Newcastle United – Five key matches to promotion.
Posted on April 9th, 2010 | 51 Comments |
I say way back then, but in reality it was only nine months ago. It is remarkable how the feeling around the club has changed so dramatically in such a short space of time. Promotion secured in record time, a team that want to play for the shirt and with eath other, a desire to not give up are all things that have come to the fore this season. We know next season will be tougher at times and we know we need to strenghten the squad in the quest to secure Premier League survival. The fact we can plan ahead already is a bonus and should allow us to steal a march on the teams that are yet to be promoted or teams above that are unsure which league they will be playing in next season.
Despite that, we must not forget just how hard it has been to secure promotion. You only have to look at pre-season media predictions to see that most people had us down to struggle, our overpaid stars wouldn’t be able to cut in a much more physical league etc etc. Of course, they equipped themselves rather well much to the annoyance of the doubters. Along the way we have picked up some impressive results, and battled away to some undeserved ones. Here I pick my five defining matches of the 2009/2010 promotion campaign.
Not so much the match itself, or the result, but one passge of play that puts this into the top 5 for me. Kevin Nolan ran half the width of the pitch to chase down a loose ball that was heading out of play, he passed it to Joey Barton who quickly moved the ball to Ryan Taylor who sent an inch perfect cross onto Shola Ameobi’s head for 2-0.
With play like that, and desire to boot, I thought then that we may have been ok this season after all, even at that early stage.
Newcastle United 2-1 Doncaster Rovers.
On the back of two home draws to QPR and Bristol City and two away defeats to Nottingham Forest and Scunthorpe, a win was very much needed to get our season back on track.
Doncaster took the lead and could have put the game to bed had they managed to convert a penalty that was fortunately missed. Zhurab Khizanishvilli was then sent off for the hosts but it wasn’t to deny them 3 points as Kevin Nolan scored the winner in injury time to take the points for the ten men of Newcastle.
Newcastle United 5-1 Cardiff City.
The first time we saw a real return on our January investment in what was billed as a tough match. It didn’t turn out that way as the hosts ran riot and were 3-0 up in 15 minutes thanks to goals from Andy Carroll (2) and an own goal. Peter Lovenkrands added two more in the 2nd half before Cardiff grabbed a consolation just before full-time. It finished 5-1 but really could have been more.
Swansea City 1-1 Newcastle United.
The game that defined our promotion for me. Largely outfought and outplayed on the day, Newcastle were not to be denied a share of the points as Andy Carroll equalised in the 87th minute to cancel out Swansea’s deserved opener.
A battling performance that had become a signature of ours this season, winning points when we didn’t deserve them and doubly important given the fact that we went into the game reeling from a midweek 3-0 loss at Derby.
Newcastle United 2-0 Nottingham Forest.
The game that pretty much sealed promotion. Goals from Shola Ameobi and Jose Enrique sealed a win that effectively secure automatic promotion for us and forced Nottingham Forest to settle for a play-off spot.
So there you go, my 5 games that defined the season. Feel free to agree or disagree, discuss or add your own suggestions. Of course the season is not over yet and we could yet have a late entry into the top five. Perhaps it could even be the league winning match?
I hope so, I want a trophy!
Cardiff at home was a key game – We gave them a good thrashing and I think it gave the players the confidence to play with a bit of freedon at home.
It must of done as we went on to score a hat full of goals in our next few home games.