On a rare sunny day in the dark underbelly of the North East, Newcastle had to negotiate an early derby game full of expectation amongst the deluded locals.
Such is the optimism after shelling out a fat wedge on a new bunch of fair to middling or overaged players. As was to be anticipated, the dark ones came out with an attitude to try and make amends for last seasons poor performances and results.
Unsurprisingly, they had the lion’s share of the early exchanges. Probably right up to the 15th minute when a Joey Barton header was blatantly ‘saved’ on the line by Larsson, who, incidently, isn’t a ‘keeper. (more…)
Kevin Nolan feels like chicken tonight once again!As Newcastle United got the game underway, accompanied by a chorus of boos from the bitter residents of the more underdeveloped side of the North East, I have to admit that I had some slight trepidation about this game. The Mackems were deperate for revenge after their comprehensive 5-1 humiliation at St James’s Park, and have had a more than decent run of form since that day, lying at sixth in the table.
As the game progressed, Newcastle started brightly enough, but it was proving to be something of a scrappy affair in the first half. But there was to be some, if not alot of excitement at both ends of the pitch. The first event of any note was when Ameobi, usually something of a talisman against Sunderland, missed a very good chance after around three or four minutes of the game to put the Magpies ahead. While he showed some endeavour to get on the end of a very good delivery by Joey Barton, his finish wasn’t great, and his effort was just wide of the post. Shortly after that, Sunderland’s Darren Bent was to return the favour at the other end, however he fired his fairly close range effort firmly at the legs of Steve Harper. (more…)
