Archive for tag: 6-1.

The worst Newcastle United performance I’ve ever seen [updated].

July 25th, 2009 | 13 Comments |

Krul and Forster spent much of the game like this.
Krul and Forster spent much of the game like this.
Well, it all seemed like it was going to be such a nice day. The sun was shining, the drive across London remarkably swift, and I was looking forward to a few nice goals against a supposedly much inferior team. Lady luck shined on us in the form of a helpful passer by, who informed us that our car would be towed away if we left it where we intended to park it. No such luck for Newcastle United however, not that luck had anything to do with it. Today, United managed the seemingly impossible feat of making Leyton Orient, a team that finished 14th in League One last year, look like Spain, on a good day.

It only took four minutes for Leyton to score, when woeful set-piece marking led to a fairly easy header from Leyton’s Jimmy Smith. “OK” I rationalised to myself, “the lads haven’t woken up yet, it’s only a friendly and now they’re a goal down, they’ll respond, the class will tell in the fullness of time etc etc. A distinct chance by Beye after around a quarter of an hour offered some hope, However, time moved on and Leyton were still generally the dominant force when they were awarded a penalty in the 23rd minute. Adrian Patulea had Beye under great pressure in the box, where he eventually handled the ball (according to the ref he did anyway), and the spot was pointed to. Ex Sunderland player, Sean Thornton, whose free kick had led to the first goal, converted well. Ever the optimist, a famous ‘Keeganism’ came to mind at this point, “The good news for Nigeria is that they’re two-nil down very early in the game”. (more…)