Ameobi hat-trick shows Moat the Magpies can win

15 August 2009 19:13
POTENTIAL Newcastle United owner Barry Moat sat alongside Mike Ashley in the directors box at St James Park to witness a rare Shola Ameobi hat-trick secure a first Championship win. After pre-match discussions between Moat and Ashley, who attended a pre-match function, both men looked on as the Magpies put off-the-field distractions to one side to secure all three points in their first home game since relegation from the Premier League. There were nerves among the frustrated Geordie fans and the players, but the relief was clear to see when Ameobi followed up his 38th minute opener with a second just after the hour. His first arrived when he worked his way ahead of Ryan Bertrand to nod Jose Enriques stunning delivery beyond goalkeeper Adam Federici. But his second was even better. After Kevin Nolan had done well to keep the ball in play, Joey Barton teed up Ryan Taylor to produce a perfect back post cross for Ameobi to direct a terrific header inside Federicis far post. They were the strikers first competitive goals since scoring a penalty against Sunderland in February and he soon had a hat-trick to celebrate when he coolly slotted in a penalty quarter of an hour before the end. It was an impressive display from Newcastle, who gave Damien Duff permission to head for London this morning to finalise a £4m move to Fulham. Caretaker manager Chris Hughton recalled Joey Barton to the starting line-up on the right-wing and, while Barton was a slow-starter, the overall performance of the team was encouraging. Barton was introduced from the bench during last weeks 1-1 draw with West Brom after an alleged bust-up with team-mates, but Barton was selected to bring bite to a team playing a competitive game in front of their fans for the first time since Mays relegation to the Championship. And, despite intermittent anti-Ashley chants from the stands, the Newcastle players still turned in a positive display and they could have been more than one in front before half-time. Well before Ameobis header seven minutes before the break, Newcastle had already gone close on a couple of occasions, with Jonas Gutierrez involved in both. After somehow contriving to lose his footing when he went head-to-head against Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici early on, the Argentine winger then forced the keeper into a fine one-handed save shortly before the opener. NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): Harper; R Taylor, Coloccini, S Taylor, Enrique; Barton (LuaLua 82), Smith (Geremi 79), Nolan, Gutierrez; Carroll, Ameobi (Xisco 78). Subs: Krul, Kadar, Ranger, Donaldson. READING (4-5-1): Federici; Rosenior, Pearce, Cisse, Bertrand; Church (Robson-Kanu 54), Davies, Karacan, Tabb (Harper 65), Kebe (Hunt 65); Long. Subs: Mills, Gunnarsson, Hamer, Sigurdsson.

Source: Northern_Echo