Toon Irish eyes are smiling
SCUNTHORPE United were there for the taking.
And boy, did Newcastle United take them at St James's Park last night.
Even the most ardent of visiting fans high in the away end would have to admit Nigel Adkins's side got off lightly. Very lightly, at that.
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Newcastle's own supporters left the stadium on St Patrick's night wondering just how their team didn't get more of the rub of the green, such was their dominance.
And former Republic of Ireland international Chris Hughton would no doubt also have been racking his brain had he celebrated with a pint of Guinness after the game.
Adkins fielded a slightly weakened team with one eye on his team's forthcoming six-pointers against fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle and Peterborough United.
Hughton, by contrast, brought back Jose Enrique and Wayne Routledge, while Fabricio Coloccini was passed fit after limping out of Saturday's Tees-Tyne derby.
After an early scare, they never looked back.
And the club's defeat at Glanford Park a few short months ago all of a sudden seemed a lifetime away, though the memory, no doubt, was at the forefront of the players' minds as they tore apart Scunthorpe.
Adkins's side – who had celebrated that win so wildly – were about to find out what goes around, comes around.
Routledge, Jonas Gutierrez and Danny Guthrie set about their tasks in midfield, and it was the latter who planted a corner on to the head of Andy Carroll for the opener in the 10th minute.
Another Guthrie set-piece saw Kevin Nolan put the ball in the net, though it was wrongly ruled out for offside by referee Phil Crossley.
Peter Lovenkrands struck the bar not long afterwards, but there was nothing wrong with his finishing in the 22nd minute, Routledge slipping the ball through for him to score his 14th goal of the season, his sixth in five games.
United, their job seemingly already done, instinctively eased off, though chance after chance still came and went.
Carroll – who else? – made sure 10 minutes into the second half to go level on goals with Lovenkrands, latching on to another superb ball from Guthrie before beating Joe Murphy with a left-footed strike.
The rest of the 90 minutes might as well have been played on the training ground, such was the ease with which Hughton's side moved the ball around the pitch incisively and decisively.
Free-scoring Newcastle have scored 21 goals in their last five home games, and crucially, third-placed Nottingham Forest are the next visitors to St James's Park.
Billy Davies's side are now 12 points behind, not forgetting the game in hand United have on them.
Goal difference won't be a problem, either, Hughton's side having shed their cautious image, on home turf at least, since demolishing Cardiff City early last month.
The most points Forest can garner from their remaining nine games is 91, and Newcastle are just five wins from that total, but the City Ground club won't win every game between now and the end of the season, and a victory a week on Monday could all but see them off.
Before then, Ashton Gate awaits United.
Next season, Anfield?
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Harper; Simpson, Coloccini, Hall, Enrique (Kadar, 75); Routledge, Nolan, Guthrie, Gutierrez; Carroll (Best, 75), Lovenkrands (Ranger, 82). Subs not used: Krul, Butt, Pancrate, R Taylor.
SCUNTHORPE UNITED: Murphy; Wright (Woolford, 72), Raynes, Jones, Williams Thompson, O'Connor (Togwell, 56), Wright, McCann, Forte; Hayes (McDermott, 56). Subs not used: Lillis, Milner, Sparrow, Canavan.
Goals: Carroll 10, 55, Lovenkrands 22
Bookings: Carroll 55
Sent off: None
Referee: Phil Crossley (Bromley)
Attendance: 39,301
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
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