Source: Telegraph
Joe Kinnear receives crumbs of comfort after Newcastle leveller
Newcastle United are by their own admission enduring a wretched month of transfer window headlines, and yet this was an occasion for manager Joe Kinnear to appreciate his most treasured assets. [LNB]Cries of "there's only one Shay Given" resounded from the Gallowgate as the disgruntled Irish goalkeeper contrived one of the saves of the season to thwart Valon Behrami, while Michael Owen, ignoring conjecture over a refusal to renew his contract with a fine finish, delivered the perfect riposte to Jose Mourinho's claim last week that he was "no longer the Owen we all knew." [LNB]Together they helped Newcastle to arrest their recent slump, a late header by homegrown striker Andy Carroll ultimately securing a crucial point in the teeth of West Ham resistance. But Newcastle still struggled to disguise their ineptitude at the back. [LNB]First Craig Bellamy - returning to the stage where he spent four controversy-filled years - scythed through the defence to connect with a clever pass from Scott Parker, expertly lifting his shot beyond Given for the equaliser, before Carlton Cole was allowed the space to drive home West Ham's advantage with a shot of irrestitible force. It fell to Andy Carroll, the 20-year-old Geordie acting as Owen's sidekick, to salvage a point and shore up Newcastle's fragile pride. [LNB]Carroll's header represented relief for Kinnear, without any other striking alternatives in the absence of Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins. The one source of dismay was that after he dispatched his header with 12 minutes left, Newcastle could not muster a late onslaught to seal the win that would have removed them, briefly, from relegation peril. [LNB]As it was they climbed to 11th, one place behind West Ham, but the three-point gap from the bottom three is so narrow as to be meaningless. [LNB]Gianfranco Zola, the West Ham manager, also had cause to curse after watching his team's second-half dominance ebb away. While they stretched their unbeaten away record to an impressive six games, how Zola could have used the fillip of a victory to detract from the talk of Bellamy, Parker and Matthew Upson leaving for Manchester City, and from the latest inquiry into the Carlos Tevez imbroglio. [LNB]In one sense this obdurate display supported West Ham's strategy of looking to sell fringe players such as Calum Davenport, while retaining the axis of the side, which yesterday pivoted upon the talents of that unsettled trio of Bellamy, Parker and Upson. [LNB]Even facing up to City's financial power, Zola showed a resolve to hold on to his talismen. When asked if they would still be at the club come Feb 3, he said: "I'm confident - the club is determined to improve. The way this team are playing, they deserve to get better. [LNB]"These players are fantastic, I know as a footballer how difficult the rumours can be. But they were outstanding; I would say their performances have gone even higher in this period." [LNB]They manifestly improved as this game went on, once Owen had steered Newcastle into a deserved lead. Kinnear maintained that he was never worried that the 29-year-old had gone four games without a goal, and such belief was justified as Owen recoverd his habit of finding exactly the right position in the box, seizing on Jose Enrique's cross to angle a shot perfectly past Robert Green's desperate dive. [LNB]Bellamy's moment of invention restored West Ham, and the turnaround was underlined emphatically by Cole's superb goal, a stinging left-foot volley. But after Newcastle had a goal disallowed for Steven Taylor's push on James Collins, Carroll rose highest to meet the cross of Damien Duff. [LNB]Fog was descending once more upon the Tyne last night but Newcastle's mood was lifting. [LNB]
