Main Page

Columbus Crew	2 - 2	Newcastle United
Half time:	0 - 1
Score Sheet:
(67) Joseph  (85) Cunningham		Cort (32)  Cort (84)
	Teams
Dougherty Clark Yeagley Lapper Chulis Schell Warzycha Dunhaney Perez Farrell Cunningham		Given Barton Goma Howey Lee Dyer Bassedas Speed Cort Cordone Hughes
Substitutes:
(46) Napoleon for Dougherty (46) Aguilera for Schell (46) Elcock for Perez (53) Joseph for Farrell (73) Longo for Aguilera (78) Gori for Chulis		Gallacher for Dyer (17) Harper for Given (46) Dabizas for Goma (46) Griffin for Hughes (46) McClen for Bassedas (46) Gavilan for Lee (76)  Cordone for Glass (76)
Subs not used:
Washington		Kerr
Bookings:
Chulis		Speed
Sendings off:
None		None
Referee: Rich Grady - a FIFA graded MLS regular official who took part in a referee exchange with the Spanish league. Grady made headlines last year when he sent off four Guatemalan players during a Pan American Games tie against Canada - requiring a police escort at full time to protect him from irate Guatemalan players and officials.
Attendance: 18,212 - a figure that didn't seem to reflect the actual number in the ground - there looked to be far more than 4,000 empty seats.  Possibly a bit of oneupmanship by the Crew, who crowed post-match that they'd beaten the crowd for our DC game. Seemingly those season ticket holders who didn't return their tickets were counted as attending, even though they weren't actually present. In addition to a single sheet A4 programme, free commemorative drinks cups with both club crests and the date of the game were piled up outside the exits at full time.

32 mins Aaron Hughes centred from the United left and it was helped on by Gary Speed to Carl Cort, who shot home from six yards out 1-0.
   
Half time: Crew 0 Newcastle 1

67 mins Miles Joseph shot 1-1.

84 mins Diego Gavilan initiated an attack with a smart jink in the centre circle, before releasing the ball to Carl Cort. The pass was intercepted by one-time Everton player Robert Warczycha, but he only managed to tee up Cort, who strode forward before passing the ball efficiently into the net from just inside the box.2-1.

85 mins Jeff Cunningham shot 2-2.

Full time: Crew 2 Newcastle 2 

A goal in each half from striker Carl Cort ultimately secured a draw for Bobby's men in the homely surroundings of Crew Stadium, as Columbus and United shared four goals in what at times passed for a competitive contest.

Just over 18,000 fans were present to see Cort get off the mark for his new club after Newcastle had suffered another injury blow, Kieron Dyer crocked in the first minute by a robust challenge by Chulis. The Crew player was cautioned, but Dyer's attempts to play on proved to be in vain.

This do look precautionary though, given that the tackle seemed to catch him on the right ankle - the left one had kept him from training earlier in the week.

The usual plethora of half-time replacements for the visitors revealed no sign of Alan Shearer, who watched proceedings from the relative safety of the press box as he continued to nurse his troublesome knee. 

A fairly even game of relatively few chances saw a Gary Speed foul also punished by a booking but no great incidents until a 67th minute leveller. 

A ball into the heart of the Newcastle box caused both Steve Howey and Nicos Dabizas to fandango around the ball like dancehall debutantes, leaving inexperienced striker Miles Joseph to amble though unopposed and knock the ball past a helpless Harper.

That looked to be the final action of consequence until the 84th minute, when Diego Gavilan set up a second of the night for Cort to seemingly win the match. 

However, our defensive frailties led to an instant equaliser, Crew players Cunningham and Joseph charging forward from the restart and bulldozing their way straight to the box. 

Cunningham then threaded the ball under Steve Harper and into the net, before vaulting the advertising hoarding and celebrating with the mini Columbus choir behind the goal. 

The Newcastle players looked embarrassed, while manager Robson turned his head away. Methinks a few choice words were being composed for his post-game debrief...

So, two games played and three goals scored - all from new signings - Cort coming close to bagging a hattrick when his header from Cordone's cross hit the crossbar at 1-0.  

However, other familiar problems remain for the manager to ponder. The central defensive partnership is still no nearer being decided, and on this evidence, a mackem and a greek aren't the right blend. 

Some experimentation was also evident at full back; Warren Barton playing right back for the first half, switching sides at half time to allow Griffin to appear on the right. In view of the continued uncertainty over the future of Domi, our options are being tested out. 

In midfield, Bassedas again seemed to be playing well within himself before departing with an injury that a subsequent x-ray confirmed was a broken bone in his foot. At least Robert Lee looked to come through his stint without a problem though, 

Given the disjointed nature of the side, this was certainly an improvement on the DC showing, but a million miles away from the commitment required for a league campaign.

It's easy to say that these are only meaningless kickabouts, but underwhelming displays at Reading, Celtic and Dundee United a year ago gave a flavour of the mess we would be in once once hostilities began. There's no sign of Bobby putting his boots on just yet....

Biffa & Niall

PS: Vote of thanks to John for putting up with us and Skip for driving duties.