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Newcastle United	6 - 2	Everton
Half time:	2 - 2
Score Sheet:
(13) Shearer (15) Cort (59) O'Brien (71) Solano (73) Solano (88) Bernard		Ferguson (6) Alexandersson (34)
	Teams
Given Hughes Distin Dabizas O'Brien Solano Jenas Robert Dyer Shearer Cort		Simonsen Pistone Stubbs Weir Unsworth Alexandersson Gemmill Gravesen Hibbert Radzinski Ferguson
Substitutes:
(73) Bernard for Robert (73) LuaLua for Cort (79) Acuna for Dyer		Watson for Hibbert (31) Chadwick for Radzinski (73) Blomqvist for Pistone (73)
Subs not used:
Elliott Harper		Gerrard Moore
Bookings:
None		Watson (41) Pistone (69) Unsworth (89)
Sendings off:
None		None
Referee: Graham Poll (Tring) - May I be struck down for this but I'm starting to quite like Graham Poll. Since a horrible display at Filbert Street six years ago he's beginning to win me over. He really had nowt to do today but  got most things right - except the throw that led to our first goal! He even had a bit of good-natured banter with the crowd. No doubt next time he'll have a stinker....
Attendance: 51,921.

6 mins Big Dunc had just changed his boots and was still to do up his laces. He challenged for the ball on the edge of the Newcastle area and scuffed the ball goalwards.

The next bit happened in slow motion as Shay Given leapt and got fingertips to the ball but it bounced behind the keeper and squirmed in. Ferguson wheeled away as if he had been desperate to put one over his former employers. 0-1

13 mins The ball went out for an Everton throw but once it was given our way Alan Shearer was miles ahead of the Everton defence in thinking and on the pitch as he raced into the box from the left flank. A touch to steady himself and then a majestic side-foot swept it into the far corner of the Gallowgate net. 1-1

15 mins Laurent Robert took a pass in his stride and outstripped his marker. The cross was superb and Carl Cort's finish with the outside of his right boot was just as good. 2-1

34 mins A bit of ping-pong on the edge of the United box ended when the ball was nodded towards Alexandersson six yards out.

With the aid of some weak challenges and some Sylvain Distin disorientation the Everton man poked the ball past Given, who was guilty of a bit of hesitation himself. 2-2

Half time: Newcastle 2 Everton 2

59 mins Jermaine Jenas had a stunning drive saved and from the resultant corner, Robert swung in a decent centre. Cort got an aimless header in but after a deflection or two, Andy O'Brien was able to prod it under Simonsen, the keeper slowing the ball but not preventing it from trickling in.  3-2

71 mins The goal of the game. Shearer sent Kieron Dyer scampering away he left Alessandro Pistone for dead. Nolberto Solano made a good supporting run and had a simple finish once Dyer had expertly cut the ball back to the Peruvian. 4-2

73 mins Solano was quick to point to Jenas as the rightful recipient of the thunderous applause that followed this goal. Jenas, who looked like he was wearing seventies stripey socks, ran at the middle of the Everton defence and threaded a delightful ball through to Nolberto Solano. Our no.4 touched it one way and slipped it the other past Simonsen . 5-2

88 mins Bernard played one of the longest one-twos in football history with LuaLua. The two subs combined down the left after Given had rolled the ball to Bernard. Lua's pace embarrassed Steve Watson (still three days away from only his 28th birthday...!) and the cut back for Olivier Bernard was perfect.

The Frenchman lashed the ball into the roof of the net as he did his contract negotiations no harm whatsoever. 6-2

Full time: Newcastle 6 Everton 2

Uncle Bobby said about match-winner Dyer:

"He can play anywhere. His best position is in the middle but he can play on the right, loose or on the left. You can't live with him.

"Look at the goal he created - people can't catch him, he's alert, he's bright, he has got fantastic ability, he runs with the ball and not only that he just plays the right pass at the right time.

"It's as though he said 'there you go Nobby, I've done all the hard work, you just put it away'.

"He's a match-winner. When we won 4-3 at Leeds he made the goal for us. When other players have their tongues hanging out with exhaustion, he will find the energy at the end of the game.

"He can't play two games in a week, medically he cannot play." (Bobby then confessed Dyer would be in the side to face Aston Villa on Tuesday....).

"We have clearly missed Craig pretty badly. All season long we've developed a system which uses his assets and it's not easy to adapt to a different system without him."

Aaron Hughes told Ronnie:

"The goals were coming from everywhere. But that's exactly what we needed after the last month. There's no doubt that we've missed Craig, he's been influential all season with his goals, his running and his movement.

"But we went out against Everton to prove a point and it was nice to see some of the other lads get on the scoresheet.

It's important that we're not too reliant on one player and that we can still function when someone's missing. Craig did a little training after Friday's game and it looks like he could be back for the game on Tuesday.

"That was a massive confidence booster, it lifted the players and the fans after a bad week or two.

"The new level of expectation around the club shows how far we've come this season. We're sitting fourth in the league and people's heads have been down because we're out of the FA Cup and we've lost a couple of games to very good sides in the league.

"We're all in it together here so when one of us gets criticised, we all take it and when things go well we know, as a collective, that we're all responsible.

"We know Chelsea and Leeds are just over our shoulder but the important thing is that we're looking forward. They've been there all season but once we're out on the pitch we don't think about anyone else but ourselves and the opposition.

"The past few weeks have been disappointing so it was good to get a win and get back on track. Now we're looking at every game as a must-win so that we get that Champions League spot.

"But we don't just want to get it by finishing fourth, we want to finish higher."

Bobby said about Dabizas:

"Dabby doesn't know how to play offside.

"We got off to a bad start, it was a freak goal that seemed to hang in the air and go in in slow motion.

"When we got back into the game we conceded another sloppy goal, which we were disappointed about.

"So we regrouped at half-time and the key to the second half was that we knew if we could keep things tight at the back we'd score goals at the other end.

"The second half was a lot more comfortable for us at the back and I thought the whole team played very well, especially the midfield.

"When you look at the respective ages of Kieron and JJ, 22 and 19, it's just frightening. They will be Newcastle's midfield for years to come, and you've still got Gary Speed to come back as well. That's the difference with us now, we're a stronger squad.

"And the goal was just what Carl (Cort) needed. It takes a few games to get back into the swing of things after injury but he has had a little bit of stick.

"People don't see the hard work he's put in in training and on Friday he got his reward for that. You could see his confidence grow."
 

David Moyes said:

"For 60 minutes we went toe-to-toe with them and tried to compete with them, but they had the energy and the pace and it was very difficult to match them in the last 30 minutes.

"Kieron Dyer's energy through the midfield and their pace on the flanks was always a threat. Unfortunately they got their third goal when we were having our best spell.

"We came to give it a go, and six points out of nine is not a bad return for a side in the bottom half of the Premiership." 

About our ex-striker, Ferguson:

"Duncan's done great. He's got us another goal, he's leading the team and I see him getting much fitter and stronger with every game."

Lomana LuaLua made his 50th NUFC senior appearance in all competitions.

Clarence Acuna became our 100th substitute of the season!

Normal service restored then, and three points gathered without Bellamy back in harness.

We said before the game that an injury time own goal winner would suffice, but racking up a few goals never does the mood of the crowd or the confidence of the side any harm. And it was even on TV; some reward for the armchair audience after recent dispiriting displays.

The recent disappointments at the hands of Monsieur Houllier and Wenger may have wiped out any lingering trophy hopes for this season, but it’s heartening to see we retain enough class and nous to dispatch the flotsam and jetsam of the standard David Moyes now has to work with.

However that’s not to say that the Everton manager’s honeymoon looked like ending, in an opening period in a great comic tradition. We managed to conjure up two top-drawer finishes from our strike pair, but endured yet more slapstick nonsense at the back.

The work the manager does in training with the backline can’t always prevent Pires et al doing their stuff to great effect, but four soft goals conceded to Ipswich and Everton must concern the gaffer greatly.

One immediate effect of our porousness may be to see Distin restored to the centre of the defence and Elliott return at left back, but to be frank that prospect doesn’t send my pulses racing. Hughes may have carved out a new career on the opposite flank, but there remains a vacancy in the old number 3 jersey as there has been so often in recent decades (hands up those who recall such great white hopes as John Ryan and Peter Johnson flattering to deceive…..)

Quinn has continued to demonstrate his limited but unquestionably committed approach in the reserves, while the current cause celebre Bernard seems universally acknowledged as a midfielder who can drop back rather than an attacking defender. One would even be tempted to tout the claims of Griffin, had he spent recent months doing anything other than scowling his way through the Kingston Park games that he’s managed to be fit to play in.

There’s a school of thought that contends he’s been going backwards ever since Hughes claimed the right back spot, and the memories of his good displays against the likes of Ginola now almost seem as dated as the Frenchman’s hairstyle.

A crazy afternoon at Pride Park the previous week had seen Everton collect all the points despite demonstrating a lemming-like ability to avoid defending. This game looked like following a similar pattern when the visitors went ahead with what every quality newspaper is legally bound to call a speculative effort from big Dunc.

In stark contrast to his previous goal at that end of the ground – the Exocet strike against Manchester United two years before – this one dropped over the line courtesy of Given’s bad positioning and ineffective attempt to palm the ball away.

One thing remained constant though – the post-goal stream of ranting from our erstwhile striker, presumably directed at personal demons invisible to us Earth dwellers. Perhaps his mum sent a note to that nice uncle Berti when the inevitable international call came recently: dear Mr Vogts, Duncan is too mad to play today.

While one former toon player seemed content that his contractual obligation had been fulfilled and proceeded to amble around thereafter, the other two showed varying degrees of commitment before succumbing to our second-half show of strength.

On his return from illness Pistone gave a performance reminiscent of some of the better displays in his final toon games – no lack of spirit (contesting an obvious line call bringing a yellow card) but crucial lapses in concentration. Not far removed from the current incumbents of the St James’ left back slot then…

Had Bellamy played, there’s a good chance Pistone wouldn’t have lasted the full game, as he’d have surely been lured into a rash challenge or two. As it was he just about kept himself in check, but by the end was reduced to the role of spectator. Chalk another success up to Bobby for rehabilitating him before moving him on for a decent amount. Make that a double – punting Ferguson back to Everton should earn Bobby a knighthood if nothing else does.

The other ex-toonie, Watson was everything we’ve come to expect since Ruud ended his dreams – warmly welcomed and seemingly reluctant to do anything to upset his beloved black and whites.

It’s a measure of the desperation of the Smith regime that he was played in a forward role earlier this season – at least then he couldn’t be accused of sabotaging the defence I suppose. Surely the sight of him struggling today ended the last lingering thoughts of those who wanted to see him back at United with his mate Clarky.

Of course there were those of us who thought that last season as we watched Elliott at Bolton….

So, we weren’t magic but really we didn’t need to be. Of the bottom-half sides we’ve entertained recently, Ipswich and Bolton both sustained their interest in the game for longer than the Toffees.

Two games in and Moyes has already been proved right – he was at pains to dampen the fires of optimism breaking out after the 4-3 success at Derby, knowing he faces a long summer of buying and selling, or just giving away at any price, in some cases.

For Newcastle, various players came away from the game with nuggets of optimism: Robert showed that he can provide the supply lines for the forwards as well as bang in free kicks – his foray down the left to set up Cort was exactly what I hoped from both players playing in the same team; one playing Ginola to the other’s Ferdinand.

Confidence visibly flowed back to Cort after the goal, even to the extent that he was sufficiently bullish to attempt the touch and spin Bergkamp move that had foxed Dabizas and surely replaced Ronnie Radford and Le Tissier’s effort as our most-shown conceded goal.

Bernard came on and scored a goal that acted as a timely reminder of his obvious quality – a shame if he goes elsewhere for the sake of a few quid, as there’s a versatility there that would cost us far more to replicate by bringing in a player from another club. Fair to say also that there isn’t an obvious understudy coming through from the youngsters.

As for LuaLua, outside the walls of a circus tent there isn’t anything remotely like him. He arrived to torment an already- demoralized defence, and repeated the trick of recent reserve appearances by driving towards the byline before finding his man infield.

Michael Chopra provided the finishing touches at Kingston Park, today it was Bernard. And it’s only taken two years to get him to part with the ball willingly.

Whether there will ever be a place in the starting side for him is a moot point – a Pires-type injury to Robert would seem to be his best chance, Robson having elected not to use his pace and trickery in an understudy role to Bellamy.

So the vital stats: three points, six goals, 50,000 relieved fans.

It’s easy to get carried away, but if we can tighten up at the back to the extent we are capable of, then the passing movements of Dyer and the rest will take us through most teams, except the real big lads.

Buoyed by the boost in confidence a win brings, the fitness of Dyer and the imminent return of Bellamy, we’ve emerged from the darkness again, seemingly in the nick of time. Hopefully we can keep our noses in front of the Chelsea express and roll over the remaining inferior sides we still have to face to claim that fourth spot.

However it’s fair to say we won’t have any easier opponents than this, despite which we stumbled through an opening 45 minutes that didn’t make easy viewing for fans or manager. It’s the score line that will be remembered though.

Despite the foul ups here, there was heartening evidence that there’s enough spirit and guts in our team to pull this off. At this stage of the season, it’s not just the teams at the bottom that need to scrap for their futures – we have to keep fighting for every ball, every tackle, every cross.

Aston Villa’s season had died before Graham Taylor took over – we have to go to Villa Park on Tuesday intent on recording another win there, knowing we have better players. Hopefully we also have a greater will to succeed.

Biffa

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