The day Eirik Bakke announced himself at Leeds United with five-goal Elland Road thriller against Newcastle United

The Norwegian midfielder made the switch from Sogndal for £1.75million and made a swift impact in West Yorkshire.

“The tall, dark-haired Scandinavian possesses an air of nonchalance belied by unrelenting determination, an unswerving commitment in the tackle and a finely-tuned eye for an opportunity, emerging as a player who will take high ranking in manager David O’Leary’s squad system,” read the Yorkshire Evening Post match report afterwards.

David O’Leary’s young charges welcomed Bobby Robson’s Magpies to Elland Road and a top-flight thriller to be remembered was to follow.

The Whites would run out 3-2 winners on an afternoon that ebbed and flowed between the two sides in front of a raucous season-high crowd of 40,192.

Leeds raced into the lead on 11 minutes as Lee Bowyer looped an effort beyond Steve Harper in the visiting goal following a deft pass from new boy Bakke.

It was to get even better for the hosts six minutes before the break as winger Harry Kewell added to the scoreline.

Whites cult hero David Batty whipped a ball to the back post from the right wing and the Australian wide man was on hand to power a header home into the far corner.

Newcastle, though, pegged O’Leary’s men back three minutes later to put the game back in the balance.

Nigel Martyn was penalised for handling the ball outside of his area and the visitors made Leeds pay.

Didier Domi crossed for Alan Shearer and in typical centre-forward fashion the England front man met the delivery to nod past Martyn and provide hope for the 1,600 travelling Toon supporters.

It took Robson’s men just nine minutes to restore parity after the half-time break as Shearer struck again, firing low as Kieran Dyer found him free in the box.

The goal sparked a frantic spell as both sides attempted to find that all-important winning goal.

O’Leary introduced Darren Huckerby off the bench in place of academy product Alan Smith, opting to leave Michael Bridges on the field of play despite the striker missing a number of good chances earlier in the encounter.

The switch paid dividends as Bowyer set the Leeds substitute free down the left behind the Newcastle defence.

Huckerby delivered low in the area with Bridges taking one touch out of his feet to shoot into the bottom corner and send the home crowd wild with just 13 minutes to go.

The goal was enough to see Leeds claim all the spoils in LS11 and kept O’Leary’s outfit hot on the heels of earlier Premier League leaders and arch rivals Manchester United.

New arrival Bakke too had sent out a statement of intent with his new team.

O’Leary reflected: “No disrespect to Newcastle but we should have been four or five goals up by the break. In the end we got out of jail. But I always thought we were going to win the game because the way we played, particularly in the first half, was superb.

“We played the way I wanted us to and it would have been a crime if we hadn’t taken the three points. We want to get it on with anybody.

“I am hungry for success and I have a group of people who want to come along with me. We are no fancy Dans and we do not play ridiculous football. The signings we will make in due course will be people who will form part of the plans for the next five years. We do not want people who would like to come here for a final pay cheque.”

Newcastle head coach Robson added: “Alan (Shearer) again led by example. He has shown great leadership qualities and great movement.”

“He was a national hero in Euro 96 yet he suffered a barrage of name calling and you have to ask why. What does he have to do?”