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Bolton	0 - 4	Newcastle United
Half time:	0 - 1
Score Sheet:
		Solano (41) Robert (62) Shearer (72) Bellamy (84)
	Teams
Jaaskelainen Whitlow Johnson Bergsson Charlton Barness Warhurst Southall Gardner Holdsworth Hansen		Given Hughes Elliott O'Brien Dabizas Robert Speed Solano Lee Shearer Bellamy
Substitutes:
N'Gotty for Barness (66) Ricketts for Southall (66) Diawara for Charlton (69)		Distin for Dabizas (86) Ameobi for Bellamy (86) Acuna for Speed (89)
Subs not used:
Nolan Wallace		Harper Bernard
Bookings:
Whitlow (47) Holdsworth (75)		Speed (23) Bellamy(55)
Sendings off:
Jaaskelainen (deliberate handball)		None
Referee: Mike Riley (Leeds). What can you say? Cheered off by the away section at half-time and full-time but more an ironic response to the home fans' boos. Didn't give Nobby as offside for the first goal but then that was his linesman's job. Waved play on when three of their players rolled around in agony but all got up looking remarkably fit. Had no choice with the sending off. Difficult to understand what prompted the home fan's ire - I'd be more upset with their keeper....
Attendance: 25,631. Full and noisy away section.

Half time: Bolton 0 Newcastle 1

72 mins:  I'd just drawn breath ready to berate Shearer for not bothering to jump for a right wing cross when the ball landed at the feet of Robert. A split second later a perfect near post cross found Shearer's head and United goal number 96 for Al was bulging the net.  3-0

84 mins:  Shearer scampered down the right and with Bellamy the only other blue shirt in attendance, Al's inch-perfect low ball to the far post was stuck away by the left foot of Bellamy.  4-0

Full time: Bolton 0 Newcastle 4

Uncle Bobby said:

About his health: 

"I feel sorry for Gerard and hope he will be OK, I am fine.

"Perhaps I must be off my rocker to carry on at my age. But I cope with the pressure through sheer enjoyment and fulfilment of my life. I am on the pitch every day and I love it.

"I understand the pressure and the tension and at 1-0 today I wanted to go home.

"The intensity of the Premiership, the importance of winning and the escalation of money make it a vibrant industry, no question of that. Managers get sacked in September now.

"The need to be in Premiership like here at Bolton is intense. They are desperate to get enough points to stay in the division."

"The sending-off had a dramatic effect on the the game. The lad just seemed to overstep the line and the referee had no option.

"With our experience it probably became academic. We used the ball well and created chances and in fact got a bit careless."

About the free-kick:

"When Alan, Nobby and Laurent stood over the ball at Bolton even I did not know who was going to take the free-kick.

"At first I thought it was going to be Alan, then I changed my mind and went for Nobby. In the end, however, Laurent hit it into the back of the net.

"If I don't know what is going to happen, I hate to think what it must be like for a goalkeeper having to face a free-kick from this little lot.

"We practice free-kicks all the time and have plenty of discussions about them. But at the end of the day, I leave it to the players out on the field to decide who is going to take them as they know who has the best chance of scoring."

About Bellamy: 

"His penetration, his movement and his ability to get through and behind defenders is magnificent. Craig is a bit of a talker to referees so I need to have some words with him about this."

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce commented:

"Jussi was outside the box so the referee applied the letter of the law.

"But it wasn't really about that, it was more about the first goal which was blatantly offside. That was the key issue because there was nothing between the sides.

"The officials have got it very, very wrong. We have video evidence and have been punished for something that's not our fault.

"When you've lost your last two home games, that's the last thing you want to happen in terms of decision-making from the officials."

Our 500th Premiership point since promotion in 1992-3 - we started the day on 499.  

It seemed like the modern game, with its high finance and poncey laws had robbed us of some of the finer things in football like: bundling the keeper into the net and claiming a goal; keeper's playing on with broken necks; teams having to play with nine men as ex-brickies clattered through the opposition and most magical of all, outfield players wearing the keeper's jersey.... 

The five subs rule means that should a keeper get sent off, which is a reasonably common occurrence nowadays, then up steps the substitute keeper and off comes a striker. Fairly entertaining but in no way the stuff of legend that has you reminiscing for years to come. Outfield players wearing ill-fitting goalie shirts, flinging themselves at half-hit daisy cutters, is what this game is all about. We love it. 

Three cases in point: 

Vinnie Jones at St. James' Park six years ago, taking over from Heald in the Wombles goal after receiving his second yellow for upending Les Ferdinand. OK, so we ended up winning 6-1 but Vinnie made a fantastic double-save and received a standing ovation from the home fans which he acknowledged with a majestic salute. 

And then there was Kevin Brock at Birmingham's St. Andrews back in 1992, who took over at half-time with the score at 3-2 to us. Within minutes David Speedie had welcomed Kevin with a vicious left foot shot, Speedie's boot making contact with Brock's head and not the ball which left him concussed for the remaining forty minutes. Did his dazed state impede his performance? Not at all, with Derek Wright administering smelling salts at every available opportunity Brock went on to keep a clean sheet. 

But most memorable was the game at Upton Park where United fielded three separate keepers: Martin Thomas, Chris Hedworth and Peter Beardsley who collectively let in a total of eight goals as United crashed to a defeat that still looks like a misprint in the record books. 

So did Jussi Jaaskelainen have all this in mind when he abandoned his penalty area fifteen minutes into the second half of this encounter? I'd like to think so. The ball was flung in with some menace, the bounce was awkward and Shearer was certainly sniffing around for anything that may have gone astray. No need. Out comes Jaaskelainen and leaps like a ballerina to palm the ball away from no-one, fully four yards out of his area. But even more stupendous was that the keeper knew full well that he'd get a red card and that there was no green-jersey wearer on the Bolton bench. Top marks. No wonder he flung his shirt at Hansen with a flourish and sprinted down the tunnel before Sam Allardyce got the chance to land a boot up his rear end. 

So did this incident breathe some life into a stale, dull Premiership encounter? Not really, we'd had plenty to get our teeth into already. This was just an unexpected bonus. In his post-match comments Bobby revealed that he did not know who would take the free-kick conceded by the keeper's handball. He claimed this was because we have such an array of talent able to bend and swerve and thump balls up over and around walls. Possibly. However, uppermost in his mind was probably the first half pantomime served up by messrs Solano and Robert. In a good position near the left edge of the Bolton box, Robert ran over it, Solano shaped to shoot but slipped a cunning ball to Robert who had continued his run past the wall. The ball was poor and Robert slipped over on his backside in an effort to retrieve it. Almost as good as the Everton triple by-pass last year.... 

Other memories of the opening 45 minutes revolved around the Welsh wizard, the man currently "on fire", Craig Bellamy. His pace and workrate are both excellent, it's just that his one-on-one finishing is about as poor as Imre Varadi's.... Exactly how he manages to find the keeper with such unerring accuracy time and time again is remarkable. Whether the keeper stands up, sits down or keeps moving, Bellamy will lift it high or aim low at the dead-centre of the keeper's torso. Thankfully he managed to get it all wrong and find the back of the net against the mackems.... 

Robert Lee apparently had a fantastic game in midfield, ignoring all the contract furore and putting in a general's performance that we will miss so badly. Not from my seat he didn't. His reception at the start of the game was a good one, with most clapping or singing his name. The rest who shook their heads weren't quite so audible, though. However, it didn't take much for the patience to snap. Two deadly accurate balls into the lower tier within the space of a minute and then a lack-lustre challenge in a dangerous position certainly caused a sea-change of opinion in our vicinity. 

Rob has been with United for just over nine years, making his debut at Boro in the League Cup late in September 1992. In that time he has been a fantastic player and a great servant to the club. No argument there. However, his part in the Gullit saga wasn't wholly as victim in my opinion and the book release and testimonial games weren't handled well. Steve Howey must be wondering when his 11 years of service will be recognised by the club. If only he'd had it written in to his last contract.... 

Shay Given came and retreated for a through ball that Hughes ended up foiling with a fantastic last-ditch tackle and at the other end Dabizas missed an absolute sitter from a Solano free-kick that ricocheted off the wall. Bellamy and Hughes both crossed poorly after getting behind the Bolton defence and it seemed inevitable that half-time would arrive goalless. And then from out of the blue - the lucky new away kit blue - Robbie Elliott put over a decent cross (his first since leaving Bolton??) and an unmarked Shearer nodded across to Solano. He was definitely offside but the linesman assured Mike Riley that the goal should stand after a brief consultation. Good lad. 

Riley was cheered and jeered in equal proportions as he left the field and moments later sixties legend, Wyn Davies was also hailed by the away contingent. It's not often a half-time old-timer raises a chant but Mighty Wyn was sung loudly even by those not quite sure who he was - evidenced by the bloke on my right singing "Mighty Quinn". He'd obviously heard the song but not read about Wyn The Leap.... 

Robert's free-kick from the Jaaskelainen blunder was perfect. It just had to be reasonably accurate and reasonably firm and Robert did both. Shearer's power might just have hit Hansen or the wall but Robert's accuracy was spot-on. The stand-in got a hand to the ball and who knows whether Jaaskelainen might have saved it but goals three and four weren't stoppable by any keeper. Robert crossed for Shearer, bringing about a rousing chorus of Al's new song. And Shearer's pin-point cross rewarded the hard-working Bellamy who deserved his late goal. 

Just time then for Shearer to see a possible second saved well by Hansen and Shola Ameobi to suffer one of those horrible Geoff Thomas moments. He was played through and as Hansen came he then retreated realising his error in judgement. A simple lob was all that was needed but Shola scuffed it horribly and Hansen had time to pick up the ball as it dribbled pathetically into the box. The introduction of Acuna and Distin seemed a little pointless, all Acuna had time to do was gather back his flowing locks and put his headband in place.... 

Niall MacKenzie

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