On Tyneside, they would tell you that there is no joy in the world as great as the ball hitting the net at the Gallowgate end on a Saturday afternoon. They are absolutely right. Marlon King of Hull City. Goal. Three thousand delirious Tigers' fans. First ever top flight away win. Heaven!
We were an afterthought yesterday. The Geordie fans turned up to see how loudly they could get their point across while they were beating Hull City easily. Fortunately for us, people are judging us on the team that was hammered by Wigan, not the one that beat Fulham and played very well at Blackburn. In truth, today's team was very different to the one that gifted Wigan the three points a fortnight ago. Paul McShane came in at right back, Gardner at centre back, Mendy on the right of midfield, Halmosi on the left and King returned up front alongside Fagan, with Phil Brown choosing a more traditional 4-4-2. The difference was immeasurable.
We probably started well, I couldn't tell you; I was negotiating the queues at the turnstiles, climbing four million flights of stairs and then joining the massive queue of people trying to find their seat. When we were seated, City looked confident. We were moving the ball well and had a nice shape. There wasn't a lot between the sides, which was obvious. Newcastle looked to be set-up to play 4-3-1-2, with Owen dropping off two strikers. It enabled them to keep the ball quite well in the middle of the pitch, but when we nicked the ball back, there was a lot of space out wide that we exploited with good effect. If Newcastle thought they were going to stroll around and pass us to death, those thoughts were dashed by a number of crunching tackles from the city players, eager to stamp some authority on the opposition. There weren't a great deal of clear-cut chances created at either end. Geremi strolled past Dawson twice, far too easily, the first time Guthrie bobbled the ball wide and the second time, Gardner superbly tackled Xisco as he shaped to shoot. At the other end, King and Fagan were bullying their defenders and holding the ball up well but we wasted the chances we had to deliver the ball. Newcastle's best chance came after 25 minutes or so, a long swirling free-kick into the box was met be Owen, a carbon copy of his goal against Bolton the other week, but his downward header was superbly saved by Boaz Myhill. City were growing in confidence, Marney picking up every lose ball in the middle, Fagan battering Taylor into submission with his pace and close control and Halmosi finding some space out wide. Halmosi isolated Butt on the bye line, slid the ball past him and waited for the stupid lunge to take him down. Penalty!
King took the responsibility, the referee argued with defenders who'd encroached 2 or 3 inches into the box and the tension became unbearable. King hit it hard and low to the 'keepers' right. Given got a hand to it but it rolled in off the post. Absolute silence was followed by unbridled joy from the black and amber army up in the gods. Geremi bobbled a hot wide, McShane made a good tackle on Ameobi and then pressured him into heading wide at the a back post and that was about as tough as it got before half time.
The eight minutes following half time are eight of the best you'll see from Hull City. We started on the front foot, with Mendy nicking the ball high up the pitch and running at them, before being tackled. We passed the ball superbly, continued to play off Fagan and got Halmosi and Marney into good positions. A second goal was coming and it eventually did. Ironically, it came directly from Newcastle's first attacking response to our dominance. A poor corner was cleared to Marney, Fagan made a great run to the left, which took away the defenders attention, while Marney chose to slide a fantastic ball into King on the right. King drove into the space, cut inside the covering defender and curled a left footed beauty into the far corner. Ecstacy.
We then might have scored a third. Marney shot weakly after a lovely move and Turner scored from a corner but it was chalked off, presumably for a foul on Given. After that, we fell apart, really. We seemed to be stuck between going for a third goal and defending the lead. As a result, whenever we got the ball, our play was hurried and forced and we gave the ball away too often, allowing Newcastle to build a bit of momentum. They didn't do a lot with it really, apart from Myhill tipping Guthrie's cross-shot onto the bar. Phil Brown decided to end the confusion by bring Zayette on to shore up the midfield, but while he was getting ready to come on, they scored, N'Zogbia receiving too much time to get a shot in and Xisco tapping in after it came off the post. Unfortunately, N'Zogbia had all the space in the area Zayette would have protected. They obviously thought the goal would give them a lift, but it server more to wake us up. Zayette came on and did a wonderful job of protecting the back four, while Fagan and Folan (on for King) chased everything up front and held the ball up top. They were responsible for almost all of the five added minutes being played in their half which was so frustrating for Newcastle that Guthrie, tired of being made a mug of by Fagan, was sent off for viciously booting our resident pickpocket. Folan was lucky not to join him as he gave him a shove and poked a finger in his face, having already been booked. The City team did a good job of causing a big scuffle, while Ash smuggled Folan away from the scene. All that was left was for us to defend two hoofs into the box and then celebrate another three points.
Myhill had a good game. He's much quicker off his line and diffused most of their through balls easily. His save from Owen was world class. McShane settled in well. He's not very quick, but positioned himself well and defended strongly against the threat of Ameobi. He made good runs around Mendy and together, they were quite effective at both ends. Dawson looked a bit hesitant in the first half but recovered well. His distribution was erratic and it took a while for him to get beyond Halmosi, although that was perhaps part of the plan with PB seemingly having doubts about Halmosi's defensive responsibility. Gardner's return was most welcome and he and Turner picked up their very promising defensive partnership. They made few mistakes, communicated well and stuck their bodies in where it hurt. They showed good anticipation of situations too and Gardner showed his finesse on the ball at times.
The absence of Boateng looked like a blow at 3 o'clock, but the performance of Marney meant he was missed at all. It was easily his best performance in a City shirt and a real break through outing. From box to box, he was incredible. He broke up play, he demanded the ball and he picked up everything that was loose and rove at them. His use of the ball was almost flawless and he looked very comfortable alongside Ian Ashbee. Ash was excellent alongside him, doing everything he does well without fuss and using the ball superbly. I still don't think he's up to League One standard, but I'll give him a chance to prove me wrong. I thought Mendy looked more suited to a less-defensive role the first time I saw him and Phil Brown gave him the right midfield slot yesterday. He did a good job going both ways, he's tenacious and energetic and when the chance arises, blisteringly quick. He made good use of the ball and brought McShane into play well. On the other side, Halmosi made anyone who doubted his work rate look foolish. He worked back and yet still managed to find time and space going forward. As a four, they gave us great balance, both across the pitch and between defense and attack. They were strong, fit and ran powerfully. Bryan Hughes replaced Marney, who took a knock but was anonymous, really, apart form the fight at the end.
Up front, the new and improved Craig Fagan justified his selection with a terrific display. Phil Brown obviously felt that having two quick and direct forwards would cause them the most problems and his selection proved to be the right one. We were able to push the ball forward quickly into the space behind their midfield and nine times out of ten; Fagan or King was first to the ball and controlled it quickly. Even more impressive was the ratio with which they found a team mate with the follow up pass. It was hard to judge them inside the box, they made good runs across the defence but our delivery wasn't good enough again, even with Halmosi's inclusion. There were a couple of times when they weren't on the same wavelength, but this is to be expected on their first outing as a pair. Folan came on and did a superb job of harassing the defence and getting himself on the end of our clearances, which had become very hurried and random. Fagan's work rate continued to be incredible until the last whistle and the pair did as good a job as you'll see of running down the clock.
Today was fantastic; we recorded our first ever away win in the top flight and beat one of the biggest clubs in the country. Their troubles aren't our concern; we went out and put 14 guys on the pitch who were much better than their 14. Wigan is well and truly forgotten now. Zayette and McShane look like they'll give us very good cover, or perhaps in McShane's case, he'll force Ricketts to give us very good cover. With Cousin still to come into the side, there is now some serious competition for places and we now look to have 15 or 16 really good first team options. We've won 50% of our Premier League games and are the only team who've never lost an away PL game. Life is rosy once again.
Ratings: Myhill 8, McShane 7, Dawson 6, Turner 8, Gardner 8, Mendy 7 (Folan 7), Halmosi 7, Marney 9 (Hughes 5), Ashbee 8, Fagan 9, King 8 (Zayette 7)