Oh, Shola Ameobi! Newcastle United 1, Sunderland 1.
March 5th, 2012 | 22 Comments |
Venue: St James’ Park.
Date: Sun 4th Mar 2012.
Kick-Off: High Noon.
Referee: Mike Dean.
Crowd: 52,388
This was without a doubt a game of twos! Two totally different halves, two penalties, two red cards, two goals and two managers who should know better, being caught up in the rivalry and squaring up to each other both verbally and physically.
It was raining before the game, and it rained a bit during the game, but the wet weather could not dampen the electric atmosphere of the latest Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park, NE1. Already assured of a sellout crowd fired with the usual local pride and passion, United fans were further emboldened by the news released 24 hours earlier, that both Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini had signed contracts tying them to the club for the next 5 and 4 years respectively.
First Half
The referee Mike Dean blew his whistle to start the game and nothing happened, as the crowd noise was so intense that Sessegnon, who was waiting to get things under way, didn’t hear it. Eventually we got going however to a wall of boos for the Mackems. There were exactly 32 seconds on the clock when the mackem thug “Clattermole” ignored the ball completely and scythed down Tiote in what was clearly one of those “let him know you’re around” early tackles. He should have been given a straight red card but got away with a yellow, probably because it was so early in the game. Sadly though, this tackle signalled Sunderland’s clear intent to make this a very physical game, and this not only set the tone for the rest of the half, but meant that some of the football went out of the window as United were forced into a war rather than the possession game we have come to expect this season. (more…)