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UEFA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round 1st Leg |
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Season 2006-2007 |
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FK VENTSPILS
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0 v 1 |
NEWCASTLE UNITED |
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Titus Bramble 70 |
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Date: |
Thursday 10th August 2006 |
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Venue: |
Skonto Stadium, Riga |
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Kick Off: |
6:50pm (BST) |
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Australian
Live TV:
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None |
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Attendance: |
6,000 |
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Referee: |
Stephane Lannoy (France) |
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Read match preview |
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FK Ventspils:
Vanins, Ndjoumek-Ndeki, Kaspars Gorkss, Kacanovs, Bicka,
Zangareeb, Dubensky (Kosmacovs 90), Vukovic, Kolefnicenko (Pokarynin
84), Butriks, Slesarchuk (Zizilevs 16)
Subs Not Used:
Davidovs,
Sokolskis, Soleicuks, Stukalinas |
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Newcastle:
Given, Carr, Moore, Bramble, Babayaro (Ramage 87), Solano
(Milner 84), Emre (N'Zogbia 80), Duff, Parker, Butt, Ameobi
Subs Not Used:
Harper,
Luque, Taylor, O'Brien |
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Booked:
Moore, Butt |
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Post Match Comments: |
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Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder said
“It was a thoroughly professional performance, and I have
to be delighted with an away goal and a clean sheet. That was what I
wanted before the game, and the players delivered it.
Ventspils played well, I have to say that. They were really up for the
game, and that is understandable because for a lot of their players, it
was a huge game. They were up against a big club, they were playing on
international TV, so you can understand why they were fired up. They had
a couple of chances, but I always felt we were on top and I was always
confident the goal would come.
We are in a good position now going into the second leg, but we will
prepare properly again for the game because there is no room for error.
We have to be professional about this because we know what is at stake,
but as I said, we are in a great position now.“ |
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Titus Bramble said
“It doesn't matter who scored the goal, the main thing was that we won
and I was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net. They made
it tough for us, but we knew what we had to do and we're in a good
position with the away goal now ahead of the second leg at our place” |
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Match Report: |
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Damien Duff made his competitive debut in Riga. |
A Titus Bramble goal from an Emre corner back
in May gave us European football this season and another
Titus Bramble goal from an Emre corner has put us in with a
great chance of reaching the UEFA Cup 1st Round
proper this season.
In a barmy summers evening in Latvia the home
side put up a spirited performance as Newcastle ran out 1-0
winnings in the first leg of their UEFA Cup Qualifying tie.
The first half saw plenty of chances for both
sides but it only took FK Ventspils 5 minutes to create a
scoring opportunity which forced Shay Given into a brilliant
one handed save. Not long after they threatened again but
Given intercepted a dangerous looking cross. Our defence
looked to have started in the same way it left off in the
last 2 pre-season friendlies, very sloppy and shaky.
We did create some chances of our own, a deflected Emre shot
almost went into the net and Duff, Parker and Amoebi all
went close.
A lively looking Shola Amoebi had a had a great chance to
break the deadlock on 27 minutes but miss kicked his shot in
the box after a Duff pass had put him clear. Damien Duff was
at the heart of most of Newcastle’s good forward moves,
causing all sorts problem down the left.
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The
second half saw FK
Ventspils take the game to Newcastle with Kaspars Gorkss narrowly
missing with a strike from the edge of the Newcastle box. Andreys
Butriks almost converted a cross from Zangareev and was later
through on goal but wasted the chance with a heavy first touch.
On 70
minutes Titus Bramble got the
decisive goal with a header from a Emre corner.
Bramble climbed above everyone to head the ball with
unstoppable force into the back of the net.
The game ended 1-0 and Newcastle will be happy with taking a lead
and an away goal back to St James’ Park for the second leg.
The result overshadowed what was a below par performance by the
Magpie’s. The defence looked shaky and was easily broken down at
times by the
FK
Ventspils attack. A
major improvement needs to be made by both centre half’s or we will
get punished more by teams in the Premiership. The 4-5-1 formation
had some relative success with Shola Amoebi linking up well with
Solano, Parker, Emre and Duff. Damien Duff did his best to get
forward at every opportunity to support Shola and was probably our
best player on the night, creating most of our chances. Nicky Butt
in the holding role did ok and it was interesting to see Scott
Parker with the freedom to go forward more.
What was again apparent though, and I’m sure this point isn’t lost
on the management, is we need a striker ASAP or we’ll be very
lightweight with only Shola Amoebi upfront on his own.
In the end a professional job done and now the focus moves to Wigan
at home this Saturday, while we all keep one eye out on the transfer
activity.
AUSSIE MAGS |
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