Hey all, just got back in from the match, I live fairly local, do you see? What can I say? First of all El Bartino and Rob Lee got a great welcome from the Geordie faitful and came over to acknowledge us. Too top pro's there. The away support was as vocal as ever, and the rain had even kept off, it felt as thought it was going to be a good day today. So onto the match, and you'll have to bare with me on this one, as some of the details might be a bit shakey, I still haven't calmed down. Our seats were crap, we were right down at the front of the stand, so I couldn't really see what was happening at the other end, so someone else will have to fill you all in on the details. But in general we were utter crap for the first 60 or so minutes. It seemed to me that no one wanted anytime on the ball, it was all over the top stuff up to Big Al and CC. To be honest I can't remember much of the 1st half, probably just as well. Just as I sat back down for the start of the second half, bloody Derby go and score don't they. Couldn't believe it. Nor could the woman next to me who then spent the next 15 minutes on the phone telling everyone she knew what had happened. We were totally lost on the pitch, and most people were screaming for Bobby to make a change. Which he did. Lua on for Cort, and about friken time, Cort was useless. In the five minutes Lua had been on he did more for the game than Cort had done all match. C'mon we have to get something. We still looked shakey, so it looked about time Bob made another sub Which he did. But not the one most people were expecting. The decision by Bobby to bring off our best player of the 1st half, O'Brien left some of the Toon Army a bit belwildered. Never the less we still sang until we wet ourselves. The Derby support were ver vocal in their p*sstaking of Newcastle and seemed to take great joy in the fact that there was only one Kevin Philips???? Now I know Derby have some crap players, but do they really not have anyone in their team who's name is worth a sing? Shearer- Goal!!!!!! Yerssssssssss get in. Blollox offside, which the Derby fans took great delight in pointing out. Shearers head clash with rob lee looked nasty and they both had to be taken off the pitch. Both teams now down to 10 men, and we looked like we were still playing with 11. Little Kevin was ripping them apart, with some good play down the left and through the middle. Lua was a handful as they couldn't adjust to his pace. Nobby was all over the shop as we went for an opener. After some sustained pressure, we get a freekick on the edge of the box. Cmon get it in the middle. Robert steps up cool as you like - Goal, the Toon Army goes f'kin mental, and I mean mental we were all over the place. At first I thought it was going to be ruled out as the Derby players just seemed to be standing like prize ornaments, but no, it stood, 2-1 -Toon Toon Black and White Army. Jenas comes on for Al and Rob Lee comes on for, er himself complete with big turban style bandage. We had just calmed down from the free kick when who should pop up for an absolute stunner, Little Kevin himself. He really deserved his goal with all of the effort he had put in before hand. He runs off the pitch and straight to the away end. Que loads of mental Geordies surrounding him and JJ scream their nuts off. I think we were as loud as the Derby fans were quiet. Your're not singing anymore. 2-2 now, que A Derby goal, just to p!ss us off. But no, we keep piling on the pressure, Robert hits the bar, JJ cracks one against the bar. AAAArrrggg, it's just not going to be out day. The pressure coming from NUFC is brilliant we are passing like a team briming with confidence and Derby just don't know how to handle us. You can see the nerves starting to set in with the Derby fans, who are now strangely quiet. Then it happens, the greatest moment ever to happen during the month of April, stand up Lua Lua, for you scored the goal that set off one of the biggest rushes of emotion I have ever seen. The Toon Army went f'king mental, the whole stand seemed to be moving at the jumping and banging and singing. Needless to say the Derby fans were well on their way out of the door. Bye, bye, bye bye.... Now all we needed to do was hang on and this being NUFC would not be a for gone conclusion. Anyway we did. I can't remember much of the game after the third goal, I was still too busy celebrating. After the final whistle went, I was a bit dissapointed at how little of the team actually came over to us. However, as usual, Shay, The Best Keeper in England(tm) Given came over and applauded us and got a big cheer. As a nice touch warren barton also came over. Just to note, when Derby subbed Rob Lee we were the ones singing his name, the Derby fans were too busy booing and chanting you don't know what you're doing at Gregory. Anyway a good afternoon out, and I'm now going to have a lie down as I'm drained.

No doubt someone else will be able to provide a more detailed report, but my head is still spining.

**All spelling mistakes and bad grammar is intentional ***

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Answers

Mmmm, the formatting seems to have gone a bit off the mark.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Great report, Mick! You did a great job of capturing the emotion!

And don't anyone else who was there be shy. I could read about this match over and over...and I probably will. :-)

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Brilliant match report - I'm really sad I missed going. Games like this make you happy to be a football supporter. Sod the crap first 45 mins, when your team puts in a great comeback, it's bloody marvellous. We all sat through 2 sets of 4-3s at Liverpool so to be on the other end of a few comebacks this season has been absolutely tremendous.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Just back, exhausted - another 5 years added to my already extreme age! NUFC just do your nut in.

Now, what can I add to Mick' great report? We played like complete strangers for 70 minutes - Fulham revisited, no penetration, nothing sticking up front, countless off- sides, poor passing, missing tackles and Derby players just running through tackles - just what the frik is wrong with this team? No confidence, and yet we're playing a team who are frankly useless - yet they're pushing us back. Warren Barton had an excellent first half, gave LR nothing and constantly got forward to hit in a series of good crosses.

Things must surely improve in the 2nd half, and would Bobby make any changes - cos no one was doing much, Cort was bloody hopeless up front, Laurent was being Laurent, and both FB's were having nightmares.

Well the answer was unsurprising - same again. And ten minutes later - after our usual cr@p defending plus one stunning piece of finishing from Lee Morris from a good pass from guess who, yes Centre Partin - and we were two down, and basically dead in the water.

The previously completely and utterly silent Derby fans irritatingly teasing us with "you only sing when you're winning" - bloody rich coming that lot! At this stage I was actually thinking "thank god we're safe from relegation".

Just as I was beginning to think we would have to wait for the famous triple substitution three minutes from the end, even BR accepted he had to take CC off, threw on Lx3, and as far as Derby were concerned the roof caved in. I don't actually recall whether we got the first goal before AS went off, but basically with the game all but lost we dropped all the previous reservations, whatever had caused them, and went for it, big time. We played some scintillating stuff and Derby's defence just couldn't cope with Solano, Dyer, Jenas, Lx3 and Robert running at them and sliding passes between defenders, well supported by Bernard and Speed.

Robert noticed a gap as Derby were sorting out a wall, and brilliantly blasted in a FK from an acute angle. The same player, who had suddenly caught fire, blasted one inches wide from the edge of the box, blazed another chance miles over the bar, and hit another screamer that cannoned of the post and straight back out with the keeper well beaten.

Dyer, in full flight, then finished off a great passing move when Solano - who Derby felt was off-side - picked him out superbly on the 6yd box and he promptly disappeared into the Toon Army who went totally bananas.

JJ hit a screamer over the keeper and back off the crossbar, and it really seemed as though it wasn't going to be our day. Then up pops Lx3 to scramble in the winner after having come close a couple of times previously. Complete mayhem! You just had to be thrilled for the lad - he was so chuffed.

What an incredible comeback in a game that was effectively lost, and lost badly - but what we have to learn is what caused the turnaround? We had looked weary, static and totally lacking in invention, but for the final 20 minutes we played high tempo, brilliant attacking football that was utterly irresistable.

A very, very important win, and hopefully another turning point in this amazing season.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

2 great reports, although I like Mick's emotional account as it paints such a true picture of the occasion.

Obviously it's not the same listening on the radio, but we were all going through similar emotions, although we didn't have a clue what was going on with the Metro commentary. :)

Cheers again for the reports.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Yep Mick, that's a pretty spot on report for the game today, but to be honest I didn't think the toon army were as vocal today as some of the away games I've been to. Obviously when 2-0 down we were a bit quiet, but when it went 2-3 it was absolute bedlam and the friend I took down with me to Pride Park I don't think was quite prepared for the celebrations that followed....F*****G magic.

P.S Did anyone hear the disgusting chant aimed at wor Bobby...I hope Derby go down, simply for "some" of them joining in on this chant. Those of you who were there will know what I'm talking about!

Regards Marty

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Screacher...were you the one I saw up towards the back of the away stand...you know near the TV canera?...if so I'll introduce myself next time ;-)

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Thanks for your report, too, Clarky. So in that last 20min it sounds like we rediscovered that form that won us so many matches this season as well as making us great to watch? So it proves we are not a 1-man team reliant on Bellamy or Shearer. Just that we need to take other players in the squad(L3, Bernard) more seriously as options.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002

Brilliant match reports - thanks! (:o)

Listened to the match on the Derby site (thanks Ciara for the suggestion), and it was much better than Metro. I think we should try and get the two commentators a job with Metro, they was great.(:o)

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2002

I've watched the ITV Premiership highlights of our game twice now - some thoughts:

* for once, I thought the highlights were very complimentary to our first half performance.

* the collision between RL and AS was absolutely frightening, with Alan completely unprepared for the contact. Hope he is OK.

* Robert's FK was actually better than I remember, in fact it was sheer brilliance.

* Solano was clearly off-side for our 2nd goal and Lx3 was perhaps marginally offside on the 3rd. However, we were denied a clear penalty when Ravenelli pulled Lx3 away from the ball by tugging his shirt. As BR correctly said in his usually excellent post-match interview - "these decisions tend to even themselves up".

* like Marty I felt the Toon Army were more subdued than usual until we really got going in the 2nd half - except during one particularly sloppy spell for the team during the 1st half when the Toon Army decided the remind the team of the importance of the game and let rip for about 5 minutes, non-stop. I think this was caused by there being quite a lot of 'casuals' at the game as quite a lot of them around me were clearly just there to 'spectate'. The 'hard core' were probably as vocal as ever. By contrast, the home crowd were truly pathetic.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2002

That was the worst 70 minutes I have seen this season by any team. Giving the opposition space, passing to them, not challenging for high balls.

I am glad I waited til after the game to come on here!

Before anyone starts with points for players etc, I hope no one blames Distin for the first goal. One of the two centre backs should have had Christie covered, Distin was only the closest because he could see him and tried to get there coming off his man.

My player of the match was Bernard. Who said his defencive abilities were questionable? He was beaten once in a race for the ball, Kinkladze got to it just before him and made him look silly, however he put in some good hard tackles and made some great runs as well as putting through some great balls.

He played better over his 20 minutes than those who had a full 90.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2002

The day dawned bright with Edwin's Kingdom looking splendid. Glad to be back! The Stealth Astra © was fuelled up and rarin' to go, having been parked in the orifice carpark for 4 weeks while I was away enjoying myself working in the US of A. However, as I approached Smog Shields, the wether had turned cooler and the rain was starting to fall. Thankfully, the Tyne Tunnel was open, and substitute Pit Bill joined Clarky as we headed sooth doon the A1(M). Sadly Dougal was unwell and unable to travel, hence the Weshertun Wonder's appearance from the bench.

Despite his usual predictions about traffic delays etc, we made it Derby by 13:00. We eventually found the stationj by 13:30. That place just has to have to worst signposting in the civilised world. We saved £2 by finding the Station Car Park full, parking in the hospital instead. The money was put tyo great effect, contributing to a well-deserved Fish & Chip dinner. We were starving as Pit Bill had ignored the rules of the game - last one on board provides breakfast. Clarky was livid and never shut up about missing his bacon sarnie. Simple things.

The little hostelry opposite the station was eaving, so we made our way towards the ground where we'd spotted another pub, The Brunswick heaving with Geordies - and for a very good reason, havingthe biggest and best selection or real ales I have seenin a long while. If onl I'd been able to persuade Clarky or Pit Bill to drive :-( Anyway, basking in the sunshine outsdie were Jay and Kats and their entourage, at least one of the ladies making the most of her hubby's parting remarks "I expect you'll be p!$$ed when you get back". Ever-so-easy in The Brunswick. But all good things muct come to an end and the revelry and enjoyment of the pub was replaced by (another) one of the most dire first halves I have had the misfortune to witness. Following so closely on the heels of the Harrods FC debacle, moods were a bit glum.

However, I have to disagree with some of our other correspondents - I thought the Toon Army were in good voice and making a pretty good noise. Maybe it was only those of us at the back who were making the noise. (Yes, Marty, it was me beside the camera, with Pit Bill and DSS only a couple of rows in front.) .com's Biffa was right behind me and he and his mates were certainly making a fair amount of noise as well.

Straight after the KO, we succumbed to a lapse of concentration (probably left behind in the dressing room) and when Distin made a fist of a clearance, Wogsie crossed to the far corner of the area where Morris hit a fantastic volley (with apparently his wrong foot!) in off the post. 2-0 and surely there was no comeback from this. Ah we,, we enjoyed soe exciting times in the InterToto earlier this season.

Worse to come, Big Al and Rob Lee clashed in the centre circle (wtf was Big All doing there anyway??) and there was more blood than in the average episode of Casualty. Both went off with what was likley concussion. Lua x2 had replaced the totally ineffective Carl Cort and now Jenas replaced Shearer. Thankfully, this allowed Little Kevin to move up front with Umbongo from the Congo instead of Jenas trying as a striker. Olivier Bernard replaced Andy O'Brien, in what seemed a bizarre substitution. Distin had not been playing well, and Dabs was a bit shakey too. In fact, AO was probably our best defender, and with Robert having "another one of those games", many wondered why Bernard hadn't come on instead of LR. Well, we didn't have long to wait. A FK wide out on the left and LR and Nobby lined up for the cross from one of our wingers. Well, at least that's what 20-odd thousand, as well as the Derby defence expected. But no, having rattled the woodwork in the first half with a stunning left foot shot, LR took aim, pulled the trigger and bulged the onion bag (yuk!). You probably have to question the wall's position and the goalie letting on by at the near post, but I suspect there was very little room to squeeze the ball by and the goalie was probably expecting the cross and moved over late. But top marls to Laurent Robert for spotting the opportunity and executing the shot to perfection. 2-1, and game on. As mentioned elsewhere, the Toon Army discipline went awol and we went mental!

It's hard to say whether it was losing Shearer or simply the fact that the youngsters had something to prove, but as the old saying goes, it was a game of two (unequal) halves. Back came the fluid passing, the movement off the ball and a sense of "we can win this one". Somewhat reminiscent of Elland Road, Highbury and WHL. OK, so we had a a couple of dodgy decisions go our way, but from all the "analysis" I've seen on TV, it seems folks have forgotten the "give the attackers the benefit" which all too often seems to be trotted out when a decision goes the way of the defenders in other games. It probably makes up for the times we have so wrongly been ruled offside in the past.

Anyway, back to the pandemonium that was the game. A pass from Gary Speed (who I agree with Clarky had a good game in M/F) found the Nobster out wide and his low cross was met by the on-rushing Dyer who turned it into the net. 2-2. Queue more pandemonium. Derby still pressed forward and could have retaken the lead had Ravi Nelly not shot over the bar from 7 yards. Whew! Still more pressure from Toon, and a scintillating run from LKD found Nobby again wide on the right touchline. His cross was met by Lua x2 who hit the back of the net. I feared even more blood, with the casualties in the Toon Army likely to be supplying it all, but somehow, they picked themselves up off the concrete to see out the end of the game. Last time I witnessed anything like this was at Highbury back in December. Even Elland Road wasn't his mad, despite Pit Bill managing to lose his geps on that occasion.

So there it was. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat and still on track for a CL spot. Yet another roller coaster ride. Let's hope we can keep the momentum going, just as we kept Monday's momentum (?) going for the first 70 mins today. But next time, against Charlton, we have to make it count and take another 3 points. A draw between ManUre and Chewsee will mean we only (!) need 5pts from our remaining 4 matches. Howay me Bonnie Lads!!

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2002

Great reports, thanks guys! I lost radio reception at half time and then had to rely on text messages. Every time the 'phone bleeped it was nerve wracking and waiting for the final whistle was agony! Ta to Screacher for extra info, hope you found Clarky OK!

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2002

I can't really add much to those great reports, except to say the celebrations of the goals especially the last ones were reminiscint of the madness we used to get on the terraces when we scored !

and Screacher I only managed 4 glasses of wine before the game ;-) My hubby was very impressed with the my sobriety !

Only sore point of the day was some obviously distraught Derby "fans" ran off a bus and attacked Homer in a completely unprovoked assault. complete morons.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I hope he wasn't hurt. Does this kind of thing go on a lot? I've seen mags fighting between themselves and even some poor away fan get punched at Newcastle but on the whole not a lot of bother.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I got back to Screacher's car first after the game on Saturday, and got verbally harangued by a nasty turd with a brummy accent.

He was apparently still incensed over some dodgy refereeing decisions (perhaps understandably), and I'm certain if his ugly wife and even and more ugly child hadn't been with him that he would have had a pop at me. His 'language' was, of course, setting a fabulous example to his 5-6 yr-old daughter. Tosser.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I haven't seen anything like that for years. No he wasn't hurt but I couldn't believe it

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I couldn't believe it either. Such a big bloke who could only hit like a girlie. `8¬)

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I'm in danger of letting go of all these ankles I'm hanging on to so the feet to which they're attached will stay firmly anchored to terra firma, but have to make the point that the change when Cort and Shearer went off was as remarkable as the change Bellamy's injury made.

Which begs the question, AFAIC, can the change be laid solely at Cort's door or could having to cope without both him and AS have had as much to do with it ? Which could give Bobby a lot more to think about for the next four games, or maybe just the next, if we can turn it on to the same extent against Charlton.

The change was utterly unbelievable, and I'm convinced it bears out my contention that while opposition defenses are under more pressure than they can handle, it prevents our defense coming under more pressure than they can handle.

Maybe this is so self evident it needn't be pointed out, but that being the case, why wasn't it taken notice of deliberately when Bellamy was injured and we fell apart ? Which, with 20-20 hindsight, seems to me to be exactly what happened.

Still, the last twenty minutes were well worth the effort of having to cope with the whingeing from our two trainee pensioners, about missing bacon sarnies.:-{E}

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

.... our stirring spell of attacking didn't take the pressure off our defence to the extent that they were able to avoid presenting the utterly unmarked Ravi Nelli with an open goal that could have completely screwed up our magnificent revival!

Got to go, the frying pan is over-heating ;o{)

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

Homer, spoken like a true Mag (who'd obviously had too much to drink at the time) ;-)

Midlands fans (East and West) are really prehistoric when it comes to bother with away fans. Birmingham fans are utter twats even turning on their own manager and his family (!), and then even try and kick off when they win. Hate to admit it, but I've not seen any real bother at Southern clubs, even at Chewsee (who fancy themselves, apparently).

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

They have to fancy themselves, nobody else does ;)

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

I've seen trouble at White Hart Lane. Some little snot rag decided he'd try and pick a fight with every toon top that walked past. He even threw a glass at one lot. There was a group of ten lads waiting conveniently round the corner to bail him out if anyone dared to respond.

I don't recall it too well as I was very innebriated (I was driving at Derby so was very sober on that occasion!) but I seem to recall him getting arrested for his efforts. Clown. Hope he's still locked up now.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

.... unmarked Ravi Nelli with an open goal ....

I should have included '... plus maybe more than our fair share of good luck.' :-{E}

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002

from the guardian's match report

>>Without him Newcastle were transformed, freed.

it's an interesting comment, i've often thought that shearer slows the play down. who says you need a taget man anyway, arsenal beat us 3-0 without anybody playing the "striker" role, just a bunch of fast blokes breaking into space from deep. works if you can win the mid field and pass it a bit.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002