Newcastle 1 Leicester 1: Guthrie's rocket is just top-notch

01 September 2009 02:37
Sometimes, just sometimes, its is possible to forget the pain, the turmoil and the disappointment and just concentrate on the football. Sometimes, when it is chucking it down and your team are giving it everything and scoring a goal straight from a comic strip to go top of the league, it is possible to forget that your football club is falling to pieces and to just go home feeling rather grand. So it was at St James' Park last night. 'We are top of the league' sang the Newcastle supporters after ending Leicester's six-month unbeaten league run. It may not be the league they would like to be in. Or indeed should be in. But their team are top of it all the same and - even if it is not likely to last - that always puffs out the chest. Danny Guthrie Danny’s the boy: Guthrie celebrates with Nolan after giving Newcastle the lead In a league short of quality, there was a little bit of it about last night. Joey Barton. Goalscorer Danny Guthrie. Leicester midfielder Matt Oakley. But perhaps a piece of play in injury time summed up what this night was about. Achievement against the odds. Newcastle midfielder Alan Smith lost possession of the ball in his own half with a dreadful first touch. He won it back with a lunging tackle. Cue cheers. He then won the next tackle as the ball squirted loose, sliding across the sodden turf with his shorts riding up his backside Cue more cheers. Sometimes, the quality really doesn't matter The commitment and the effort can be enough. This will be a long, difficult season for Newcastle. Make no mistake about that. In a division even more punishing than the Premier League the club without a manger has become the club without enough players. There are lots of them on the back of the match programme. Thirty-two in all. And a couple more may arrive today. But so few of them are fit and ready for action at this level that last night coach Chris Hughton fielded seven substitutes without a single league start for Newcastle between them. Meanwhile, up front Newcastle paired Kevin Nolan - a midfielder - and young Nile Ranger, an 18-year-old making his first league start. This is sadly a recipe for long-term disappointment. It may be wise to enjoy this admirable and spirited outing to the top of the division as it is rather unlikely to last. But that only makes Newcastle's early progress so admirable. Last night Hughton - the man they always turn to when nobody else fancies it - stood in the rain cajoling and demanding every ounce from his players. In the stand sat Alan Shearer while in the TV studio was Iain Dowie. Afterwards the two men who presided over last season's relegation gave each other a handshake that almost became a high five. Sorry, boys, this really did have nothing to do with you. Danny Guthrie On the ball: Guthrie's second half strike was enough to sink Leicester This was all about a coach who is making the best of what he has and a set of players refusing to use their club's sorry financial situation as an excuse to throw in the towel. Over recent weeks Newcastle have lost players such as Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Sebastien Bassong, Damien Duff and Habib Beye. With the club up for sale and without a buyer, they will not be replaced. But football is often about making the most of what you have and this is what Newcastle did last night. Leicester were game opposition, ambitious and well organised. In the first half Nigel Pearson's team had some chances as Steve Harper saved well from a Steven Howard header and then from a Paul Gallagher free-kick. But Newcastle - driven on relentlessly by Barton and benefiting from a mature centre forward's performance from 18-year-old Ranger - were always marginally better and after Nolan came close in the first half and they were denied a clear penalty, they strode ahead in superb fashion in the 53rd minute. The build up play between Ranger and Nolan was impressive but the finish - high in to the goal from 18 yards - by Guthrie was better. The celebration was loud and prolonged and for a moment it was quite easy to forget all Newcastle's problems. Off the field there remains no progress. Spanish forward Xisco - whose signing a year ago prompted Kevin Keegan to resign as manager - left for Racing Santander while prospective buyers Barry Moat and an unknown American have kept their hands in their pockets. But at full-time Newcastle's players hugged and smiled and the 39,000 fans headed for the warmth of their cars imbued with a sense of progress. It had been a good night for once, a night for the football to provide solace.

Source: Daily_Mail