Newcastle United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

[funster]

Well, last match report of the year for me. After missing a grand total of five games in all competition home and away, I'll now be taking a well earned (or should I say, enforced?!) rest over the festive period. Yes, the missus has been banging on, so I'll be skipping Boxing Day and away at West Brom, and there's a chance that I may not go to the FA Cup game despite having tickets.

Hmmmm..... if I had my way, the only game I'd miss would be West Brom, but then again, some sacrifices are needed if I'm to get out to the Ukraine!

Errrr..... right, where was I? Oh yes, Newcastle away.....

So, I've never been to Newcastle for the footie. Been for a stag-do, but never to the footie. So this was the first time. Since its such a bloody long way to go we decided to break the trip by staying at my mate Stu's in Leeds. He was gagging for us to beat them being the big Mackem fan that he is. Suffice to say he was pretty pleased with their performance at humping Hull.

Of course, any night out in Leeds means you are going to have a skinful, and Saturday night with Stu and my sister was no different. Not enough to give me a headache on Sunday morning, but plenty all the same.

That, of course, didn't stop us from stocking up for the journey up to Newcastle on the train. Three cans of lager saw us through the journey! A bit to eat and a couple more bevvies and we headed for St James's Park.

There is no doubt about it. This is the best positioned city centre ground you could possibly hope for. Ten, maybe fifteen minute walk from the station, and within easy reach of The Quayside, and, should you wish, Bigg Market..... leave that to your discretion!

St James's Park


The first thing to say about St James's Park is that it is bloody massive. Perched up above you as you walk up from the station, it is a big, big ground. Very lopsided mind, but big all the same. We had to get a lift up to Level 7 to take our seats! Yep, its that tall.

Very lopsided mind


Funny thing before the game last week was that a load of Geordies had been giving us stick for our new stadium plans.

"You'll never fill it"
"You're a nothing club"
"You haven't even sold out for this trip"
blah blah blah

Well, I tell you what, I'm glad we're putting together a new stadium because with St James's being so lopsided, it looks very odd. As for giving out about our supporters, well..... I'll come back to that in a bit.

"Why-aye, busy in here today the marra"


We stuck with our now customary 4-5-1, Pavlyuchenko starting up front, and there was a very genuine feeling that we could get something out of the game. Play like we had against West Ham or ManUre and there was the potential to take all three points. Play like we had against Fulham or Everton.....

While we missed the first couple of minutes, once we took up our stratospherically high positions (nobody told me I needed an oxygen tank!), it was clear we were making the early running.

Newcastle United - as if we didn't know where we were


A header from a corner saved by Given for another corner. A shot from Huddlestone, deflected for another corner. Then a break from Lennon down the right and a foul for a yellow card, only for the free-kick to lead to nothing.

Very promising I thought.

Sadly it all came to a crashing halt soon after. About ten minutes in Newcastle broke, there was a bit of a mix between BAE and N'Zogbia, a half shout for a pen..... Somehow N'Zogbia managed to stay up, twist free, and fired low past Gomes for the opener.

Piss piss poor defending. Now, I know I was probably the best part of five miles away, but even from there I could tell there was no way BAE should have let N'Zogbia free to score from what looked like a position prone on the ground.

Third piece of shocking defending in the space of a few days, third goal conceded.

From the restart we got back to what we had been doing earlier. A lovely bit of skill by Modric to keep hold of the ball in their box, then lay it off for Bentley, only for the shot to go wide.

Hilariously I then lost track of what was going on as a mini-ruck broke out right in front of me between three people. Some bloke accusing the couple standing next to him of not supporting Spurs. Man, some of that language was x-rated! Its been funny that this season more than any I've seen Spurs supporters arguing with each other like never before at games. It was so heated that about four or five other people around us got involved too.

I kept myself well and truly out of it, preferring to try focusing on the game. Whatever I missed, the next bit of action was seeing us caught out with a quick free kick that Newcastle took down the right. It needed a decent clearance from Dawson to prevent the floated ball causing us more damage.

They seemed to quite go for this floated ball lark. Another one was well defended by Corluka to prevent a chance, but now the balance of play was beginning to shift. Newcastle were having loads of possession, and although it wasn't hugely threatening, it had certainly disrupted our early tempo.

Now, back to their supporters. Of course, they had celebrated like maniacs after the opener, but considering the amount of possession they were now having they were very quiet. Very quiet indeed. Self-styled best supporters in the country..... more on them later.

The team were doing their best to get them going. They got a shot in on target, fired across goal on a tight angle from the left that Gomes saved well. This was getting daft. Having looked vastly superior early on, we had conceded a poor goal, had let them have loads of possession, and now, half an hour in, we were letting them create decent chances.

All change from the punt upfield! The ball found its way to Modric, in acres of space with Newcastle trying to play offside against totally the wrong man, and the little Croatian not only kept his cool as he advanced from the centre of the field, he also struck his shot low and hard past Given into the bottom corner of the net!

GOAL! Yes! Back on level terms, and, in my humblest of humble opinions, entirely just.

The goal gave us some fresh hope and once again we began to dominate. With fifteen minutes still to play it looked like we were beginning to turn up the heat.

Corluka advanced down the right with the ball, played it to Pavlyuchenko just inside the box, and his shot was saved by Given. Soon after, another good Spours move, but from good position the shot was deflected for a corner.

With ten minutes to go till the break it was all Spurs, to the extent that the Newcastle fans cheered an offside! Sad. OK, so it probably had more to do with the Modric goal, but it brought out their biggest cheer of the afternoon other than the opening goal! Best supporters in the land my arse.

Still we kept coming. A lovely move down the left should have led to more, but a poor pass meant we conceded possession badly when in a well advanced position. Just as well Newcastle were unable to capitalise because we could've been caught with a lot of players in very advanced positions.

The final chance should, again, have fallen to us, as a break down the right led to the ball being switched to the left only for Modric to fail to do better from what was a very good position. Ho hum.

That, basically, concluded the first half. While we sank a pint at half time we bumped into one of the blokes we normally travel away in Europe with. Complete agreement that we had dominated, should already be smashing the crap out of them, and yet, because of bad defending and an inability to capitalise on good build-up play, we were only level. Tsk tsk.

The start of the second half saw Newcastle start better. Corluka was done for pace to the byline, but thankfully the ball that was well slid in posed no danger.

Finally, five minutes into the second half their supporters piped up. Not for long mind. Best supporters in the land. Pah. Yeah, whatever.

Still, Newcastle were having the better of the early exchanges. A break down the right led to nothing as Gomes came out, but he was a bit slow. Underworked on the day no doubt.

With the amount of ball we'd had in the first half, it was only going to be a matter of time (and a short time at that) before we got ourselves back into this.

Modric broke well down the left, was fouled, and badly, but skipped past the challenge and kept the ball. Now, it should either have been advantage and a yellow later, or a yellow straight away. Result? Referee gave a foul and no card. Very poor decision. It had robbed us of a good attacking position when Newcastle could have been caught short at the back, and the offending Newcastle player got away with nowt.

The play was again seeming to be mostly ours, although one super piece of defending from BAE should get special mention. From a Newcastle attack it looked like he was going to get caught out. At first it didn't look like he knew what he was going to do, and most were just begging him to hoof it clear, but from a position of facing his own goal, he jinked twice, and just as he was about to clear he was brought down. Cynical, but a lovely bit of skill from the lad. Strange that he's had his best spell at Spurs since he announced that he wanted to return to France.....

The next chance again fell to us, Pav receving it on the left, flicking it into the box, only for the shot to go for a corner. A poor one as it turned out, from Bentley. More on him later..... you know where this is going, don't you?!

Another Spurs attack then saw Huddlestone booked for a dive. Difficult to tell from our vantage position, but we took it for granted despite some half-hearted shouts for a penalty. The chances of Huddlestone actually being brought down for a penalty are usually slim, let's face it!

We were, however, dominating the game again. Campbell was brought on for Pav - a move I was unconvinced about. Campbell had been poor at playing as the lone striker earlier in the week, so having him as the sole attacker probably wasn't going to get us the winning goal. Mind you, it also didn't look likely that Newcastle were going to get the winner. With the best part of half an hour still to go though we were still giving it a shot!

Lennon laid the ball off to Huddlestone and his shot, which you'd expect to be one of the usual hammer hits, was off target. Lennon then got in on the act himself, getting into a central position from a break, Given saving his effort.

In between all this action I think I remember shouting "What the *%$& is Bentley doing?!". Somewhat incandescent with rage as I recall. I wasn't on my own. Throughout the game he had disappointed, and now, even with Spurs totally dominant, he was failing to put in dangerous balls from either open play or set pieces, and was pulling back from tackles that didn't need much effort. I am losing my patience with the lad. I tell you.

His lack of pace was exemplified when Corluka won the ball on the right, chipped it into the danger zone, only for Bentley to be far too slow to react. Now, fair enough, I never expected him to have pace, but where's the rest of his game?!

The best chance of the half till then suddenly fell to Owen. From having had the best part of no possession, he was free, very central, ball at his feet, firing miles over the bar! Ha ha ha ha ha! Actually, it was more like "Phew". A lucky escape, and not one you expect Michael Owen to grant you.

With a quarter of an hour to go Newcastle were just beginning to get back into it, but still the better possession and chances were ours.

Sadly, Bentley did his best to squander some of them, failing to clear the defensive line from a great position for a free kick. His contribution was in stark contrast to that of one Aaron Lennon. Its incredible to think that Lennon had such a shocker last season, yet since Bentley's acquisition, and the likely threat that posed to his position in the team, he's been outstanding. The ex-Blackburn player on the other hand.....

There were more chances to be had though. A break down the left saw Campbell seemingly take an accidental extra touch, the ball in being too easy to deal with. Then two more half chances that resulted in nothing. Another Spurs half chance following a run by BAE, but this time Newcastle broke and it required a good interception from Zokora to prevent a run on goal.

It hardly looked like it was going to matter though. It looked nailed on for a Spurs point at the very least, and Lennon seemed to be going on a crusade down the wing to try creating as many chances to allow the maxium to come home with us. A super run down the right, he got to the line, crossed brilliantly - yes, I really did say that about a Lennon cross! - but Campbell couldn't connect and what was a really good chance went begging.

Then, as time ticked away and the point looked all the more likely - and we'd have taken it if you'd offered it before the game given our awful record against Newcastle in the League - the sucker punch.

I could not believe it. We failed to clear twice, and it was slid in to give Newcastle the lead with only injury time remaining. At first sight it looked another shoddy piece of defending. While I'll grant that it was a really good piece of build-up play between Duff and Viduka, I still think we should've done better. Gut feel, and first impressions count for a lot I reckon and I wasn't thinking to myself - "Wow! What a good goal" - so I still feel as though we got done over thanks to poor defending.

That looked like it was going to be it, but deep into injury time we created a chance as good, if not better than the one Owen had. Bentley finally delivered, and well, right on the money - should I forgive him all his mistakes for one piece of skill? - only for Campbell, completely and utterly unmarked, six to eight yards out, to head, feebly, into Given's arms. It was a spectacular chance, but in reality nobody in the Spurs end was holding their head in their hands. Nobody expected to see the net bulge. The reaction was more - "Yep, another great position, another crap finish".

It was an absolute travesty. A game we had utterly dominated. Where we created the better chances. Nothing. Absolutely bloody nothing. Unbelievable.

Defeat I can take. So long as it comes against a side that's played better than you. Against Fulham and Pompey I was bitter, but not because we had lost. We deserved to lose both those games, the opposition superior on the day. It was drilled into me when I was at school that if you lose to a better side, you can't be too hacked off.

Losing to Newcastle on Sunday though..... No chance. There is no way I can accept that they were the better team on the day, so I am bitter. Rightly so.

This was a really disappointing result. We had played really quite well. Two defensive errors cost us two goals - for the second game running - and this time there was no coming back.

There were some really good performances. Lennon and Modric, in particular, were absolutely outstanding. The best performers in the Spurs side in recent weeks, and they are maintaining and improving their performances.

Other than the two defensive errors, and a couple of other jittery moments, we were OK. Clearly, I'd rather see King partner Woodgate, but on the day, Dawson did fine. Corluka, while not outstanding, was solid, and BAE, but for his awful effort at the first goal, had an OK game. Like I said, funny how his level of performance has risen since he announced he wants to head back to France.....

Up front we were short of options. Neither Pav nor Campbell troubled Newcastle sufficiently as lone strikers, and its a position we know we're weak in.

Worst performance of the day? Need you ask? I almost felt like saying - "Sod it, send him to bloody 'Boro and we'll take Downing in exchange". A tad over the top, but I can't keep watching shoddy performances from Bentley. I just can't.

Luckily, with at least a week off for me now, I won't have to!

The so-called best supporters in the land were giving it what for as we left. Easy to do when you have a long line of police between you. Didn't hear so much as a peep during the game except for the two goals. I was shocked. Massive stadium, supposedly great supporters, a location where going to the football is "like theatre" (apparently - if you believe Kevin Keegan).

Well, I tell you what, on the basis of what they managed on Sunday, you can keep your 'best supporters in the land'.

Maybe it was the very average performance their team served up? I dunno. I suppose if I had to watch that week in, week out, I'd be a bit upset too.

There was a bit of a comedy moment on the train heading back to Leeds. A couple of Newcastle supporters decided to have a good go at a couple of Spurs supporters. Not us, I would add!

"Tell you what mate, when you win something, anything, you come over here and you can say whatever you like. Till then $%£* off".

The Geordie lad had to have some bird who was probably in her sixties come to his aid! As they all got off at Darlington, we started chatting to the other Spurs lads. Ended up being a funny trip back to Leeds. One of the Spurs lads we'd met was from Liverpool! Now that took some doing. Hearing a Spurs fan with a Scouse accent. Not something you hear every day! We even bumped into a lad who used to sit right in front of us for years till he moved to Leeds.

Back in Leeds the boozing continued with Stu and a fine curry was had. The disappointment was soothed a bit, but not a lot.

This was a game where we were deserved a lot, lot more.

[Pitseleh]

top report mate, and i have to say i agree with your points about bentley. hes clearly going through a bad run of form, and i could accept that if he was workin his balls off, but nope, his attitude stinks.