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Newcastle United	1 - 1	mackems
Half time:	1 - 1
Score Sheet:
Bellamy (43)		Phillips (34)
	Teams
Given Barton Elliott Hughes Dabizas Solano Lee Bellamy Ameobi Robert Speed		Sorensen Haas Thome Craddock Gray Schwarz Hucthison(sic) Phillips Quinn Kilbane McCann
Substitutes:
O'Brien for Elliott (39) Acuna for Speed (42) Shearer for Ameobi (75)		Bellion for Hucthison (68) Rae for Schwarz (90)
Subs not used:
Harper LuaLua		Macho Arca McCartney
Bookings:
Robert (10) Barton (45)		Haas (14) McCann (52)
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: Mike Riley (Leeds) by his own recent laughable standards, the lanky lad had a reasonably proficient game and managed to avoid upsetting either set of fans or staff unduly. However the late revelation of his freemasonry has been noted (shaking hands with Schwarz as the dirty mackem dragged his carcass of the field to waste yet more time).
Attendance: 52,021. New season, old empty blocks of corporate seating towards the back corners of the main Milburn stand seating deck. Also a strange empty block in level 7 of about 60 seats (not the no-mans-land between us and them.) Whether this was due to an invasion of the bodysnatchers or something less sinister is unclear, but these would be among the cheaper places in the ground - rather underwhelming if they just didn't get snapped up by toon fans. Let's face it, if people don't want to get in to see this game, what do they want - Intergalactic toto cup matches? Crowd last season: 52,030.

34 mins. TV pictures showed later that the cockney dwarf pushed Aaron Hughes moments before the ball reached him but Phillips was still given the freedom of the box to glance a header past Given. 0-1

43 mins. Laurent Robert chipped through a superb ball over the mackem defence and Bellamy nodded it down before racing into the box, firing past Sorensen into the far corner via the keeper's right glove. 1-1

Half time: Newcastle  1  mackems  1

Full time: Newcastle  1  mackems  1 

Uncle Bobby said:

"We should have won this by a cup of tea."

"Had Nobby taken one of four second half chances he would have been a hero. I feel a bit sorry for Solano that all the chances came his way but if he comes back from Peru and tells me that he's scored a hat-trick then I'll hang him.

"He tried to skim his header in, trod on the ball when he was clean through, shot weakly at Sorensen and then found himself in again when he should have volleyed it at the near post. Apart from his missed chances I thought he did quite well. It's a match that we'll look back on and realise how well we've played without picking up all three points."

About Speed: 

"It's the same muscle but the injury is more serious this time. Gary will be out for a lot longer than he was before.

"Robbie isn't too well at all but initially I thought Haas came off worse. He needed stitches but finished the game well whereas Robbie was obviously in some difficulty."

"Craig Bellamy took his goal wonderfully well because it was a tight angle and he hit it at just the right time, he's penetrative and quick but he's still getting used to playing in a new team with unfamiliar faces. He didn't play in front of 50,000 fans at Norwich or Coventry and I doubt he's ever experienced that kind of atmosphere in his career. He acquitted himself very well indeed.

"As for Alan Shearer I didn't want to put him on too early and I wouldn't have used him at all if we had been well in control.

"However, we were chasing the winner and I thought that, by introducing him when I did, it would just give the crowd an extra lift at a vital stage of the game for us. If I had thrown him on earlier and he had suffered a recurrence of his injury then I would have been kicking myself. He did well, looked lively and came through 20 minutes of a very high class, competitive game unscathed."

Speaking of other performances that pleased him, Bobby went on:

If Robert Lee doesn't deserve the man-of-the-match award then the people awarding it don't have a clue - he was outstanding again, just as he was against Chelsea, and his ball for Solano's second half header was exquisite. All afternoon he lunged, tackled and gave the fans what they want to see in this kind of match."

"I'm very pleased for Shay because I kept faith in him and he performed well under severe pressure. I knew that he would come through in the end because I was always confident he could handle the big occasion.

"Warren was the same. There was pressure to leave both players out but I trust my players and they rarely let me down."

Finally, Bobby paused during his post-match press conference to pass on some advice to one of his former players, a Mr E.Gates, present in his role as a radio presenter. The four word message?

"Get your hair cut."

Laurent Robert addressed the nation via his own website as follows:

"I delivered some good crosses and there was one which should have been a penalty.

"The defender tapped the ball with his hand but the referee didn't see it. But in any case the game went well for me.

"For Craig Bellamy's equaliser, I got the ball in midfield and knocked it to him after he called for it and he shot across the keeper to score."

"We've played two good teams at the start of the championship and taken a point each time and the team seems good together. Alan Shearer is getting fitter all the time and as for the other injured players they're working hard and hopefully we'll have a full squad before long."

Returning hero Alan Shearer spoke of his comeback, his fitness and his plans:

"It felt great to be out there. The crowd's reaction sent a shiver down my spine and that was just when I was warming up. The ovation when I came on was something else and all I need now is match fitness.

"We were pleased with our performance but there was a tinge of disappointment in the dressing room. One lapse at the back has cost us the points but we still had the chances to win the game."

"I feel a bit for Nobby because he's been among the goals for us already this season and if we'd have wanted those chances to drop for anyone it would have been him. I tried to pick him up in the dressing room after the final whistle by explaining to him that it could have been much worse. He could have missed a penalty against Sunderland.

"I don't think he saw the funny side and I know how he feels. He could have scored three or four but he knows that one would have been enough. I'm fine and the knee feels very good. The last 14 months has been the worst period of my professional career because one day my knee would feel fine and the next day there would be pain.

"For the first time I can remember I am feeling no pain whatsoever and I just need to rediscover my old sharpness. I didn't want to come back too early but now is the right time and I can only get better." 

"It's been four years since we've had a genuine left winger with pace and Laurent is an exciting player. For the last three years everything has been down the right, on Nobby's side, but now we have some balance again. I've been watching him very closely in the last few weeks and his signing has to be good for me."

Goalscorer Craig Bellamy had a few words to say:

"I'm delighted to have scored in my first Tyne-Wear derby - if you're going to win the fans over that's a good step," said the £6 million signing. It was the biggest club game I've ever played in by a considerable distance. I've played for Norwich and Coventry but that's nothing compared to this - it was amazing walking out into that noise.

"But you can't let it get the better of you because you can freeze up. Derbies are such tight affairs and there's so much to lose that you can't afford to do that. It was the biggest game I've played in so it's got to be my biggest goal. I'll certainly remember it for a long time, but we were disappointed we didn't get the three points because we created the better chances.

"The three points were all that mattered."

Finally, star performer Robert Lee gave his reflections:

"That was definitely a match we should have won and we had two great chances to clinch it at the end. We conceded a sloppy goal and should have scored more ourselves. We wasted countless opportunities towards the end of the game and there's no doubt we should have wrapped it up.

"Thankfully the crowd never got on our backs and they were excellent throughout. They gave us the belief to come back into the game and after we drew level we were the better side. You cannot afford to give Kevin Phillips space in the box and we paid the penalty for doing that. We let him loose for a second and suddenly we were 1-0 down but we should have seen that coming."

Monkey's Heed grunted:

"I was just glad when the final whistle went. In the second half we didn't pass the ball at all and Newcastle will see themselves slightly unfortunate not to get the three points.

"The biggest thing about my team was that we kept on going and we dug in.

"It was a great goal from Kevin and it gave us a great start, but it was disappointing conceding just before half-time. From our point of view it was a bad goal, we had possession and lost it and I think three of my players just stood watching it. When the ball got played through we haven't picked Bellamy up - that was disappointing, but the kid's finished it well.

"If we could have held on until half-time it might have been different but, in the end, I was just glad when the referee blew up."

Now 10 games unbeaten for Bobby's boys, a run including 6 intertoto games and stretching back since we lost 0-3 at Anfield on 5th May. In league games only, our record is 1 defeat in 9 games.

For the 3rd time in 8 days United found themselves behind but managed to claw back parity to avoid defeat.

In each of the last 7 Tyne-Wear matches (all the Premiership ones), the side who took the lead has not won the game.

Craig Bellamy became the 6th Welsh international to register a goal in a Tyne-Wear derby for United, joining Bill Foulkes, Wyn Davies, Reg Davies, Ollie Burton & Gary Speed. Ian Davies also managed it, but never got any further than the Welsh U21 side.

Before this game, the last 5 scorers for United in the Tyne-Wear derby have been 5 different nationalities - Dyer (English), Helder (Portuguese), Domi (French), Speed (Welsh), O'Brien (Irish.)   

Two games in, and a pair of the stickier fixtures out of the way. After the foul ups of recent seasons, the fact we've got any points at all should be a relief and to be unbeaten at this stage is a creditable return. Indeed, had we played Leicester as scheduled, things could have been rather jolly.

And yet...the players, supporters, manager and TV audience will reflect on this game as two points lost for the Magpies. Had one of the chances we created after the interval been put away, Peytar's primates were a beaten side.

In stark contrast to the previous two matches on Tyneside against these lot, the team in black and white looked to have the upper hand in the spirit and commitment department, with the small town in Durham XI only topping the immobility and "didn't fancy it" rankings. 

Under those circumstances, a mackem side seeming to be short of team spirit and criticised by their own tribal chiefs over team selection policy were there to be beaten. Despite the badge-kissing antics of Hutchison, who seems to attract worship and derision in equal measures from the unwashed down the road, Peytar's boys look a shadow of the miserable, bullying outfit that just failed to hoof their way into Europe last season. 

As for our lot, aside from the seemingly inevitable forced departures through injury (this time Elliott and Speed, a year to the week Dabizas and Cort limped out of St.James'), there was much to be optimistic about, if not content.

The return of Shearer after his longest period on the sidelines yet was greeted by waves of applause that suggested he's been out long enough for the rank and file to exorcise the memory of his patchy pre-op performances. While things never quite turned out in the hoped-for fairy tale manner, his 100% tackle/free kick record in the 15 minutes he got on for showed that some aspects of his game remained instinctively intact.

So, the prodigal son of a sheet metal worker returned to an ovation, and while the side lacks millions of pounds worth of talent (through injury and absence of form), points are being collected and games not being lost. Support from the stands was there in bundles, and most people even stuck around to see the final stages.

Where next then for the lads in this now purely domestic season, now we have a short respite before it all goes off again big style?

Hopefully Shearer's return from injury and long-overdue run of games will be aided by quality assistance from his colleagues, and in Robert he certainly looks to have an ally in terms of hitting the danger areas with quality passes. When the rest of the team belatedly started feeding him with the ball against the mackems, he genuinely looked a class above anything else on display. If we could endeavour to get Dyer on the same field as him, the attacking possibilities would be mouth-watering.

In the meantime, both Robert and Solano need to focus on finding their talismanic number nine with quality balls into the box. There's been no sadder sight in recent seasons for toon fans than Shearer being forced into wide positions to deliver good crosses that aren't capitalised on by his colleagues. Repeated viewing of the 8-0 leathering of Sheffield Wednesday (featuring Emerson Thome of course) should be the order of the day. God knows how much longer we've got big Al for - the least we can do is maximise his effectiveness and minimise the donkey work he's saddled with. Al, Ball, Goal, Repeat.

In an ideal world, whoever played next to Shearer would be capable of shouldering the workload, especially against the quality defenders who will inevitably expose his reduced mobility in coming games. Whether that player is Ameobi remains a big doubt in my mind. Taking into account his often Waddle-esque languidity, he seems to err on the shoulder-shrugging side of easy-going too often for my liking. Just as he had against Troyes, he walked off for his half time cuppa against the mackems having barely featured or threatened. Hopefully a well-heeled brogue was brought into contact with the back of his shorts within said dressing room. 

Critical praise from the chattering classes and broadsheet newspaper interviews are all very well, and uncle Bobby simply refuses to have a word said against him, but our hyper-active manager looked more energetic and active on the touchline for great swathes of this game than his young striking prospect. Shola's body language when subbed seemed to betray the fact that he thought his time was up for longer than this game, when in fact the continuing saga of Carl Cort's tin legs means he still has senior opportunities.

Crucially for him, the goal and harrying performance from Bellamy may have just tipped the scales in the Welshman's favour. Apparently taking instruction from coach John Carver about playing on the shoulders of defenders (not literally), Bellamy was our chief forward threat in the early stages of this game. LuaLua's continuance as a bit part player means that the ex-Coventry player seems set for an extended run in the side. Hopefully his improved performance and goal against the mackems will help him to settle in and garner praise from the stands in a similar way to Andy O'Brien after his strike on Wearside last season. He may be a full Welsh international, but much work needs to be done to convince many punters of his eligibility for the Geordie dream team.    

Turning to the defence, maybe I was alone in not being particularly bothered about the departure of Robbie Elliott and absence of Quinn on the bench, but I doubt it. Aaron Hughes fitted in at full back as he has in the past for both club and country, and with the marauding Frenchman in front of him, his natural tendency to hang back and at least try and defend places him above the two other left backs in the frame at present. Robson recently spoke about lending Robbie videos of Roberto Carlos to give him ideas on how to get forward effectively. Maybe he should slip a few old Stuart Pearce tapes through Elliott's letterbox, as it's when defending that he seems to be especially struggling at present. 

If Hughes plays on the flank, then Dabizas has a choice of partners ranging from the youthful enthusiasm of the Caldwells through the dubious motives of the Spaniard, or the unassuming presence of O'Brien. Significantly Bobby is looking to the transfer market in this area (and in the process spending what remains of his £20m budget). Whether the three centre back ploy is in his mind is unclear, but we've traditionally struggled with this system regardless of the personnel employed.

At right back and in goal, it seems that barring further disasters on a regular basis, Given and Barton will continue at the expense of Harper and Griffin. Certainly Bobby's first-choice pair did little wrong on Sunday, with Given not being unduly tested in the main and Barton opting to hoof the ball out of play rather than reprise the fancy footwork that opened the door for Troyes. Commitment is never in question for the lad, but he's either very good or very, very bad....

So, a comparison of the two pretenders to the throne of North East football reveals that our lot aren't quite as pudding-like as in recent years, and the halo could just be slipping from the 'nana peeler. Both sides have spent a few quid on reinforcements, and from what was on show in this game, we appear to have bought talent more suitable for the league we're in. Time will tell on that, as will the emergence of further "local" players from the respective Academy teams. Ratboy Phillips aside, they seem to be on a downward spiral thus far, while we seem slightly more robust and watchable.

If this season brings nothing else, at least the prospect of a realistic tussle with the forces of darkness down the road may illuminate the coming months. While Bobby and his boys may have grander aspirations, he knows that nowt cheers up his own folk more than getting one over on the old enemy, and beating Boro just doesn't count. 

Next time, maybe.  
        
Biffa

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