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FA Cup Match Report: Cheltenham Town
0-2 NUFC
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 Monday
30 January 2006
By Gaz
Pearson
If ever Souness needed some semblance of a lifeline to come his way
then it was surely an FA Cup match against a lower league side. Cheltenham Town provided the opposition plus venue and Souness gambled on bringing
back the likes of Parker, Emre and Ameobi. The gamble paid off...
just!
For the first 40 minutes Newcastle continued to look a shambles of
a team that we have become oh so used to over the last few weeks,
nay months of Souness' tenure.
Cheltenham's Nigerian born Kayode Odejayi looked to have the beating
of Boumsong hands down. His pace made him look like a thoroughbred
whilst the Frenchman continued to do his Donkey impression.
However, luckily for Souness, Odejayi proved to be the pace-setter
but just could not finish. Souness opted to start FIVE Geordies in
Shola, Ramage, Clark, Shearer and Michael Chopra.
The latter of which proved to be a plus point from a forgettable match.
It was he who looked the busiest of the Toon strikers and he was rewarded
for his efforts as he headed in the opening goal of the match on the
40 minute mark.
Just as Souness let out a huge sigh of relief though, Scott Parker,
playing his first game following a lengthy lay off, found himself
in the box and the ball bounced off him and settled in the Cheltenham
net for his first ever Toon goal to give United a 2-0 half-time lead,
an undeserved one.
All bets on Souness being sacked come Monday were now being torn up
surely? The second half started and Cheltenham came out and gave the
Scot and his team a real headache.
However, the League Two outfit, although they played really well,
just didn't have the cutting edge in the final third. By 75 minutes
Souness was home and dry and he decided to give an FA Cup debut to
Spanish winger Luque. Once again he didn't do much, but looked a lot
sharper which can only be promising?
The highlight of the game was the Toon fans chanting "If Shearer scores,
we're on the pitch". Classic terrace wit lads and lasses but we were
just unfortunate Alan couldn't bang in the big 201... roll on Man
City, although I'd personally like to see him bang it in at home next
week against Pompey.
All in all it was a professional performance from Newcastle. We shouldn't
have got beat and we didn't, but the fact we went there in a world
of doom and misery only shows that things aren't well.
It's only a matter of time before Souness goes, how can he continue
with so much stick he is getting? Well the odds are truly against
him but with a 1 in 16 chance maybe it's worth a punt on Souness winning
Newcastle the Cup, keeping his job and winning the fans over... erm
1,000,000,000/1?
Luckily I AM a gambling man and those odds do nothing for me, for
the simple fact we have no chance. There is more chance of Souness
wearing black and white stripes and riding Dean Saunders to glory
in the Gold Cup!
Aye I can see it now, Deano with the bit between his teeth giving
it his all, Souness red faced, whip out - OH NO IT'S FALLEN... JOCKEY
HURT... HELP ARRIVES... BLINDS GO UP... SHOOT THE HORSE!... SHOOT
THE JOCKEY!!! Howay Freddy man, time to back on a winner for a change!
Lineups & Match Facts |
United: Given, Ramage, Bramble, Boumsong, Babayaro,
Solano (Emre 59), Clark, Parker (Luque 76), Ameobi, Shearer, Chopra
(N'Zogbia 66). Subs not used: Harper, Elliott.
Goals: Chopra (41), Parker (43).
Cheltenham: Higgs, Gill, Caines, Townsend, Armstrong,
Melligan (Vincent 86), Finnigan, Bird, Wilson, Odejayi, Guinan (Spencer
74). Subs not used: Duff, Connolly, Brown.
Ref: Mike Riley.
Att: 7,022.
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Post-Match Reaction: Graeme Souness |
"This is the only competition for us now - we're not going to win
the Premiership.
"Cheltenham were a credit to their division and played fantastically
well - it was never comfortable for us.
"You can sometimes come unstuck in games like this and we are just
grateful to be in the next round."
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Cheltenham Post-Match Reaction: John Ward |
"We've been dignified, played well and given people a different perception
of Cheltenham - the players can be very proud.
"The second goal was a bit of a killer blow for us, there was an element
of good fortune about it for them.
"But this can be a springboard for the rest of our season - it has
to be."
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