Sucker-punch!An early boxing day start took me to Hillsborough in the hope we could continue our fine run of form against struggling Sheff Wed. It’s been well documented recently that our boxing day winning record has been less than impressive – the next chance we get, it will have been 22 years since we won! Here is my account of the match, and the day out in general…
After arriving in Sheffield and quickly finding a car parking space, me and my mate set off for the pre-match ritual pint. After a half-mile walk up an icy hill, The White Horse beckoned. Honestly, it was just like old times when we used to take over pubs and city centres, with toon flags outside and toon fans only inside.
Feeling refreshed, we walked to the ground taking our seats (second row, directly behind the goal), and sat down to enjoy the warm-up. I experienced that heart-sinking feeling as I watched our boys warming up, and quickly worked out that there was no Alan Smith, and that Nicky Butt was warming up with the starting XI (more…)
No repeat of 1988.Controversy, casual defending and a lack of commitment put paid to a full three points at Hillsborough, and so our Boxing Day jinx continues, as it’s now 21 years since we last recorded a win on our travels. A sluggish-looking Newcastle might as well have been back on the bus as Sheff Wed took the lead in the 14th minutes as O’Connor played the ball into the box unchallenged, and Luke Varney similarly without black and white company headed the ball past Harper to make it 1-0.
A very determined Sheff Wed start had put us continued pressure, culminating in them taking the lead but that seemed to wake us up and it was only five minutes later that we equalised. A hopeful ball bounced awkwardly on the edge of the Wednesday box and fell invitingly to Guthrie who produced another magnificent assist to go with the one against Boro. Nolan arriving in the box was really his only option, and it was a great ball but Nolan still had work to and finished his header brilliantly, planting the ball back across defender and goalkeeper.
And it seemed like business as usual when Ameobi was afforded the benefit of a late Christmas present from the linesman, who refused to acknowledge he was at least two yards offside. Shola didn’t need any encouragement though, and with a lovely turn and sidestep past two defenders he screwed the ball into the bottom corner to give us the lead. (more…)
Owld acquaintance?Following on from the previous games threads, I thought it would be a good idea to put up another article for the Sheff Wed game, that you can just use for the match banter. Yours truly won’t be in attendance but I’ve got the option of Sky Sports, with leftover Christmas dinner and a few cheeky beers but not all Toon fans are lucky enough to be there or have access to Sky.
So if anyone can find radio, video links etc to the game for people who don’t have it, I’m sure that would be appreciated. As ever, this can be the place to come together during the match and p*ss and moan, as we usually do. Squad news is on the preview article but hopefully we’ll get line-ups on here before the start.
As already mentioned in the preview, Boxing Day is notoriously bad if you’re a Toon fan, and we last won away from home on Boxing Day in 1988, ironically down at Hillsborough. (more…)
The Owls, predator or prey?We’re top of the league, they’re third bottom and have one point from the last six games and have lost five out of their last six home games. So tomorrow’s televised Boxing Day game against Sheff Wed should be a walkover, right? Aye, not likely, not when you consider the last time Newcastle won on Boxing Day away from home was in 1988 at, you guessed it, Hillsborough. Although I concede that conversely that might be a good omen in itself. Glass half-full and all that…
Boxing Day is notoriously bad for Newcastle fans, but it didn’t prevent the early sell-out of 5,300 officially allocated tickets. And it’s sure to not stop several hundred, if not thousand, travelling down to fill up the home sections, after the report that it’s only going be about a third full to capacity in a stadium full of tradition, if not the bumper crowds Sheff Wed would always pull in, in the past.
And in terms of looking back at the history between the two clubs, in games over the last 20 years or so, we’ve won ten, drawn five and lost two against The Owls. So with recent form alongside, we should be fairly confident of a technical knockout, but we could easily get a sucker-punch because we’re being beamed out on Sky Sports. And caretaker boss Sean McAuley, shouldn’t need to motivate his players, as the prospect of toppling the league leaders live on telly and in front of a big crowd should be incentive enough, so they will be looking to get us on the ropes early on. (more…)
Deck the balls!I think it’s safe to say that Newcastle United is always on the mind of supporters, and even a special day like tomorrow, will be filled full of ‘black and white’ anecdotes in many a household.
And of course it’s only a short interlude as there’ll only be 24 hours until the next episode down at Hillsborough when we take on Sheff Wed. 2009 has been a hell of a year but all things considered, I think it’s a much merrier time to be a Mag than we could ever have hoped for back in the summer.
But between now and then, even if you’re not religious, Christmas is a canny little get-together. So whether you’re playing on a new X-Box game. If you’re out on a sledge and too young or in some cases too daft to care about the cold (cos it’s bloody perishing oot there). Whether you’re playing with the kid’s new toys (and putting your back out on the Wii) or sitting around having a good craic with ya loved ones. Or in some cases resting your eyes and avoiding conversation with the in-laws (I don’t know who would do that though…). If you’re stuffing your face with extra turkey and Christmas pudding or having a proper good sup, and I expect some of you might do most, if not all of the above… (more…)
