Ain't no stopping us now
IF Andy Carroll's troubled by events off the pitch, the striker's certainly not letting it affect him on it.
Carroll had appeared before magistrates two days earlier on an assault charge.
And if manager Chris Hughton was concerned at the striker's impending trial impacting on his performances, he needn't have worried.
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The 21-year-old was immense at both ends of the field at Vicarage Road.
Carroll time and again won defensive headers while back in his own half, and was there to score what would turn out to be the winning goal in Saturday's 2-1 win.
However, Carroll's contribution was just outshone by that of United's other goalscorer, Fabricio Coloccini.
The pitch was barely playable, and a wet and cold afternoon at Vicarage Road, with its condemned and rusting main stand stood all but empty, was hardly the cathedral of football the defender had in mind when he arrived in England a year and a half ago.
Yet Coloccini, left out of the latest Argentina squad on the eve of the game, strolled through the 90 minutes, his international omission seemingly at the back of his mind.
The 28-year-old showed his class on one of the Championship's worst playing surfaces, as did his team-mates.
Getting the ball down and playing was never going to be on the agenda given the state of the pitch, so they did what they had to, and did it well.
And when the story of this long, gruelling and unwelcome season out of the Premier League is written, maybe this is the game when Hughton's side first had the look of champions.
They had a swagger to match their elevated status in English football's second tier, where they are the scalp atop everyone's lists, and a steel to match their industrious opponents.
The scoreline undoubtedly flattered Malky Mackay's side, whose home record has been impressive this season.
From the moment Coloccini broke the deadlock, heading home from a fourth-minute free-kick which had been twice flicked on, once by Carroll, the result never looked in doubt, though Will Hoskins's injury-time goal gave United, and their 2,250 fans, a late scare.
Up to then, Chris Hughton's team had been in control, and they even played some football on a surface which has been badly affected by its use by Saracens.
After Coloccini's goal, Newcastle remained on top for what was an increasingly niggly first-half, with former Watford defender Mike Williamson – whose every touch was booed by the home fans – among those booked.
And it was Andy Carroll who made the decisive intervention after the break.
If the striker is concerned about events off the field, he isn't showing it on the pitch. Carroll won a defensive header at the back, and set away Patrick van Aanholt.
The on-loan left-back, playing his last game for the club, won a corner, from which Carroll headed home his 11th goal of the campaign, the strike making him United's joint-top scorer alongside Kevin Nolan on 11 goals.
Carroll's playing every game as if it's his last, and you wouldn't want to get in his, or Newcastle's, way right now.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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