Tiff for Taffs! Newcastle 5 Cardiff 1.
Posted on February 6th, 2010 | 69 Comments |
Right from the outset, we looked the far superior team, in fact we stamped our authority so early, that yours truly missed the first goal and had to make do with the other four to savour. And after three goals in the first fifteen minutes, there was never any way back into this for the Bluebirds.
Chris Hughton made a whole host of changes, which ultimately provided us with more fluency and critically, more pace. Danny Simpson returned at right back with Ryan Taylor dropping to the bench. In came Fitz Hall making a full debut at the back, alongside Williamson. Coloccini was rested, after complaining of problems with a hamstring injury which has threatened since before Christmas. Nolan and Guthrie started in the middle of the park, with neither Smith or Butt anywhere in sight. Gutierrez returned on the left and Leon Best also made his debut, paired upfront with Andy Carroll.
Although I missed the first goal by seconds (Andy Carroll notching a tap in apparently), I didn’t miss the endeavour for the second goal, manufactured by the work-rate of Andy Carroll even though it will be credited as an own goal. Leon Best could and should have made a sensational start to his Toon career but contrived to miss his header with the goal gaping. But we didn’t need to wait much longer to extend the lead, when Danny Simpson delivered beautifully onto the head of Carroll who powered in his header to make it 3-0.
Cardiff flapped for the entire first half and the damage could have been far worse by halftime. Unable to keep the ball, they invited pressure from a Toon side invigorated and uniquely motivated with so many new faces on the pitch. And the new lads blended superbly, looking for all the world like they’d been together all season.
The bite and the passion returned with a vengeance last night, following fears from supporters that the hunger had gone from within the squad. Almost every tackle and loose ball was won by a black and white shirt. But even when Cardiff got on the ball they were wasteful, so the night’s dominance was as much about how poor they were.
The showboating started embarrassingly early with predictable ‘oles’ greeting each measured piece of possession as Cardiff fought in vain to save some pride. And two Peter Lovenkrands goals later on in the game, amidst a memorable atmosphere, the football lesson was complete. Even a consolation goal for the visitors didn’t spoil the evening. And the crack from the Cardiff fans (“easy, easy”, “we want two..”) just added to the occasion.
Much can be made about the performance (and in truth, I’m not even sure we played that well…) but with a team full of new faces, for the first time in a long while we went about our business in a positive way. And as a result, along with a cracking atmosphere, that has to be the most enjoyable game of football I’ve seen for a while up at St James’.
Some good performances out on the park, with Fitz Hall sure to be pleased with a steady debut. Williamson looks like he’s playing all season and the young left back looked much more composed and very capable. Routledge tormented them at times and is like a breath of fresh air with his pace. Leon Best did enough to suggest there may be more to come but without doing much more than keeping possession and some hard work, the sitter he missed will no doubt play on his mind.
Apologies for tardiness but it was so enjoyable, I went out on the hoy afterwards…
Us – Harper 7, Simpson 8, Williamson 8, Hall 7, Van Aanholt 8, Routledge 8, Guthrie 8, Nolan 8, Gutierrez 7, Carroll 9, Best 6.
Subs – Krul, Pancrate, Ameobi, Ranger, Kadar 6, Lovenkrands 9, R Taylor 6
Cardiff – Marshall, Matthews, Gyepes, Gerrard, McNaughton, Blake, Whittingham, McPhail, McCormack, Chopra, Bothroyd.
Subs – Enckelman, Quinn, Taiwo, Feeney, Kennedy, Wildig, Burke.
Att – 44,028 (including 2,650 Cardiff fans who made a canny bit of noise and looked a bit radge).
UPDATE: Match highlights video
NUFCBlog Author: bowburnmag
bowburnmag has written 234 articles on this blog.
Back to winning ways at last!!
Didn’t see the match myself but happy with the good result. Maybe now we can push on and get out of this league. (funny what a good result can do, im starting to feel optimistic again after the team being so stale for a while) Slump over?