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Venue: Autoquest Stadium, Widnes.

Conditions: Steady rain throughout.    

Crowd: 1,298, including former Liverpool "super sub" David Fairclough and Gazza. Uncle Bobby was also in attendance, but unlike last season, he elected to remain in an executive box rather than berate the United players from the bench.  

Referee:  S.Bratt - initially seemed over-fussy, but noticeably allowed play to continue after offences were committed to see whether an advantage developed. No doubt he'll be downgraded for displaying common sense.  

Teams: 

EFC: (normal home kit) Simonsen, Hibbert, McLeod, Unsworth, Clarke, Gemmill, Hughes.S (Southern 86 mins), Cadamarteri, Jevons, Osman, Milligan.
Subs: O'Hanlon, Kearney, Chadwick, Pettinger.
Booked:  Unsworth 39 mins, strong tackle on Ameobi. Cadamarteri 48 mins, taking away the legs of Bassedas. Milligan 51 mins, disputing an offside decision. Unsworth 67 mins, strong tackle on Ameobi.

NUFC: (normal home kit) Karelse, McGuffie, Ullathorne, Bassedas, G. Caldwell, Marcelino, Glass , Hamilton (Kerr 73 mins), Coppinger, Ameobi, Dimas (Green 73 mins). 
Subs n/u: Beharall, Grindlay.
Booked: Gary Caldwell 92 mins.

5 mins A cross from the Everton right was flighted in to the United area and the referee decided that Unsworth had been the victim of shirt-tugging by a visiting defender. The very harsh award of a penalty wasn't followed by a yellow card for the offender (who looked to be captain Gary Caldwell), which spoke volumes.....Philip Jevons eventually stepped up to send Karelse the wrong way, converting his low shot to the keeper's left. 0-1 and as the game restarted, reserve coach Tommy Craig rather pointedly expressed his dissatisfaction with events to the fourth official.
7 mins The first response from Newcastle was a venomous strike from 25 yards by Glass which South Shields-born keeper Simonsen tipped over for a corner. Like most of our set pieces however, we failed to create a goalscoring opportunity from it, forcing another corner that then saw Dimas place his header over the bar.
18 mins Almost a gift-wrapped opportunity for Everton, as Hughes swept past McGuffie down the left and his centre hit Marcelino to deflect nicely to Jevons. However, Karelse was able to turn his 15 yard shot round the post.
19 mins The first telling contribution from debutant Dimas, as he eluded two defenders on the Newcastle left and eventually pulled a dangerous low cross back from the byline. With Bassedas well-placed to receive it on the penalty spot, Coppinger unfortunately stretched and claimed the pass and sent his shot wide.
22 mins McGuffie was again found lacking as his first time control of a crossfield ball allowed Milligan to intercept and set off for goal. Hibbert outpaced him to receive the ball overlapping down the left and cross, but Cadamarteri placed his tame effort right at Karelse.
31 mins The first telling contribution from Ameobi, as he twisted between two Everton players into space on the right side of the home box. Coppinger was up in support, but his driven cross gathered speed on the wet surface and sped past the approaching Bassedas.

Halftime: EFC 1 NUFC 0

47 mins An identical situation to that which brought about the first goal, but this time United were the benefactors as a left wing cross looked to be handled by Ameobi challenging with a home defender. However the referee pointed to the spot, much to the disgust of 'keeper Simonsen. Stephen Glass sent him the wrong way and placed the equaliser in the bottom right of the goal. 1-1
56 mins Taking a rare opportunity to support the attack, McGuffie delivered a good cross from the right, which Gary Caldwell met with a firm header, unfortunately wide of the goal.
59 mins Questions asked about United's lack on concentration, as a quickly-taken corner on the right side by the Toffee's was allowed to get to Stephen Hughes lurking on the edge of the box. His low drive passed through a crowd of players and the helpless Karelse.1-2
65 mins Cadamarteri was sent flying by McGuffie who seemed to do little more than stand his ground, and the Everton forward sprang quickly to his feet when the free kick was taken to burst into the United box. Karelse came off his line, and in the inevitable collision, the referee rightly awarded the third spot kick of the evening. Cadamarteri himself took it, and although Karelse got a hand to the effort, it still entered the goal via his top right hand corner.1-3
70 mins With United reduced to lumping the ball forward in desparation, a rare corner saw Glass produce a dangerous inswinger that found it's way to Dimas. He acrobatically met the ball with a volley but the effort sailed harmlessly wide.
89 mins Almost a spectacular fourth for Everton, as a clearance out of defence fell to Hibbert just inside the United half, and he sent a powerful effort in on goal that Karelse had to scramble back on to his line to deal with. 
 
Final Score: EFC 3 NUFC 1

Waffle: 

Little cheer for the few United fans who braved the damp and miserable conditions at this impressive little stadium, aside from a steady 90 minute outing for Bassedas and some hints of future promise from new boy Pedro Dimas on the left wing. Taking the mercenary approach, it could also be argued that the return of Marcelino is also good news, and hopefully hastens his departure from the club in return for at least part of our outlay.

The problem with the attacking element of the side seems to be purely that they lack a focal point up front. Shola Ameobi seems to be in something of a post-Premiership debut rut, and is achieving little, while Coppinger also seems distinctly off colour at present. However, it is noticeable that when the twin midfield prospects of Kerr and Green were introduced in the final quarter, both Copp and Shola perked up somewhat.

Confidence is clearly in short supply, and a winning result in a competitive match is desperately required. With the cancellation of the Aston Villa game we now have a month without reserve competition, and hopefully our Northumberland Senior Cup campaign will begin in the interim with a morale-boosting victory. 

United have also announced that they will be playing some friendly matches, which will provide the opportunity for the likes of Coppinger to rediscover the pre-season form that at present has deserted him.   


Biffa