Celtic turned on the style at Elland Road with a four-goal blitz - but the real winners of an entertaining charity match came off the pitch.

Gary Kelly's widely-applauded decision to pledge the night's receipts - estimated to be in the region of £700,000 - largely made footballing matters irrelevant.

But this was no kickabout. Just three days after losing the Scottish Cup in dramatic fashion to bitter rivals Rangers, boss Martin O'Neill fielded a strong Celtic line-up in front of a crowd of 26,440.

Kelly, a Celtic Park season ticket-holder to this day, dedicated the game to his sister Mandy, who died from cancer four years ago, and in a poignant moment both sides emerged from the tunnel with representatives of the local Teenage Cancer Trust Unit.

But aside from the testimonial spirit that pervaded the night - except when Alan Smith was anywhere near the ball - there was much of interest to take from the game.

For David O'Leary in particular, who saw Michael Bridges and Lucas Radebe make substitute returns after long spells on the sidelines.

It was also a rare chance for the champions of Scotland to pit their wits against one of England's leading sides - especially with recent events making the idea of greater England-Scotland alliance less fanciful than it once was.

And on this, albeit flimsy, evidence, they would be a match for anyone.

After a forgettable opening 20 minutes, the match suddenly burst into life with three goals in eight minutes.

Alan Thompson broke the deadlock with a rasping 30-yard left-footer which left Paul Robinson, making his first start of the season in the Leeds goal, absolutely no chance.

The visitors upped the stakes even further in the 25th minute when Steve Guppy's right-hand corner was met forcefully by Henrik Larsson, who netted his 35th goal of the season.

But Leeds were soon back in it when Robbie Keane dummied Jason Wilcox's cross, allowing Lee Bowyer to rifle home a 29th-minute volley.

Home manager O'Leary made a total of seven half-time changes as he sought to keep his side fresh for Saturday's final game of the season at home to Middlesbrough.

Celtic claimed a third goal after 56 minutes courtesy of an audacious effort from John Hartson.

Having spent much of the night misfiring wildly, the 27-year-old Welshman suddenly found the back of the net with a looping first-time lob after Jackie McNamara's ball.

And substitute Shaun Maloney added a fourth after a goalmouth scramble.