Sideshow Bob hits the spot.A quick trip up to Watford for this North London dwelling Geordie, and my first visit to Watford’s Vicarage Road.
The last time I went to a game with today’s companion was the time we lost 6-1 to Leyton Orient, with my (Arsenal supporting) friend making some choice wisecracks right through the game. Though of course I felt very confident that another drubbing like that wasn’t on the cards, his presence still made me slightly superstitious. We found ourselves ensconsed in the Vicarage Road end, and indeed, the view doesn’t seem bad at all compared with what away supporters get at some grounds, and it seems like a decent enough place. Well it does on three sides anyway, with the currently closed East Stand looking a bit of a mess as it awaits the construction of a supposedly “state of the art” new stand. The supporters seemed fair enough too though perhaps not the most vociferous. On with the game though! (more…)
Argy and BargyWithout a win away from home in almost three months, Newcastle beat Watford 2-1 to take the first three points on the road, since the start of December when we beat Coventry City. Prominent in victory were our Argentine centre-half, Fabriccio “Not so clownish now” Coloccini and Andy “Crown Court” Carroll.
Despite evidently not playing the exotic football that the purists amongst us crave, judging by the crack on Radio Newcastle, the lads seemed to once again acquit themselves well, despite missing some big players and while playing on a farmer’s field. And although there was a scare at the end when we appeared to invite trouble onto ourselves and nearly paid the price, the conclusion seemed to be that this was another reasonably comfortable victory for The Mags.
Another good start saw Coloccini grab his second goal of the campaign after Nolan had flicked on a Guthrie corner, Andy Carroll steered the flick-on to the Argentine, who headed in to make it 1-0 after only four minutes. And the provider became finisher just after the break, when Carroll used his strength for the right reasons on the pitch this time, out-muscling Watford challengers to meet Guthrie’s corner and tower in a header for 2-0. (more…)
Up for the cup?It’s 25 years since Paul Gascoigne led the Newcastle United youth side to cup success over Watford, running out 4-1 winners on the day. The side included the likes of Ian Bogie, Gary Kelly, Brian Tinnion, Kevin Scott, Jeff Wrightson, Paul Stephenson, and Joe Allon, all of whom went on to play for the first team. That success followed almost 25 years on from the only other previous FA Youth Cup win 1962, when we beat Wolves 2-1.
And the current ‘kids of the future’, are on course to carry on the pattern after defeating Crystal Palace 4-1 at St James’ last night. With home advantage for the first time on the competition, the youngsters proved to be the better side on the night and the crucial goals came from Conor Newton, Samuel Adjei, Phil Airey and Sammy Ameobi. At the other end, Jak Alnwick kept his side on course for a two-legged Semi- Final against either Fulham or Aston Villa, with a crucial penalty save.
Newcastle took the lead after 24 minutes and an otherwise even affair, Conor Newton getting the faintest of touches from Samuel Adjei’s free-kick, and only belatedly being accredited with the goal. It was the provider who turned finisher, when Adjei made it 2-0 only three minutes later, picking up a loose ball and lifting a lovely lob over the stranded keeper. (more…)
Lovenkrands: Scored again, but had to pull out.Another home game, another win. It seems the Newcastle United promotion charge is picking up pace at the right time. With our last 2 home games bearing the gift of 9 goals scored, as fans we could be forgiven for wanting more of the same. Goals this season have been a rare treat, often with the boys in black & white doing just enough. Performance wise it was a case of just enough, but result wise it was another 3 goals, another clean sheet and another 3 points.
With the surprise news that Wayne Routledge was to miss today’s game with a calf injury, it meant a recall to the team for club vice-captain Alan Smith with Danny Guthrie move out to the right wing to accomodate. That left both sides lining up as follows:
Newcastle United:Harper, Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Van Aanholt, Gutierrez, Smith (c), Nolan, Guthrie, Carroll, Lovenkrands. (more…)
Another one for the Bensham Bomber.Apologies for tardiness but with one thing and another, I never got round to my “full report to follow” from last night’s report of the Newcastle v Coventry game. As a result I left out a lot of the gory details. No doubt you’ll have read other reports in the meantime but as I’ve not said much today, here’s what I thought…
Coventry City came to St James’ in some decent form but in all honesty never looked like they had much belief of getting anything out of the game. With Hughton reverting to the 4-4-2 formation that was so successful against Cardiff, but pairing Carroll with Lovenkrands instead of Best, there was a lot of promise of a repeat performance.
However, thirty minutes later and it looked like it might be a frustrating night with Guthrie’s blocked free kick from the edge being the closest we came to breaking the deadlock. Coventry set up stall and defended well and didn’t give us much of a sniff, although mercurial wing wizards Gutierrez and Routledge were just warming up their wands, so to speak. (more…)
