United dig deep to beat Pilgrims
NEVER mind a "long old poke" for Plymouth Argyle's following, this was looking like a long old afternoon for Newcastle United fans.
In the space of four days, Chris Hughton's side have learnt a lot more about the Championship, not all of it good.
Yet despite a tough afternoon at St James's Park, they had enough to come out on top.
And a glance at the top shows they're not the only fancied team to have found the going tough in the past week, with Middlesbrough and Cardiff City having both succumbed on home turf.
Despite a scare, they didn't themselves surrender to basement club Plymouth, and will head to Ipswich Town at the weekend in second place behind West Bromwich Albion, who themselves put a marker down at the Riverside Stadium.
Newcastle, for the moment, need only worry about themselves, and there were some worrying moments on Saturday as Paul Sturrock's side, who had been on the back foot for the early stages, fought back.
And it took the introduction of Danny Guthrie, left out of the starting XI by Hughton, to turn the game in their favour, the midfielder setting up Kevin Nolan's goal.
Hughton had handed a first start to Peter Lovenkrands, and recalls to Alan Smith and Geremi, while keeping faith with Joey Barton, who is still searching for form after his injury lay-off.
Lovenkrands, clearly, isn't yet match- fit, and Nile Ranger, so impressive during his three-game run in the team, can count himself unfortunate not to have stayed in the side longer, though the striker's time will undoubtedly come.
Steven Taylor had seemingly given United the perfect start with his sixth-minute header, the defender celebrating his first goal of the season with an X Factor celebration, having been dubbed 'Simon Cowell' in the run up to the game because of his pearly white teeth.
However, after a bright start, his team lost the X Factor, and as the half wore on, the more they huffed and puffed, and Karl Duguid all but silenced St James's Park, apart from the 2,000-strong travelling contingent, with an equaliser early in the second half.
Newcastle were lacking ideas, but Guthrie and Ranger – who both came on in the 60th minute – changed that, with Ranger starting a move with a clever backheel which culminated in Nolan heading home from close range.
Andy Carroll – who had scored in the midweek defeat at Blackpool after becoming a father on the eve of the game – made sure of the points with a third six minutes from time.
It wasn't the resounding win which fans had been hoping for, but it was a victory nonetheless, and thankfully there wasn't a hangover from Bloomfield Road, where United had lost their unbeaten record in disappointing fashion.
However, before Newcastle take on Ipswich, they have the small matter of Peterborough United in the Carling Cup tomorrow night, a game which will be an opportunity for some, and a distraction for others in the United dressing room.
Hughton will no doubt make more changes for London Road, conscious that while he has found a winning formula, he has not yet found his best team.
But ultimately, this league is about points, not plaudits.
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Harper; Simpson (R Taylor, 31), S Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique; Geremi, Smith, Barton (Guthrie, 60), Lovenkrands (Ranger, 60); Carroll, Nolan. Subs not used: Krul, Khizanishvili, Butt. LuaLua.
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: Larrieu; Gray, Arnason, Lowry, Sawyer; Mackie, Clark (Fallon, 81), Fletcher, Duguid; Gow (Judge, 76); Sheridan. Subs: Letheren, Timar, Arnason, McNamee, Paterson, Wright-Phillips.
Goals: Taylor 6, Duguid 50, Nolan 61, Carroll 84
Bookings: Carroll, Gray, Mackie, Arnason
Sent off: None
Referee: Scott Mathieson (Cheshire)
Attendance: 42,898
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Friday 25 May 2012
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