, the former Leeds player, did well to shackle United's multi-million pound attack and won a big psychological battle against Mark Viduka early on.

The pair tangled on the edge of the City penalty box and Jordan ended up in a heap. The Australian striker, in a fit of pique, threw the ball at the prone Jordan.

Reid, anxious to avoid unnecessary cautions, immediately hauled Viduka off and in the second half removed Michael Duberry in a similar fashion after a rash challenge.

Updated: 11:27 Thursday, July 24, 2003