Stevenage batter useless Newcastle.
Pathetic. Abject. Shambolic. Ridiculous. Lazy. These are just some of the words I could use to describe the 'performance' put in by Newcastle today as they limped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle against League Two Stevenage Borough.
I'd like to say that Newcastle could feel aggrieved about the result but, as the opening few words of this mtach report suggest, they can't, and will rightly attract criticism from quite a few quarters for this shambolic defeat.
In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter too much. Many of us are aware that surviving in the Premier League is the priority for this season and understand that a cup run can sometimes be a distraction that newly promoted teams can ill afford.
What has irked me though is the manner of defeat. I can take a defeat against anyone, as long as the team give it their best shot. Today they didn't in my view and they came up woefully short against a Stevenage side who will be dining out on this cup upset - only the third ever instance where a League Two side has beaten a Premier League team - for some time to come.
Newcastle named a stronger than expected side that included the likes of Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Fabricio Coloccini, which suggested that the away side were trying to do things properly and professionally as they aimed for the fourth round.
Stevenage had other ideas though and took control of the game pretty early on. They didn't geive Newcastle any respect and looked up for the game. To be honest, the longer the game went on, the more I felt that we could be on for an upset.
There was a lot of long balls played inthe first half, with not a lot of goal-mouth action on offer. Whatever Newcastle were trying, it wasn't working and the two sides went in at half time still deadlocked at 0-0.
Nile Ranger came on at half time as Leon Best was withdrawn, presumably due to the heel injury he had been struggling with, but it didn't have any significant effect on the performance. In fact the hosts scored the opening goal of the game just four minutes after half time when Stacy Long cut inside and had a shot which was going wide, and curling away from goal, until it met the head of Mike Williamson which deflected the ball into the net.
It got worse again on 55 minutes when Michael Bostwick arrowed a 20 yard shot into the back of the net via the post, but the most disheartening thing is that Stevenage fully deserved the two goal cushion.
From there it was always going to be an uphill task. It would have been easier had the away side decided to turn up, but today was one of those days that highlights just how fragile our squad is.
Cheik Tiote was brought on to try and influence the game, but he didn't last long and was sent off after recieving a straight red card for lunging into a tackle. A red was harsh, but I doubt it will get overturned and we must now face Sunderland without him.
Joey Barton pulled one back in stoppage time after unleashing an unstoppable shot from 25 yards past the Stevenage 'keeper. It was quite fitting really as he is the only Newcastle player I would give any kind of credit to today. It didn't stop the hosts adding a third through Peter Winn with virtually the final kick of the game.
Stevenage will enjoy this day for a long time, and so they should. Thet outplayed and outfought a disappointing Newcastle side, but the history books won't reflect the lack of professionalism on show the visitors.
However, they will read: Stevenage 3-1 Newcastle.
Stevenage: Chris Day, Ronnie Henry, Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Scott Laird, Lawrie Wilson, John Mousinho, Michael Bostwick, Stacy Long, Peter Winn, Chris Beardsley.
Subs: Ashley Bayes, Luke Foster, Charlie Griffin, Yemi Obubade, Ben May, David Bridges, Rob Sinclair.
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, James Perch, Wayne Routledge, Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best.
Subs: Ole Soderberg, Tamas Kadar, Shane Ferguson, Danny Guthrie, Cheik Tiote, Phil Airey, Nile Ranger.
Attendance: 6,644.
