Source: SKY_Sports
Keane blasts defending
// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} Roy Keane pulled no punches after seeing Ipswich Town embarrassed by Newcastle 4-0 at Portman Road. Keane's winless troops started brightly enough but a blistering three-goal blitz inside four minutes effectively ended the game as a contest.Kevin Nolan bagged a brace before Ryan Taylor's thunderbolt free-kick put Newcastle in firm control with ex-Bolton man Nolan completing his hat-trick after half-time.Keane insists Ipswich's defending was simply not up to scratch and that Nolan must have thought Christmas had come early.The former Sunderland manager came under fire from home fans at the end, although he has no plans to throw in the towel and has vowed to continue fighting.Dead and buried"The game was dead and buried by half-time," said Keane. "We conceded some unbelievably bad goals and we just have to defend better."I don't know if Nolan has scored a hat-trick before but he won't get an easier chance to get one. He must have thought it was Christmas."I'm not daft, a lot of supporters voiced their opinions at the end but that is fair enough. They pay their money and they are entitled to that. But we will keep going. "There are no magic wands and confidence comes with results. The longer this run goes on then the harder it will get."We have our pride and it has been massively dented. It is hard to take but we have the chance to start to put it right against Sheffield United on Tuesday."But if we give goals away like we did today, we will get beat on Tuesday. There is no doubt about that."SpecialNewcastle's caretaker manager Chris Hughton was full of praise for his troops, who look good to make an immediate return to the Premier League following their surprise relegation last season."It was a special result and a special performance," said Hughton. "It's a wonderful feeling to go in at half-time with the cushion we had and it doesn't happen very often."It's a massive boost to go top. The most important thing is that we are fighting at the right end of the table."There are a lot of teams around us who are not dropping many points so to go top is testament to this group of lads."