RARELY have Wembley winners deserved victory more than Aston Villa in the Coca-Cola Cup final.

Brian Little's disciplined adventurers, their youthful exuberance directed by the canny minds of Andy Townsend and Paul McGrath, were, to a man, superior to Leeds United, a team seemingly palsied by caution and confusion.

Where Villa ran and worked and created, Leeds faltered, their inexplicable inability to rise to their first cup final appearance in 23 years completely frustrating their legion of long-suffering loyalists.

It was an indictment of Howard Wilkinson's collection of internationals that Leeds' best player was a teenager, Andy Gray, on his fourth start. Gray, from a distinguished footballing family, was the only man in white to show an appreciation that special occasions demand something special.

With a side swing to the promise of youth, as embodied by Gray, the real toast was to Villa, playing with passion and all in accord with Little's master-plan of mixing attacks with pace and patience.

Little had had an inkling that Savo Milosevic, hitherto erratic, would score a really important goal for Villa this season. So it proved, the tall striker putting Villa into a lead that was embellished by lan Taylor and Dwight Yorke.

Milosevic's strike enlivened a poor, getting-to-know-you opening, in which Leeds, in particular appeared bereft of ideas.

Gary McAllister found Townsend, the man of the match, and Mark Draper snapping legitimately at his every elegant stride.

Tony Yeboah, too, was often stranded and frustrated. The force was with Villa, their midfielders having secured a slight supremacy.

Leeds played a part in their own downfall. Gary Speed's crossfield pass carried too little weight to reach McAllister, allowing the inspirational Townsend to hook the ball through out of the centre circle towards Milosevic.

On he ran, angling his passage from right to an area where his favoured left foot could swing into punitive action. Leeds needed someone to drive this Villa insurgent wide to less dangerous areas but John Pemberton reacted too late.

As he finally dived in, the ball was arching up and over John Lukic, a quite wonderful goal. Leeds had little answer. The only one of Wilkinson's players to trouble Townsend's party was Gray, son of Frank with real echoes of uncle Eddie.

When Gary Kelly at last eluded Gareth Southgate down the right, Gray and Speed were queuing up at the far-post to exploit Yeboah's flick-on. Again the chance passed them by.

The humour of Leeds' fans was not improved during the interval when news was relayed that Manchester United had won. It could have been worse. The announcer could have told them that the scorer was Eric Cantona. Leeds' fans had already expressed their feelings with a banner bearing the words 'Does Eric Eat Beef?' Clearly a case of mad crowd disease.

Their mood deteriorated in the second half. Wilkinson swapped Ford for Brian Deane, tug for lighthouse, but the script did not alter.

McGrath. Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu blunted or diverted every attack that came their way.

Gary Charles and Alan Wright scuttled down the flanks.

Townsend, Draper and Taylor threw a blanket over midfield while the forwards chased every cause, lost or hopeful.

Further evidence of Villa's superiority arrived after 54 minutes. Wright's awkward cross placed great pressure on Lucas Radebe. With Milosevic lurking, hungry for any scraps, Radebe cleared hurriedly, his scissors' kick flying straight to Taylor, whose first-time volley disappeared into the net.

Then came a familiar chorus from the Yorkshire quarter: "Why is Brolin on the bench?" Wilkinson, such an inadequate user of special talents. relented and the stylish Swede emerged to cacophonous applause.

Another chant also reflected the growing dissent amongst Leeds followers with an ironic rendition of "Wilko for England". Many clearly believe that the time has come for a new man with new ideas at Elland Road. Brolin looks like he has just climbed out of bed, occasionally plays as if in a dream, but possesses the little passes and clever thoughts that could have woken up Leeds if brought on earlier: 2-0 down against a young side, brimming with vim and vigour, was hardly the ideal situation.

The game was beyond Leeds. As if to emphasise their dominance, Villa added a third just before full time.

Draper's pass was carried on by Milosevic deep into Lukic's box. His delightfully weighted flick was driven in by Yorke.