Darlington 2 Newcastle 7
Northern Echo Darlington Arena
Saturday 18th July Kick-off 12.30pm
Derek Llambias was in the crowd to watch Newcastle demolish Darlington by seven goals to two. The travelling Toon Army (approx 4,500) of them entertained the MD with chants of Shearer. Derek left fully understanding that he should install Alan as manager now.
An avalanche of goals from the two Newcastle teams (again one in each half as per the Shamrock match last week), gave the travelling fans an entertaining afternoon to ease the ongoing Mike Ashley saga for 90 minutes. Damien Duff opened the account after three minutes when he beat the offside trap to finish nicely. Darlington equalised after seven minutes when Tamar tripped Mark Convery and Dean Windass finished off the penalty.
Within ten minutes Newcastle were back in the lead when Joey Baron got to the touchline and pulled the ball back for Kevin Nolan to slot the ball home, nice move. Twenty-seven minutes and it is 3-1 to Newcastle when LuaLua supplied Shola Ameobi with a precise cross, he finished the move off with his left foot from six feet out. Hungry for goals now Shola got his second of the match in the thirty-seventh minute after a first nice touch and shot across the keeper into the net.
Seven changes to the team were made at half time by Chris Hughton. One of those who came on scored in the forty-seventh. Spiderman Jonas Gutierrez the Argentine international celebrated his first goal for the club after a run and fine finish. Steven Taylor who scored last week got in on the act again with a header to finish off a four man, 6-1 Newcastle. Dean Windass scored soon after to make it 6-2. However, the final goal of the match with fifthteen minutes to go went to Andy Carroll with a nice assist going to Jose Enrique.
All in all a nice afternoon for the players’ only Darlington yes however, good to see their shooting boots on. United wore their new-look yellow change kit for the first time, lucky kit?
Finally, like the black clouds of the last few days the serious matters off the field still hang over us.
Acting Manager Comments: Chris Hughton
"He's (Nicky Butt) suffered a partial dislocation of his thumb,"He's gone to hospital but it's not too serious and he should be OK."
on Taylor Goal Threat
Chris Hughton talking to nufcTV
"He is one of these centre-halves that you know at the end of the season would have got you a few goals. He's got two already this pre-season but we hope he continues to get them when it really counts. But to have someone with that ability is a real bonus to the team.
Colin Todd Manager Comments
None reported yet!
Lets Stick Together Again
Steven Taylor talking to The Journal
The squad is really good. Everyone is sticking together, from the young lads to the older ones. Last season we knew there were a few people who didn’t want to be here, but now we realise that we are in the Championship and the only way to get back up is by sticking together.
The Dublin trip was the best thing that could have happened to us all. We had to spend every single day together. Three times a day we spent training, getting up at 7am.
Most players didn’t fancy that, but after the first day everyone was pushing each other, it was good to see. There was never anyone hiding away, that to me highlights that none of us wanted to be seen as coming last.
The fans don’t understand. Because it seems the club is a shambles, they probably think that the players are fighting every day in training, but with us it is completely different.
I just wish they could spend one day on the training ground to see just how we are going about this and getting along with each other. There’s a much better team bond now.
The worst thing about it is that no matter what I say it seems that I’m just putting over a message the fans want to hear. We were accused of that after the Shamrock Rovers game, but it isn’t.
They don’t realise what it has been like and I can assure you that Dublin was definitely the best thing that could have happened to Newcastle United. We have to stick together.
We get sick of hearing differing things and reading different things in the papers. Every day is different. It’s been said it’s going to get taken over one week, then it’s the week after and it still has not happened. Until we see it finalised, that’s it.
Fitness is the main thing and the score (in pre-season) doesn’t really mean much. We have three weeks left and we have to make sure we are in the best possible condition, shape, because we know it will be a difficult start for us. We will get on with it.
It’s frustrating, but all we can do is get on with our jobs because if you think too much about things off the pitch, it will affect performances on it. You have to look after yourself and each other. It’s a small squad now, but that’s Newcastle United now.
Colin and Chris have done a fantastic job. For them to get us in the great shape that we are, in the circumstances, is fantastic. They have not complained, they have just gone about it the right way.”
Habib Beye - We Deserve Better
talking to The Chronicle
“I feel for them because they deserve better, much, much better. They need to know what the future is at this club, and it must be terribly hard for them. The fans were better than us last season. But it’s important to have a good relationship between the fans and the players. We will always try to communicate with them. They are brilliant.”
Quite rightly they expect Newcastle to go back to the Premier League at the first attempt. They have been with us right from the start and they have backed us. They did in Ireland and again in Darlington. Yes, it was a friendly game, but they showed what great fans they were by singing all of the way through.
They even did it at Aston Villa after we went down. Those are true supporters and one thing we still have at this club. They were behind us all last season, which must have been hard. And they show us players they are behind us, which means so much.
It was all right and I came through it. The important thing about these games is to remain fit. You must avoid injury and try to get your fitness up in every game. I think for 45 minutes it was good for me. We won 7-2 but, I think while it’s good to win the game so comfortably, everybody played between 45-60 minutes and we have kept something for the next game. The fitness is better every day.”
Darlington Match Day Twitter
For the Darlington match I used Twitter to update my website whie at the match. Below are images of the match twritters...
