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Newcastle United	4 - 1 (aet)	Brentford
Half time:	0 - 1
Score Sheet:
Ameobi (59) Bellamy (108) Bellamy (118) Bellamy (120)		Owusu (18)
	Teams
Harper Griffin Quinn O'Brien Hughes Solano Acuna Bassedas Ameobi Shearer Robert		Gottskalksson Ingimarsson Powell Evans Mahon Owusu Anderson Dobson Gibbs Price Burgess
Substitutes:
Elliott for Hughes (45) Bellamy for Quinn (90) LuaLua for O'Brien (118)		Rowlands for Gibbs (70) Williams for Dobson (72) O'Connor for Price (109)
Subs not used:
Given McClen		Smith Theobald
Bookings:
Robert (diving, 30) Bassedas (diving, 50) O'Brien (challenge from behind 95)		Price (24) Powell (65) Evans(67)
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: Roger Furnandiz (Doncaster).  No grasp of the basic laws of the game, specifically the ones about shirt tugging, following-through in challenges and leaving the field after an injury. Fair enough, the guy is inexperienced at this level, but for the 4th official to be a Northern League ref (Russell Tiffin - famous in local non-league circles) is a foolhardy appointment.  Surely a more senior official could be on the sidelines to keep an eye on the new boy, assist in sticky situations and offer the odd quiet word of advice. Heaven knows, Jeff Winter is normally lurking around like flies on you know what....
Attendance: 25,633.  Around 5,000 tickets sold in the 24 hours before the game, and approx 1,200 away fans in the Milburn/Leazes Upper corner. Compared to the League Cup attendances of last season (37,284 for 2nd round v Orient) it's poor but there were a number of contributory factors, including the fact a lot of irregular attenders (and their children, girlfriends etc.) have had their Saint James' night out at the recent Intertoto Cup and England games on Tyneside. As a comparison, the mackems drew in 12,000 away at Wednesday and the smoggies had 3,915 at home on Tuesday - which included almost 1,000 Northampton fans.

18 mins A speculative punt forward from the keeper to Owusu found the attacker suddenly alone on the edge of the United area as both O'Brien and Hughes were caught flat-footed. The Bees striker steadied himself before lifting the ball over and past Harper into the net for his 2nd goal of the season. 0-1 

Half time: Newcastle 0 Brentford 1

59 mins Smart work from Shearer, who released a perfect ball to the overlapping Solano down the United right. He made it to the byline before crossing for Ameobi to stab the ball home into the Gallowgate end goal via an upright. 1-1

Full time: Newcastle 1  Brentford 1

ET / Half time: Newcastle 1 Brentford 1 

108 mins After numerous passes had gone astray all night, finally someone played an incisive through ball along the ground to a colleague. The passer was Robert, and his low angled pass released Bellamy down the left. He cut inside on the edge of the box and netted with a low straight drive into the bottom left hand corner, between 'keeper and post. 2-1 

118 mins A second goal for the sub Bellamy, in similar style to Brentford's opener, Harper's punt landing favourably for the Welsh international to move into the area unchallenged and beat the keeper. 3-1 

120 mins Brentford had forced a corner, and despite being two behind, their keeper bounded forward and tried to get his head on the resultant cross. The ball was won and the 'keeper left stranded as LuaLua picked up possession on the right side of the United half. For half a second he looked as if he would try a strike from a similar distance to Robert Lee against the Bees in '93, but for once he held the ball and waited for support. Solano presented himself in space on the right, and when he unselfishly knocked the ball across the box there was Bellamy to tap home the ball for his hat trick, with the keeper back just in time to retrieve the ball from his net. 4-1 

ET / Full time: Newcastle 4 Brentford 1 

Uncle Bobby said: 

"When you look at what we threw at the opposition, they coped remarkably well. They came up against Bellamy, Alan Shearer, Shola Ameobi, Laurent Robert and Nolberto Solano, but they still held out for most of the game.

"It was a very difficult game for us and we have not been involved in such a difficult 90 minutes all season. Brentford were as good as Chelsea when we played there - they had a team full of giants and defended superbly.

"We defended the second ball very badly. We fell asleep and as a result we again found ourselves a goal down. But at half time my instructions were not to panic and that if we got level we would go on and win the match and that's what happened. And in the end we had a good crowd who had a lovely night's entertainment and we went through into the next round."

He also praised Shearer for his contribution:

Obviously the penalty shoot-out was in my mind as the game went into extra time. Before the game we had picked our five penalty-takers in Alan Shearer, Laurent Robert, Nobby Solano, Wayne Quinn and Aaron Hughes.

"But we lost Hughes and Quinn because of injury and I did not want to bring Shearer off with this in mind. I did not want Alan to play 120 minutes but he did. In fact, I only wanted him to play 70 minutes.

"But he stayed on for the full two hours and he's done very well and made a massive contribution. He enjoyed it and the lovely thing is that he has come off the pitch with his knee fine and we've won 4-1. He will be pretty stiff today - stiff as a board - but he's got a couple of days to recover."

When asked about Robert, he commented:

"There was nothing in the booking.

"Why would Laurent want to go down in that position? When you're a jockey you don't deliberately become unseated when you go over the fence.

"The last thing Laurent wants to do when he is in the box and bearing down on goal is to fall down. We are talking to him about being careful because he is already close to a first suspension. He was unlucky at Chelsea, picked up a ridiculous booking against Sunderland and I thought this latest yellow card was very harsh.

"Steve was very clever and he knows what our strengths are. He played an extra defender and we were never going to beat them in an aerial battle. We needed to win the game by playing football and that's what we did in the end.

Finally, he mentioned three-goal Bellamy:

"Brentford just could not handle him and he took his hat-trick well - but Shola Ameobi's equaliser was also an important goal for us."

Goalscoring hero Bellamy spoke to the Chronicle:

"I was delighted to get on and the hat-trick means a lot to me," 

"I like playing in that role behind the front two and breaking forward from deep. I get into better scoring positions and my extra pace does help.

"My confidence is sky-high at the moment but, with all due respect, I am playing with better players at this club and I should be improving. The plan was for me not to come on but obviously I am pleased I did. This was only the second hat-trick of my career and I am absolutely delighted.

"My other hat-trick for Norwich against QPR included two penalties but this was a good old-fashioned one with three goals. To tell the truth, I was itching to get off the bench and just get the tie over because I felt an extra attacker would do the trick for us and that's the way it turned out."

"Obviously I scored against Sunderland and I have also scored for Wales so I am really feeling confident in front of goal at the moment. Confidence is a massive thing in football. Players like Alan Shearer can be having a bad time yet still score goals. Alan is a rare breed while I would say that I am not really a natural goalscorer.

"I thought I was running out of time but then Nobby Solano got in a great cross and I did not mind that my third goal was a tap-in. But the most important thing is we got through. This type of game is always tricky because you never know what will happen."

"The match ball and another ball for the sponsors were both being signed in the dressing room afterwards but I made sure I got the right one with the grass stains on it!"

Steve Coppell said:

"The league is what matters most to us and although we did brilliantly up here we have to look ahead. There was little to choose between the sides but the quality they had on the bench decided it in the end."

"They (away fans) were magnificent and I hope they go back with their heads held high despite the result."

Craig Bellamy became the first Newcastle player to score a hat trick after having come on as a substitute, and his 12 minute treble was the fastest individual bout of toon scoring since Len Shackleton hit 3 of his 6 debut goals in a 5 minute spell against Newport County in the famous 13-0 win of 1946.

Bellamy also became the first Welshman to net 3 goals for United in a game since Wyn Davies hit a treble in a home 4-3 FA Cup tie victory in January 1967. The opposition that day? Bellamy's old club Coventry City.

The last player to score 3 goals in a League Cup match for Newcastle was Andy Cole in 1993/94 away at Notts County. Bellamy becomes the 5th player to net a hat trick in the competition.

Alan Gowling (v Southport h 1975/76) 4 goals.
Malcolm Macdonald (v Doncaster h 1973/74)
Malcolm Macdonald (v QPR h 1974/75)
Gavin Peacock (v Crewe a 1991/92)
Andy Cole (v Notts County h 1993/94)
Andy Cole (v Notts County a 1993/94)
Craig Bellamy (as sub v Brentford h 2001/02) 

Alan Shearer was the last player to score a hat trick in any first team game, when he finished up with against Sheffield Wednesday at Gallowgate in that 8-0 mauling of September 1999.

United now unbeaten since May 3rd - a run of 12 games (5 Premiership, 6 Intertoto, 1 League Cup). Yet another game that we avoided defeat in, despite scoring first - a feature of all four domestic matches so far this season. 

Nationwide banana skin avoided then, thanks to a fleet-of-foot substitute. However, 12 minutes of late joy can't obscure the previous wastelands of mundanity that had to be endured. Far from enhancing their Premiership credentials, Bobby's B team did their cause no good and squad rotation still looks viable when players drop out with injuries.  

It could even be argued that those that didn't feature were the ones with bolstered reputations (i.e. Barton).

Rather than generally slag off the performance, we've elected to do it one by one this time out:

Harper - a kind person would say ring-rusty, but he looked exactly what he is - a keeper who doesn't play games. A look at the stats shows that our 3rd choice keeper Karelse has played more games in the last year, and it showed in Harper's positioning and awareness. One effort in the second half passed wide of his post when his body language showed he didn't have a clue where the ball was - not a problem with technique as such, just not sufficiently sharp.

Griffin - some good work going forward, but off the pace at the back and almost left embarrassed by average Nationwide league players on more than one occasion. Needs games to regain form.

Quinn - painful to watch. Brady, Hamilton and Cordone were shown the door, this lad should be next. Full marks for trying, but out of his depth in a Premiership club. Has the  distribution of a leaky hosepipe. 

O'Brien - Hesitant, didn't look 100% happy all night - suspicion he was carrying an injury. No problem with his effort, but some suicidal passes to colleagues that had people in the East Stand howling in anguish. Suffered from cramp in the latter stages - I know how he felt.

Hughes - has timed a dip in form to coincide with renewed competition in his position, and picked up a knock in this game. Not having a happy time of things at present. 

Solano - early endeavour when everything was coming down the right for United, but sent in a succession of rotten corners and flat crosses. A peripheral figure for the final hour of the contest, aside from his two right wing centres that set up the first and last goals.

Acuna - Not a flash display, but hard-working and tireless. Formed a possibly unique central defensive partnership with Shearer in the latter stages.

Bassedas - said it before, saying it again.....not good enough. Too easily knocked out of his lolloping stride and unreliable in terms of basic work - short passing, tracking runs etc. 

Ameobi - Spent a lot of the game being dragged and pulled around by home defenders without a word from the ref. However when he did get the ball out wide and start to go past his men, his decision-making about passing, crossing and shooting was again questionable. Vital goal, but suspicion he's believing his own hype.

Shearer - talisman-like quality and reliability from the spot ensured a two hour stint that he came through without incident. No direct threat to the Brentford goal save for one good chance in the second half, but in his familiar style held the ball up and dropped back on occasion when his defenders were struggling. Noticeably ordering his players around in the latter stages to defend corners etc. in the absence of Dabizas.

Robert - not really his night, not really his game. Starved of the ball in the first half as much as he had been at Middlesbrough and got involved in one or two skirmishes. Booked in a crazy decision but didn't seem to be too affected by it. However, given his lack of involvement and the possibility of a second yellow from a bungling arse of a ref, a major surprise that he stayed on the field for the duration. Whether leaving him on for possible penalty duty will rebound on Bobby won't be known until just before 5pm on Saturday. 

Elliott - better than Quinn, which may be interpreted as being damned with faint praise.

Bellamy - In the words of John Travolta in Grease, "Why it's Greased Lightning!" After the mackem goal, his hat trick is genuine cause for more celebration, that another of Robson's purchases has been an asset to the team. Pace like his will unsettle anyone, and although he's a little rough and ready, he is a handful and possesses that mean streak that annoys defenders - a bit like Mark Hughes without the Kung fu kicks.

LuaLua - not on long enough to warrant praise or criticism, but he seemed to worry tiring Nationwide defenders enough to suggest an earlier introduction may have proved beneficial.

It's always tempting to criticise a top league team in this situation and praise the underdogs propelled from obscurity into the spotlight for one night, but to be frank Brentford were nowt startling. Well regimented at the back, adept in filling midfield with bodies yes, but not blessed with any real playing assets to be flogged and fill Chairman Ron's sky rocket.

In those circumstances (and with memories of 1990's leatherings of lower league teams), it's difficult not to moan and whinge with the plain fayre that was served up at Gallowgate in normal time, but the job was done and we're in the Third Round. 

Like the Intertoto cup games, the end justify the means and those who stuck out the 120 minutes were rewarded with a small piece of Newcastle United history. Still unbeaten, still scoring goals - two facts that obscure some of our present shortcomings. 

Who knows, Distin may be the one who melds the backline into something approaching a unit. He watched this game from the Milburn stand, but perhaps fortunately wasn't asked by journalists for his thoughts....  

Biffa

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