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Date: Sat 31st July 1999 17.30pm BST. Venue: Ruhr Stadion, Bochum, Germany  Admission - 10Dm, about three quid.  No programme Conditions: By jingo it was warm; good job they didn't start at 3pm. Manager: Ruud Gullit, strip: black away

Vfl Bochum	3 - 2	Newcastle United
Half time:	1 - 1
Score Sheet:
Balusynski (41) Balusynski (63) Schreiber  (67)		Shearer (38) Shearer (56)
	Teams
Rene van Duijnhoven Sven Boy Thomas Reis Hilko Ristau Axel Sundermann Mike Rietpietsch Matthias Lust Yildiray Bastürk Delron Buckley Henryk Baluszynski Rene Müller		Steve Harper Laurent Charvet Marcelino Alain Goma Didier Domi Nolberto Solano Temuri Ketsbaia Carl Serrant Alan Shearer  Paul Robinson Gary Speed
Substitutes:
Olaf Schreiber for Müller (59) Viorel Ion for Buckley (59) Seb Schindzielorz for Bastürk (80)  Jan Majewski for Baluszynski (87)		Aaron Hughes for Charvet (46) Silvio Maric for Robinson (55)
Subs not used:
None		Perez Barton Kerr Coppinger McClen
Bookings:
n/a		Charvet Speed
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: (Schiedrichter): Markus Weber
Attendance: Crowd (Zuschauer): 11,644 (around 350 away supporters.)

38 mins After pressure from Robinson, the ball ran free on the edge of the Bochum area, and a snap shot from Shearer took a slight deflection as it ran into the net. 1-0. 

41 mins The United defence stood and watched as Bochum bore down on Harper'sgoal and Balusynski beat the keeper on the angle from 15 yards, after running on to a through ball. 1-1 

Half time: Bochum  1 Newcastle 1

56 mins A good Serrant / Maric combination the United right ended with a perfect cross from the byline by Solano, which the oncoming Shearer steered home with his head from 10 yards. 2-1 

63 mins The dangerous Balusynski was again allowed time and space by United to stride through the defence, pick his spot and fire home. 2-2 

67 mins A rare goal from the former Carl Ziess Jena player Olaf Schreiber. A short free kick was played across the edge of the box and a weak shot from the Bochum substitute was inexplicably allowed past and in by Harper. 2-3

Full time: Bochum 3 Newcastle 2 

Balusynski		Schreiber

And so the marathon Euro-jaunt that had encompassed Holland, England and Scotland moved on to its final destination, Germany, and an appointment with recently relegated Vfl Bochum. 

An early arrival at the Ruhr stadion following a short train ride from Dusseldorf revealed that the Bochum "fan day" was in full swing - a diverse collection of activities, demonstrations, and stalls selling the inevitable pils (in what seemed to be hospital sample jugs) and evil-smelling sausages.

The searing heat meant that a few beers in a shady spot were called for, which afforded a vantage point from which to observe demonstrations of ballroom dancing, kick boxing, gridiron, and karate woodchoppers to name but a few - not quite the view from "The Trent House"…. 

Elsewhere, the youth of Bochum were busy with go-karts, rollerskating, limbo dancing and bouncy castles, while one English visitor seized upon the chance afforded him by the PA announcer to denounce the Dalgish era from the main stage, to the applause of the early arrivals from Tyneside and other parts of Europe. Somewhere in all this merriment, a football match was scheduled to break out, but thankfully the heat of the afternoon had abated by the time kickoff arrived.

Inside the ground, United fans were dotted all around, but in greatest numbers behind one goal (seated) and in one corner (standing.) The usual Bundesliga combinations of perimeter fencing and netting at either end were in evidence, as was an ultra-relaxed stewarding style. 

To herald the arrival of the teams, from somewhere the host team had dredged up a record apparently titled "We're the most United team in all the land" that even Barry in the Box would have hesitated over before slapping on the Gallowgate gramophone. After this atrocity it was no surprise that a home team goal was greeted with a burst of the "Can Can" and the second half appearance of Newcastle was heralded by "Go West" in German…

As for the performance. well the manager says he can't play his full team so presumably that excuses the ones who are playing from looking like they've ever met before…..to search for plus points, Solano got a byline cross for the first time in a year, Shearer scored two goals from open play for the first time since we went decimal, Harper got some (much-needed) match practice. 

As in Helmond, United again got some rough justice from the officials (who looked to be wearing Middlesbrough strips) and Charvet and Speed were booked while severe challenges from the home team on Solano especially went unremarked. 

today's Maric Miss was a sort of reverse Jimmy Montgomery thing, where he screwed two chances up within seconds, being pushed off the ball when poised to shoot at a gaping net and then volleying skywards when a header would surely have beaten the keeper. 

At the end of the game, a number of the players took time to applaud the travellers, while others just headed straight down the tunnel, clutching their swapped shirts. The Bochum players by contrast went on a little lap of honour wearing their Newcastle shirts - presumably special dispensation had been gained as the toon shirts didn't have squad numbers so the players got them at a discount, probably....

It's always hard to take a match seriously when a gigantic inflatable coke bottle looms over the pitch, but United fans climbed the security fence to show their displeasure at the performance by mooning at the crowd. Without wishing to condone such a gratuitous display of white Geordie arse, I have to say I knew what they meant... 

PS: Thanks are due to Ray McDermott and his smashing family for their wonderful hospitality, Jurgen the baker, and the Rudi lookalike who kept us furnished with beer... 

Biffa

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