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Middlesbrough	0 - 3	Newcastle United
Half time:	0 - 1
Score Sheet:
		Coppinger - pen (28) Gavilan (52) McMenamin (60)
	Teams
Marlon Beresford Steven Baker Sean Kilgannon Paul Stephenson Christian Hanson Brian Close Anthony Ormerod Alan Moore Brian Deane Joseph Job Andy Campbell	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11	John Karelse Ryan McGuffie Olivier Bernard Gary Caldwell David Beharall Jamie McClen Diego Gavilan Mark Boyd Jamie Coppinger Colin McMenamin Romain Faure
Substitutes:
Carlos Marinelli for Deane (46) Anthony McStea for Baker (65) Craig Nelson for Moore (74)		Pablo Bonvin for McClen (76) Joseph Kendrick for Coppinger (86)
Subs not used:
Brad Jones David Murphy		Phil Pringle Bradley Orr David Cowan
Bookings:
Marinelli (50) McStea (78)		None
Referee: C.Bassindale
Attendance: approx 270

28 mins  Colin McMenamin was pulled back by Stephenson in the Boro box and the referee rightly pointed to the spot. Jamie Coppinger converted his third goal of the campaign, placing his spot kick to the right of the goalkeeper.0-1

Half time: boro 0 Newcastle 1

52 mins. A long crossfield ball from McGuffie at right back found its way to the unmarked Coppinger, who bore down on goal from the left side of the boro area. He was unable to fire in a shot after turning inside a defender, but McMenamin made a nuisance of himself and in the confusion the ball broke free for birthday boy Diego Gavilan. He took a step to the right then shot home from the edge of the box for his first goal of the season. 0-2

60 mins.  With the Middlesbrough defence apparently asleep, United went further ahead after Bernard and Coppinger linked up down the Newcastle left and released Colin McMenamin. The youngster confidently shot home for his first goal in English football.   0-3

Full time: boro 0 Newcastle 3

7 mins A fine four man move from Newcastle saw Boyd, McMenamin and Coppinger combine to provide McClen with a reasonable shooting opportunity in front of goal. However, he blazed over from 20 yards out.

9 mins More positive attacking pressure from the visitors, as Coppinger and Gavilan made headway down the right flank, the latter sending over a well-paced cross. McMenamin managed to make contact, but directed his header well wide.

11 mins The one-way traffic continued with United confidently sweeping upfield in an intricate passing manoeuvre involving McClen, Boyd and Gavilan. The Paraguayan again found space on the right to flight a dangerous-looking ball over, but the home defence managed to clear at the expsense of a corner.

17 mins As a measure of the United superiority, a foul on Coppinger down the Newcastle right saw Gary Caldwell join the attack and power his header just wide of the goal from Gavilan's set piece.

21 mins The clearest goalscoring chance of the game fell to Gavilan in the Boro area, after a Newcastle free kick from the left flank dropped in a favourable position. However, his attempt to carry the ball towards goal saw a defender manage to block his eventual shotting effort.

28 mins Opening goal for Newcastle (see above)

33 mins Boro failed to get back on level terms after a strong break down the centre from Job outpaced the Newcastle backline. The pass was played to Campbell, who bore down on goal but inexplicably chose to attempt a weak shot when a simple pass to Baker on the right would have enabled the defender to knock the ball home with ease.

34 mins Another let-off for United, as Campbell attacked again and this time elected to pass, laying the ball off to the advancing job in a central position just outside the visitors box. His strong shot was on target, but produced a timelpy save from Karelse.

40 mins Newcastle should have increased their lead after Gavilan and Coppinger began another attack, McClen carrying the ball forward and finding Coppinger who had made a diagonal run into space. His shot from close range was on target, but Beresford in the home goal managed to beat it down.

52 mins United double their advantage (see above)

60 mins United hit their third (see above)

65 mins With Boro in disarray, Olivier Bernard tried to get in on the goalscoring act with a little jink between two defenders and a decent enough strike that was just slightly too high.

78 mins Bernard again was in the heart of the action, clashing with Boro sub McStea in a challenge for the ball on the halfway line. McStea appeared to stand on Bernard, which prompted a little bout of jostling between the two sets of players. Rather surprisingly the referee declined to book either player.

79 mins A predictable but stupid challenge from McStea on Bernard again saw him shown a yellow card, when a fairier decision could have been a straight red.

79 mins It was noted that Marinelli had in fact left the field some minutes before, leaving Boro to play out the remaining time a man short, having used all their subs.

80 mins Bobby Robson appeared from his seat among the supporters in the stand to confer at pitchside with Tommy Craig.

89 mins Nearly a late flourish from Newcastle, after the Boro keeper was penalised for picking up a back pass. Boyd's shot looked like it was diverted off a defender's hand as it was blocked on the goalline, but the referee was unimpressed and blew for time seconds later.  
 

Not quite as spectacular as the Aston Villa away win of a few weeks before, but a rare clean sheet and a comprehensive victory which gladdened the few toon fans present who had defied the elements and phantom match cancellation rumours.

The watching United politbureau of Robson, Wadsworth and Milne could not fail to have been impressed by the performance that a young team produced on the unfamiliar territory of a non-league ground in deepest Billingham. However, the pitch was a credit to the Albany Northern League outfit (as was the Guinness in the bar), arousing suspicions that the chemically-saturated local atmosphere was providing artificial stimulus to the grass.

For Boro, Terry Venables stood at pitchside throughout, sipping his cup of Rosie Lee and giving occasional instructions to his players that were totally ignored. Coaches Viv Anderson and Gordon McQueen looked on from the stand looking totally bored, while Captain Lager himself, Bryan Robson, was nowhere to be seen.

In stark contrast to many recent reserve games, Newcastle were on top from the first whistle and the only surprise about their first goal was that it took so long to arrive. Boro seemed listless and uninterested, Brian Deane especially seeming to be wearing someone else's boots during his minimalist 45 minute contribution. 

United's on-trial Frenchman Romain Faure (from Conference club Scarborough) occupied a defensive midfield berth in the centre of the field and had little scope to display his talents. On the evidence of one game he didn't seem to bring anything new to our shadow squad, and looks destined to join the ever-increasing list of toon rejects.

Happiest man in Central Avenue was united reserve coach Tommy Craig, who was entitled to enjoy his moment after having witnessed numerous frustratingly inconsistent showings from his team this season.

Biffa

Reserves