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Newcastle United v West Bromwich Albion
St. James's Park, Newcastle. 5th October 2002, 3.00pm.
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Another game from which we expected nothing, deserved a little more than nothing, but ended up with nothing. Another game against an expected top six side in which they looked below par, and we probably could have snatched something. Another game in which crucial refereeing decisions went against us. But this was different, this was a travesty. In all the others, it was a case of the plucky Albion hanging on and finally being broken. In this game we looked comfortable.

Now if you think Old Trafford is impressive, you need to be an away fan at Newcastle. It is quite an awesome experience, from the fourteen flights of stairs you have to climb to get there, to the magnificent view including the North Sea on the horizon. But you're not exactly close to the action.

A few changes were made from the last Premiership match. With McInnes back from injury, Megson moved Gregan into the back three in place of Siggy. Marshall replaced Koumas in the middle and Dobie was up front with Roberts. Murphy was stand in for the suspended Hoult.

This was one ground where I thought we could not out-sing the home fans, but we did. And it was primarily down to a magnificent first half display in which Albion created the better chances, and deservedly took the lead. Newcastle had a series if corners early on but Murphy was never troubled. The first blunder by referee Chris Foy came on 16 minutes when Roberts was put clean through by Dobie only to be held by Andy O'Brien. Foy was blind to it and did not give a free kick that would surely have lead to O'Brien's dismissal.

Dobie pulled a good save from Given but the real Ireland's number one had to save from Andy Griffin. The natives were getting restless as the Albion back three looked firmly in control of Shearer et al, McInnes was bossing midfield and Roberts being a constant menace up front. On 27 minutes they had real reason to worry. Balis broke down the right and found Roberts in the box. Roberts tried to beat Dabizas but the Turk got a foot in, pushing the ball into the path of BALIS who had continued his run. The Slovakian beat Given at his near post (with his left foot!) from twelve yards.

Newcastle pushed on for an equaliser but with Gregan in fine form at the back, Albion held firm until that moment on the stroke of half time. A cross from Solano hit Balis's foot at the back post and rebounded straight to Murphy who gathered it easily. And somehow Chris Foy deemed it a back pass.

After much fruitless arguing, Solano duped the Albion defence with a dummy and then took the free kick while Foy was still telling the defenders to retreat. Or did he? Did the ball actually move before SHEARER hit it? Roberts got himself booked for protesting, but there could have been many more - it was a scandalous decision.

In the second half, both sides had chances, Bellamy missed the target when unmarked in the box for United and Given brilliantly saved a free kick from Clement - the first one on target since that wonderful day in April, I believe.

It looked like being a draw so Megson brought on Hughes for Dobie. But immediately the Albion defence gifted Newcastle a goal. A long ball towards Solano drew both Gilchrist and Clement leaving SHEARER unmarked in the middle to convert Nobby's header.

Bellamy had goal ruled out for offside before Roberts spurned another good chance. Put through on goal, he delayed his shot before finally blazing high and wide.

It all boiled down to a couple of refereeing decisions, but Albion need to battle through. This was an excellent performance by an improving side, McInnes made a huge difference and that enabled Gregan to fill in the problem position at the back. Once Hughes is back to his best, as I'm sure he will be soon, we'll be scoring more and winning more. The Blues game is big!!


RESULT - NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1

Marks

Murphy - 7 - Did well, hard to blame him for the back pass.
Balis - 7 - Another good game, but still not as potent as last season.
Clement - 6 - Did OK, still loses possession too often.
Gilchrist - 8 - Excellent performance.
Moore - 8 - Another solid game.
Gregan - 9 - MOM. Awesome.
Johnson - 6 - Worked hard for little result.
McInnes - 8 - Excellent performance, ran the midfield.
Marshall - 5 - Did very little.
Dobie - 7 - Looked lively.
Roberts - 8 - A constant menace, needs to control his temper.

Hughes - 7 - Looking sharper with every game.
Koumas - 5 - Made little impact.
Newcastle United (4-4-2):
Given; Griffin, Dabizas, O'Brien, A Hughes; Solano (Jenas 82), Dyer, Speed, Robert (Bernard 89);Shearer, Bellamy (Lua Lua 82). Subs not used: Harper (GK), Ameobi.
West Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Murphy; Gregan, Moore, Gilchrist; Balis, Marshall (Koumas 77), McInnes, Johnson, Clement; Roberts, Dobie (L Hughes 69). Subs not used: Jensen (GK), Wallwork, Sigurdsson.
Scoring: Balis (27) 0-1, Shearer (45+1) 1-1, Shearer (69) 2-1.
Bookings: Newcastle United - O'Brien (foul 54). West Bromwich Albion - Roberts (dissent 45+1), Gregan (foul 90+2).
Referee: C Foy (St Helens)
Attendance: 52,142
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