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WBA	0 - 3	Newcastle United
Half time:	0 - 2
Score Sheet:
		Cordone (9) Bassedas (31) Cordone (48)
	Teams
1st half Jensen Butler Burgess Gilchrist Lyttle Sneekes Appleton Jordao Van Blerk Roberts Hughes 2nd half Adamson Balis Burgess  J.Chambers A.Chambers Collins McInnes Oliver Iezzi Quinn Taylor		Harper   Barton   O'Brien   Hughes Quinn Solano  Bassedas  Speed   Glass  Cort  Cordone
Substitutes:
Sigurdsson for Burgess (50) Stovell for Taylor (78)		Gavilan for Solano (27) Steve Caldwell for Barton (46) Gary Caldwell for O'Brien (60) McClen for Speed (61) Ameobi for Cort (69) Karelse for Harper (69) LuaLua for Cordone (81)
Subs not used:
n/a		n/a
Bookings:
n/a		n/a
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: tbc
Attendance: 4,440. Quite frankly a rotten turnout. The usual toon mix of go-anyway lunatics and locally based black and whites numbered about 300 in total (most in the away section), but the home fans were scattered across the three sides of the ground in small clumps - a funereal atmosphere, and all this from a club days away from a playoff game. All we can deduce is that the locals didn't particularly like wor Daryl....

9 mins Solano and Glass combined down the left for the latter to find Cordone. The Argentinean had time to turn and make his way into the box, eluding defender Butler and placing a 15 yard shot across the keeper into the far corner. 0-1 

31 mins A rare Bassedas header after a cross from the right by Gavilan. Incorrectly announced as Speed by the PA man, but amended after the interjection of one half of NUFC.com, who had positioned himself in the home seats. 0-2 

Half time: WBA 0 Newcastle 2

48 mins Almost a repeat of the first goal, as Cordone squirmed through the Baggies defence again and shot home. 0-3

Full time: WBA 0 Newcastle 3

Uncle Bobby was underwhelmed by the response from the Midland public:

"I was disappointed in the crowd for the lad - I think they were expecting about 10,000. If we played our part, then we played our part. I respected the occasion and brought our better team.

The beneficiary of the game explained how we ended up as his opposition:

"To sort out a game, we wrote off to a few clubs including Newcastle, there was already the connection with Bobby Robson being an ex-player, because the main aim was to get a big club here. Brendon Batson sent a nice letter to Bobby to back me up and it went from there really. We got a "maybe", and then it depended on if they got knocked out of the FA Cup, and once that happened, it became more likely.

"There were a lot of letters to write and phone calls to make by the committee and eventually it was agreed. It was a long drawn out process because it's hard to get a team to commit. In theory they say yes, but things can crop up through the season that mean they can't make it, but luckily enough it all fell into place. They've said they'll be sending the strongest team they have available, we're paying a decent sized insurance premium for them! I was hoping Alan Shearer would put his op off for a few more weeks, but never mind!"

From the post-match Albion website report:

"Newcastle’s ease on the ball and the incisive nature of their play made it abundantly clear that Premiership sides will offer a very different challenge to what we’ve become used to in this division."

Final word to Burgess:

"The fans have made this the proudest night of my life"

When Steve Caldwell joined his brother Gary on the field in the 60th minute, they became the first brothers to appear in what can loosely be called a Newcastle first team fixture since Richie and Mattie Appleby (Bari A, Dec 1992, Anglo-Italian Cup.)

A slightly stronger than expected team took the field for United, and disposed of Premiership hopefuls West Brom with little difficulty. In a re-run of the pre-season game at Burnley, Cordone looked among the most committed to the cause, and gained reward with two goals. Shame that he's only managed fleeting appearances in the first team in between last August and now....

In an otherwise tranquil atmosphere, the odd chant from the away fans kept things vaguely interesting, and Kevin Kilbane's arrival on the pitch before the game prompted the expected negative response.

Things livened up slightly after the break with Newcastle attacking the Smethwick end where the junior Albion choir took it upon themselves to regale us with a selection of terrace favourites old and new (let's face it, you don't get much older than "The Lord's My Shepherd"......) 

Before the main event, a supporters club XIII (yes, 13) took on an Albion old boys side, mainly composed of the 1993 promotion team, with a couple of ex-Magpies on show, namely Andy Hunt and Wayne Fereday. The former notched a couple of goals on his return to the Hawthorns, the latter drifted aimlessly on the edge of the action. Good to see he hasn't lost his touch.

Biffa

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