Nervy Magpies grind out a win over plucky Palace
THE scoreline suggested a comfortable win for Newcastle United. To stricken Crystal Palace's credit, it was anything but that.
Neil Warnock's men didn't look like a team which had overnight gone from play-off contenders to relegation candidates as a result of administration.
Not only that, they were deprived of soon-to-be-sold Victor Moses, and Warnock could only muster three substitutes.
And it took a fine injury-time goal for Nile Ranger, his first at St James's Park, to seal the victory, visiting captain Shaun Derry having inexplicably hooked the ball into his own net in the first half to give Chris Hughton's side a narrow advantage they had to fight tooth and nail to cling on to.
The nerves on the field, and in the stands, were mirrored on both benches, with Hughton, his assistant Colin Calderwood and Warnock involved in a number of verbal exchanges as some bruising challenges left player after player in heaps on the pitch.
Promotion rivals Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City had seemingly raised the bar the night before with convincing victories, and the expectation had been for Newcastle, given Palace's woes, to follow suit with a statement of their own.
However, after a bright start, United found themselves pinned back for spells, and goalkeeper Steve Harper was tested in each half.
Still, the result aside, there were positives to take from last night's game, not least the commanding performance of Mike Williamson in the centre of Hughton's defence.
Williamson didn't look like someone who hadn't played a first-team game since August, while fellow debutant Wayne Routledge injected some welcome pace into the team after his introduction, and he played in Ranger for the second goal.
Unfortunately, there were negatives as well, not least the injury to left-back Jose Enrique, who limped off with a hamstring problem.
Enrique had voiced his fears that injuries, particularly to Hughton's already threadbare defensive options, could damage the club's promotion bid on the eve of the game.
Those words turned out to be prophetic, the unfortunate Spaniard joining the likes of Steven Taylor and Danny Simpson in the treatment room.
Enrique is one player Hughton knows he can ill afford to be without for any length of time such is his importance to Newcastle's back four.
The 24-year-old's withdrawal prompted a defensive reshuffle, with winger Fabrice Pancrate being switched to right-back, and Tamas Kadar switching sides to replace Enrique.
Pancrate, not surprisingly, struggled, and the second half was uncomfortable viewing at times.
Ranger headed over a glorious chance not long after his introduction, but his energy and enthusiasm lifted United, and his pace took him beyond the Palace defence for his goal, the 18-year-old coolly beating Julian Speroni after a long run upfield.
A win's a win in the Championship, but if Newcastle are to ensure a enough of those over the coming weeks and months to secure a return to the Premier League, Ashley must again dip into his pocket between now and Monday, when the transfer window shuts.
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 25 May 2012
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