Saturday 7th February 2009, Barclays Premiership, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 3.00pm

 

Albion	2 - 3	Newcastle United
Fortune 4, 73	25,817	Duff 2
		Lovenkrands 9
		Steven Taylor 41
1	Half-Time Score	3
51%	Possession	49%
7	Shots On Target	7
6	Shots Off Target	3
3	Corners	4
7	Fouls Against	12
7	Offsides	5
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0

Albion: Carson, Hoefkens, Barnett, Meite, Robinson (C), Kim (Filipe Teixeira HT), Koren, Borja Valero (Moore 84), Brunt (Bednar HT), Morrison, Fortune. Subs not used: Kiely, Cech, Pele, Mulumbu.  

Barnett 68 (unsporting behaviour), Koren 78 (foul)

Newcastle United: Harper, Steven Taylor, Bassong, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Ryan Taylor, Nolan, Butt, Duff, Ameobi (Viduka 80), Lovenkrands (Xisco 90). Subs not used: Forster, Cacapa, Smith, Geremi, Edgar.

Ryan Taylor 45+2 (unsporting behaviour), Nolan 68 (unsporting behaviour)

Referee:  Chris Foy (Merseyside)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Butler (Lancashire), Bob Pollock (Merseyside)
Fourth Official:  Phil Gibbs (West Midlands)

Conditions: Playing conditions fine due to under soil heating. Weather - cold, overcast with no wind. Icy under foot in parts around the ground.

ALBION TEAM NEWS: Simpson and Donk, miss out but Valero, Koren, Barnett and Morrison are all fit and start. Albion start with 4-5-1 formation with Fortune up top.

NEWCASTLE UNITED TEAM NEWS: Martins doesn’t make the journey whilst Viduka and Smith have to make do with places on the bench. Ryan Taylor makes his debut and Lovenkrands makes his first start after two previous substitution appearances.

DEFENSIVE BLUNDERS COST THE BAGGIES

Newcastle, without Joe Kinnear who was taken to hospital as a “precautionary measure”, piled the pressure on the Baggies with a 3-2 win at the Hawthorns. Chris Hughton, who took charge of the side, was rewarded with their first win this year which moved the Magpies up to 13th place. The Baggies gave a performance which seemed a re-enactment of the Hull game where defensive problems caused Albion to chase the game. A brace of goals from Fortune was the main and perhaps only positive!    

The two week break can’t come soon enough for Tony Mowbray due to the injuries and fitness levels which were affecting team selection. The Albion boss will have to get back to the drawing board after a first half defensive performance against Newcastle that gifted three goals to Newcastle, putting the game way out of reach for  Albion. The naivety and frailties, which seem to be ever present in the Baggies’ defence, reared its head as early as the first minute. Damien Duff collected a through ball from Ameobi, which should have been intercepted by Barnett, leaving the winger a clear site of goal and only the goalie to beat. The goal caused a response from the Albion side which saw Fortune level proceedings three minutes later with a left foot shot. The game carried on its exciting manner of end to end football although with Newcastle appearing the more likely team to score. Lovenkrands did just that, restoring Newcastle’s lead with a volley from 15 yards. Taylor extended the advantage just before the end of the first half with a free header from a cross from the debutant Ryan Taylor. Newcastle went into the break with a deserved lead helped by the shocking defensive performance at the back from the Baggies.  

Bednar and Teixeira came on at the start of the second half but still the Magpies looked comfortable and slowed the game down to try and protect their lead. Albion sent men forward but didn’t get really going until Teixeira started to make an impact; his movement from the wings and balls threaded through to the strikers were starting to cause Newcastle problems, who at this stage were trying to hit Albion on the break. The home side's second goal finally came in the 73rd minute from a shot by Fortune, his right foot this time, following a through ball by Teixeira. The Hawthorns then started to get behind their team! In the last 20 minutes and despite Newcastle dropping off and going into negative mode, Albion were not able to take advantage. Eventually time ran out for Albion and Newcastle hung on for a deserved three points.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Bad result from a game that was a must not lose. The injury problems cost us today, with 5 out of the 11 players starting apparently not fully fit, we got the result that I expected. The back bone of the team didn’t look solid enough, no communication between the back four and players didn’t want to get on the ball which is not like us. The positives were Teixeira and Fortune who both looked lively. This two week break couldn’t have come sooner, a chance to get everyone fit and hopefully get back to our best.

ALBION MAN OF THE MATCH:: Marc-Antoine Fortune
NEWCASTLE UNITED MAN OF THE MATCH: Peter Lovenkrands

PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN

ALBION: Carson (6), Hoefkins (4), Meite (3), Barnett (3), Robbo (5), Koren (6), Kim (4), Valero (5), Brunt (4), Morrison (5), Fortune (9). Subs: Teixeira (8), Bednar (7), Moore (6)

NEWCASTLE UNITED:  Harper (6), S. Taylor (7), Coloccini (5), Bassong (6), Enrique (6), R. Taylor (6), Nolan (7), Butt (6), Duff (9), Lovenkrands (9), Ameobi (6). Subs:  Viduka (6) Xisco (6)

REF WATCH

Chris Foy - Good performance with no errors, he let the game flow in sharp contrast to Rob Styles, the referee against Manchester United.

Sam Bradley

Birmingham Mail:  “Newcastle overcame the enforced absence of manager Joe Kinnear as an inspired display from Damien Duff helped them to achieve their first win in seven Barclays Premier League games”

Express and Star: “A defensive horror show cost Albion dear as they were beaten by Newcastle in the Premier League basement battle at the Hawthorns.”

NewcastleUnited-mad.co.uk: “Victory Eases The Pain On Kinnear! - Joe Kinnear will have felt much better by Saturday evening after United, under the guidance of assistant boss Chris Hughton, eased their relegation fears with a victory The Hawthorns.

Tony Mowbray: "I don't think Newcastle beat us, we beat ourselves defending like that.

"It kills the crowd early on when you give goals away like we've given away and gives you a mountain to climb. We didn't manage it in the end.

We all live and die by results and we have all got to get better if we are going to give ourselves a chance.

"Today was a fantastic opportunity for us but like I said I don't feel Newcastle did anything special to beat us, we did it ourselves today which is very disappointing."  

Chris Hughton: "We knew it would be a tough game and we also knew that when you're playing the teams around you then it's vital tou get something out of the game.

"Coming here and getting a draw is not a bad result, coming here and getting a win was very pleasing.

"We are aware of what a good side they are at home and they put us under a bit of pressure in the last period, but we defended well when we had to and had the chances to push further ahead."  

Paul Robinson makes his 200th league start for Albion. 

United extend their unbeaten league run against Albion to 15 games.