Barclays Premiership - Match 28
 

Season 2006-2007

WIGAN ATHLETIC

1 v 0

NEWCASTLE UNITED
  Ryan Taylor 40      
     
  Date: Sunday 25th January 2007
  Venue: JJB Stadium
  Kick Off: 1:00pm
  Australian Live TV: Foxsports 2
  Attendance: 21,179
  Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire)
     
   

Wigan: Filan, Taylor, Jackson, Boyce, Baines, Valencia (Camara 61), Landzaat, Skoko, McCulloch, Heskey (Kilbane 37), Folan

Subs Not Used: Nash, Cotterill, Unsworth
  Booked: Filan, Taylor, Baines, McCulloch, Skoko, Camara
   

Newcastle: Given, Taylor, Onyewu, Bramble, Huntington (Carroll 87), Solano (Milner 62), Parker, Butt, Duff (N'Zogbia 62), Martins, Sibierski

Subs Not Used: Harper, Edgar
  Booked: Parker, Butt
     
  Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder said:
"It was a nailed-on penalty and if we'd taken the lead then, we'd have gone on to win as we were on top and Shay Given had little to do. But we just didn't take the chances we created, or made the best of the good positions we got into. The second half wasn't a great spectacle, but it should have been all over by half-time." 		 
     
  Match Report:  
 

We’ve seen it all before, an away game which sounded like a home game, thanks to the backing of 5,000+ loud and proud Geordies. The Toon Army’s alcohol fueled optimism generated a rousing atmosphere but sadly it had no bearing on the team’s display. It’s been said many times in the past, but I’ll say it again, if the team were half as good as its supporters, we would have won a trophy many years ago.

Roeder was able to welcome back Shay Given, Antoine Sibierski and Oguchi Onyewu to the starting line-up, plus Charles N’Zogbia to the bench after two months out. However yet again Celestine Babayaro was missing injured and questions have to asked, if Kieron Dyer was rested, why wasn’t this done against Zulte-Waregem in midweek?
 

  
 

Nobby misses his penalty
 

After a good start to the game, which saw us creating some decent chances, a missed penalty by Nobby Solano in the 29th minute, was the turning point of the game. Stand in Aussie keeper, John Filan, was the hero for Wigan, as he dived to his right to save the penalty. Then five minutes before the interval, Ryan Taylor curled in a free-kick from the edge of the box to give Wigan the lead.

The second half saw us not at the races at all, we wasted the few chances we created but if truth be told, we never looked like getting back into the game. This lose was disappointing, if not predictable.

 
 
 

We’ve had a lot more darker days on the road in recent years but our European hopes for next season took a massive blow in Lancashire yesterday. Before the game we were 5 points behind 8th place and in desperate need to get 3 points to close the gap but this defeat now have us in 11th and realistically out of the running to qualify via the league.

Pre-match drinking is a ritual many fans enjoy and us Geordies seemed to have it down to a fine art. With Dave currently staying with us whilst on holiday and as the game was live on TV, we had the opportunity to reprise our pre-match drinking together. Now over the years we’ve found ourselves in some weird and wonderful pubs all over England and Europe but the Yarra Valley can now be added to this illustrious list. With the missus kindly volunteering to drive, we set out for an afternoon of wine tasting and relaxing in the Australian sunshine. By the time we arrived home feeling nicely merry from a mixer Victoria’s finest, our thoughts turned to 10,000 miles away and wondering what the atmosphere in the pubs would be like. So as the girls settled down to a chick flick, Dave and myself donned our Toon tops and heading down to Fitzroy Street. The Elephant & Wheelbarrow was chosen for two reasons, it the closest pub to where I live and it sells Newcastle Brown Ale on tap. So when the barmaid said the Brown Ale was off, we knew the omens weren’t good and sadly she was right, the Brown Ale was off tonight.
 

  
 

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