23 mins: Momentary confusion in the home defence was all that Shola Ameobi needed, after Tim Sherwood's attempt to find Campbell ended up with Shola gaining possession, vaulting over the defender and slipping the ball inside to Nolberto Solano on the edge of the area. His shot was accurate and for the second season, he opened the scoring in this fixture. 1-0

27 mins A Ferdinand shot was blocked at point-blank range by Steve Harper and the danger was temporarily cleared. However, from Clemence's resultant left wing cross, Doherty powered home a strong header. 1-1

30 mins A penalty by Darren Anderton was blasted home after another dubious decision from the referee Steve Bennett. Gary Speed was adjudged to have baulked the cheating England underachiever, who tumbled over like an Acapulco cliff diver. 1-2

(32 mins Solano dismissed)

(32 mins missed Spurs penalty from Anderton - saved by Harper)

35 mins One of the goals of the season, as Sergei Rebrov cracked home an angled shot with the outside of his boot from the edge of the area, giving Harper no chance. 1-3

Half time: Spurs 3 Magpies 1

49 mins Kieron Dyer ran the length of the field with the ball and appeared to be brought down in the area by Sullivan, who received his marching orders. Kieron Dyer got up and rammed home the resultant spot kick. 2-3

(49 mins Sullivan dismissed)

(53 mins Dyer dismissed)

77 mins An unmarked Ferdinand crashed home a close-range header from Anderton's free kick to finally kill off United. 

Full time: Spurs 4 Magpies 2

Uncle Bobby said:
 
"I'm just trying to calm down and be sensible and professional about the whole situation.

"The referee gave a penalty to (Darren) Anderton and it was nothing. There was no chance he could get the ball. When you see the foul on (Christian) Bassedas, Anderton never had the ball, our fellow actually had the ball in front of goal.

"I don't condone what (Kieron) Dyer did and the club will do the right thing about it. But he was going to be sensational - we lost our match winner. Their keeper had gone off and we were down to 10 aside. I looked around and there was no crowd, it was so quiet.

"Dyer is going to get fouled time and again but he's got to learn that part of the game is about discipline. He will get some decisions, some he won't. He's a special player.

"I would like to smash the ball, not at that referee but at another referee and see if he could get out of the way of it."

George Graham said:

"For thrills and excitement it was just like a Cup tie. The FA Cup has come a week early. For the fans it must be great to see that number of goals. It could have been 8-5."

"The referee sees what he sees and he has to make a decision on that.

"I have seen a re-run of the incident and the goalkeeper actually touched the ball. It probably looked like a sending off but he doesn't have a video to help him out.

"It wasn't a dirty game, though, and it didn't deserve three sendings off."

The man of the moment "referee" Steve Bennett put his two bob worth in:

"Obviously Mr Robson was frustrated and put his views across as we came off at half time, but as far as I am concerned, there was nothing for me to object to. I can only call it as I see it and I was in a good position to see all the important incidents."
 

Tragedy and Farce Part 22.

Take two teams, add a pinch of penalties, a covering of red cards and an absence of refereeing talent. Leave to simmer for ninety minutes.

A result and a match that surely confirms we indeed are the playthings of the Gods, and they toy with us for their sport. That inevitable mixture of the self-inflicted and the undeserved that blights our team again and again was well to the fore at White Hart Lane. 

The tragi-comedians of Newcastle unveiled their new repertoire for 2001, and it bore a striking resemblance to the previous year, and the ones before that....

Impressive though our opening spell was, the Solano strike seemed to jerk George Graham's men from their dreamlike state and they applied pressure on the United defence. At this point the phrase, "backed by the home fans" would often be grafted into a report such as this, but to be honest, such was the paucity of support that the toon contingent was forced to supply the atmosphere for both teams, a chorus of "George Graham is an Arsenal Fan" wafting out over North London from Geordie throats more than once.

After efforts from Rebrov and Ferdinand were blocked en route to goal, the whole visiting defence seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief, failing to realise that Clemence was in the midst of returning the ball into the danger area. 

Seconds later, Spurs were level and things were starting to fall apart.

Next up was a decidedly dubious penalty award when referee Bennett decreed that Speed had bundled over Anderton. The same player got up to crack home the spot kick for 2-1, then minutes later try and fail to repeat the feat, Harper saving the second time. by this time, United were down to 10 men, Solano having parried a goalbound shot from Ferdinand off the line. Although Robson raged, the player himself later admitted that the decision had been the right one.

Almost inevitably, Rebrov then shrugged off his recent poor form to crack in an absolute beauty for the third Spurs goal, leaving an away section utterly dumbfounded and temporarily silenced.

However, their voices had been rediscovered by the time the black and whites re-emerged for the second half, and for most of the next 45 minutes, a constant barrage of support vainly attempted to raise the beleaguered Magpies.

The encouragement looked to be having the desired effect within five minutes, as a break from the Newcastle penalty area to the opposite end culminated in Dyer tumbling under challenge from 'keeper Sullivan. The Spurs player saw red after a short delay, when home fans were clearly seen throwing objects at the referee, and Sullivan also looked to have jostled Bennett before stomping off the field. Dyer then stuck the penalty past the newly-arrived Ian Walker.

2-3, 10 v 10, game on.

United had seized the initiative, and there genuinely seemed to be an impetus about the Newcastle performance, the scene looked set for an away equaliser and conceivably a winner. Dyer again streaked away down the right, tormenting the home side again and falling under strong challenge from two defenders. To the outrage of the travelling support however, the referee waved play on. 

Seconds later he was forced to stop the game and return to the scene of the incident, as the animated nature of the crowd in that corner of the ground and the frantic signalling of the linesman indicated that something untoward had gone on.

Dyer was then invited to speak with referee Bennett and the red card duly appeared yet again, seemingly for abusing the linesman (later confirmed.) Dyer slumped off towards the tunnel, hiding his face in his shirt before removing it completely. Of all the events in this game, this was undoubtedly the turning point, where one or three points for us suddenly became none.

The script then demanded, and got, a valiant United effort backed by tremendous support, until a former favourite finally extinguished all hopes of a revival with a killer goal in the dying moments. If any comparison could be made, it was with the Baseball Ground humiliation of a decade before, when a certain Brian Coddington wrote his name in the black book of Newcastle history.

It's easy to point out that what Dyer did now happens routinely in virtually every game of football and goes without punishment, (indeed Sherwood and Anderton were guilty of carbon copy incidents in the same match, but their ire was directed at the other, less highly-strung linesman.) 

Of course, our man has to be the odd one out and get done. Regardless of what went on, the nagging doubt persists that we've just fated to be the fall guys. Somebody at our club must have done something bloody awful in a previous life.....

So, once again, our cockney playhouse of comedy provided rich entertainment for some, mixed with abject misery for those of a more Northerly persuasion. The entertainers are back, and they're just as addictive and frustrating as ever we were. 

Despite the loss, partly achieved through being let down by our own players, battling performances of the likes of Acuna, Goma, Speed and even Bassedas were worthy of the applause that emanated from the travelling section at the final whistle.

Our most glorious failure in the Capital since the FA Cup Semi final then, but a failure nonetheless, and one which robs us of two of our main attacking threats for games in January.

Pointless, in all senses of the word.

Biffa