Newcastle United 4 Bradford
City 3
Date:
Wednesday 1st November 2000
7.45pm.
Venue: St.
James'
Park.
Conditions: Clear
and cool. Unlike the heads of our defenders....
Crowd: 41,847
Referee: Mike
Dean - a newcomer to the Senior scene, and not bad, although he's a smiler,
and seems to have a jewellery fetish, twice requiring players to retreat
to the sidelines in order to adjust their neck attire.
Teams:
NUFC
(normal home): Harper, Goma, Acuna, Lee, Dyer, Shearer, Speed, Griffin (Domi
72 mins), Solano, Cordone (Bassedas 80 mins), S. Caldwell.
Subs Not Used: Given, Glass, Ameobi.
Booked: Lee.
Sent off:
None.
BCFC (normal home):
Davison, Nolan, Wetherall, Whalley, Lawrence, Carbone (Saunders 46 mins),
Windass, Sharpe (Grant 83 mins), Atherton, Petrescu, Collymore (Ward 46
mins.)
Subs Not Used: McCall, Worsnop
Booked:
None.
Sent off:
None.
Goal:
Half time: NUFC 3 BCFC 1
1-0 22 mins Shearer rebound.
2-0 27 mins Cordone close-range shot.
3-0 29 mins Shearer header
3-1 31 mins Nolan shot.
Full time: NUFC 4 BCFC 3
3-2 57 mins Ward header
3-3 70 mins Ward close-range effort
4-3 71 mins Caldwell shot
Match facts:
Our biggest goal scoring spree in this competition since a 4-0
win at Stoke City in 1995/96.
Our biggest home tally in this competition since a 4-1 victory over
Notts County in 1993/94.
Highest combined goal tally in one game since our 7-1 thumping of Notts
County at Meadow Lane in 1993/94.
First defender to score in this competition since Darren Peacock at
Stoke City in 1995/96. (Watson subsequently scored at Liverpool,
but was playing in midfield.)
First defender to score at home in this competition since Philippe
Albert against Bristol City in 1995/96.
We said: uncle Bobby, who seemed as high as a kite said,
''I'm happy, we've won 4-3 here and we've given the
crowd a match. We needed a win at home, we needed to score goals and we've
done both, and we're in the next round.
'We were three up and it went to 3-3 and they deserved it at the time.
They played with a lot of spirit but, for the first half-hour, they
weren't in the game. That was as good a half-hour as we've played all
season. We were in the driving seat and we made a mistake for the goal
which got them back to 3-1.
Then they get a second one from misplaced handling from the keeper and
they've got nothing to lose. It's a one-night match. They're 3-2 down,
they may as well be 7-2 down because the effect is the same. They just
threw caution to the wind and it goes to 3-3.
'But we got the winner and we were inches away from getting another one at
the end. You've seen a great game, a fantastic game. That's cup-tie
football, you get results like that. It could have finished 6-4 this
game.''
Bobby confirmed that he'd been unsighted for Shearer's second goal:
''I have to tell you this, I didn't see the third one.
I was arguing with the linesman because we had a handball in the area. 'In
my anger at him, I missed the goal, but we got what we deserved because we
should have had a penalty."
Bobby also gave a tremendous speech to camera when
interviewed by hapless Jeff Brown of Tyne Tees. Brown started his
opening question with something along the lines of "well Bobby, a win
but..." and got no further as Robson took notable exception to the
word but and launched into a heartfelt defence of his team. This included
such choice phrases as "you people (journalists) are never
satisfied."
They said: Shell-shocked
Chris Hutchings defended his bold withdrawal of both Collymore and
Carbone at half time:
"They weren't performing, it's as simple as
that. Things didn't
work out. You can't play well all the time. They'll have good games and
they'll have bad games.
It's a squad game and we had to change things round, and the two
boys who came on did very well for us. It
was a decision I made and I stand by it. They were obviously disappointed,
but you have to do things for the good of the team sometimes.
Talking about the match in general, Hutchings
admitted:
"It must have been some second-half, but you
can't give a side like Newcastle a three-goal lead at half-time. We had to
change things round rather quickly to get back into the game, and it was
an excellent comeback.
"We were very disappointed to concede a fourth goal from a set-piece, but
we came back very strongly and in the end, we could have got something out
of the game.''
Waffle:
While some media writers chose to link the events of
this evening to Bonfire Night, giving the opportunity to throw some
fireworks-related prose into their work, this correspondent chose to look
slightly further ahead.
As well as hosting the largest crowd of the Worthington Cup this season,
St. James' Park now seems to be the venue for the first pantomime of the
Christmas period. Had the Newcastle defence dressed up as panto dames,
they could hardly have been more entertaining, in a slapstick, pies-in-the-face way. However only moments before, they'd carried off a convincing act
of a team that looked odds-on to inflict a beating of sizeable proportions
on their visitors. No wonder Bobby looks bemused - he sees it every week,
while one performance was enough to send the Bradford Chairman off to the
nearby hospital.
Not surprisingly, Bradford couldn't believe what they
were witnessing. After having seen their own version of the ugly sisters (messrs
Carbone and Collymore) singularly fail to forget their lines in the first
half, Chris Hutchings introduced two more names from the past to bolster
his seemingly moribund outfit.
While Dean Saunders has sprinkled fairy dust for successive clubs to good
effect against United since decimalisation, Ashley Ward had been rather
less effective since way back in his Norwich days. That all changed,
partly due to the increased tempo of the City performance and the open
door policy seemingly employed by Harper and his defence. More than once
Lee found himself the last defender, and his lack of pace was almost
caught out, while Solano seemed caught in two minds between continuing his
good work on the wing, and tracking to cover at the back.
Scottish U-21 captain Steve Caldwell certainly had a night to remember on
his home debut, with a careless Shearer back pass catching him flat-footed
for Bradford's first, and a missed tackle and vain attempt at a header
failing to stop their second. By the time Ward bundled home the third via
the young defender's shin, he must have cursed Aaron Hughes, whose late
withdrawal through illness granted him his opportunity. However, it all
turned out right in the end, and within a minute of Bradford drawing
level, Caldwell was on hand to whack home Cordone's cross for what proved
to be the winner.
Post-match, Peter Jackson and Bobby Moncur both praised Caldwell's
contribution, and while he needs to work on his distribution (and could
learn a thing or two from his younger brother), his effort and
determination shone through. I'm sure Bobby Robson noticed as well that
after scoring, Steve didn't embark on massive celebrations, but instead
could be seen urging his more experienced colleagues not to let the lead
slip. His voice could also be heard organising the defence at times - a
rare feature of our backline in recent years.
4-3 scores may not be good for some people's health, but I'll take the
risk. A peformance reminiscent of a Keegan team certainly kept me warm on
a chilly Tyneside night.
Biffa
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