The Newcastle team was:-  Harper  Barton.................. Dabizas.................. Goma...................... Domi  Solano................ Lee................. Speed .....................Dyer  Shearer .............................Gallacher On the bench were Karelse (why not Given?) , Hughes, Marthelino, Glass and Robinson. Boro had Juninho and Ince in midfield, No sign of Gazza who wasn't even on the bench. SOMETHING IS GOING ON WITH NEWCASTLE and GAZZA ..... (Rik) As for the game, Both teams got off to a stirling and sprightly start with the Boro getting the first real attempt in the opening seconds when Brian Deane was put through clear but Harper raced out to gather and went over the top of Deane.  It was all Newcastle from then on and the more pressure they put on, the more Boro panicked. A hanging looped ball from the Newcastle left saw the Boro keeper come out as Gary Pallister came in. The keeper appeared to inadvertently smash his fist in the side of Pallisters head and he went down almost head first. He barely moved and as he was stretched off very carefully he looked in a great deal of pain and discomfort. Just looking at the slo-mo of the Pallister incident.....Domi floated a ball in from the left, the keeper came and Pallister, who was marking Shearer at the time both went up together. The keeper hit Pallister a good straight right, and judging by the way he curled over and went down, he was unconscious in the air. I hope he hasn't broken his neck but it doesn't look good.  From then on Newcastle dominated the rest of the half and it was little surprise when they broke the deadlock. Barton picked the ball up just inside the Middlesborough half on the right and he pressed down to the corner flag. Forcing his way through two tackles he whipped a cross in and Shearer arriving at the far post slid in with his left foot making connection and it was 1-0  Rob Lee and Didier Domi had a couple of long range efforts and then a fabulous lay off from Dyer into the path of Shearer should have seen the score rise but a brilliant save by the Boro keeper kept it down to 1-0.  Newcastle continued to dominate the game and it was only a matter of time before the second goal arrived and just seconds before the break it did. Speed played the ball though to Rob Lee who in turn pushed it forward to Solano on the left, he clipped it into the area and Shearer thumped a header into the back of the net 2-0.  There was still time for Newcastle to get a free kick 20 yards out on the right of the area and a fabulous strike from Solano was only saved courtesy of a defelection of f the legs of Festa which took the sting out of it and into the hands of the keeper.  Newcastle have total domination in the first half and both Junhino and Ince are pretty much ineffective.  Newcastle continued to dominate the match after the break  Junhinio did not reappear for the second half, supposedly 'not fit' but he was so poor in the first half you have to wonder. Most of the play headed directly toward the Gallowgate end from the kick off of the second half and a stinging Speed shot after 53 minutes should really have seen the Toon 3-0 ahead.  A Boro free kick just before the hour warned Harper’s finger tips but that was their best effort in the match to that point.  Newcastle immediately hit back with Shearer almost getting his hat-trick and then a great Speed and Dyer combination of passes almost set up Shearer and it was only the last minute intervention of the keepers finger tips that stopped the ball getting through to Shearer.  Gallagher took a nasty kick in the chest, which to be fair to the referee was difficult to see from where he was, but had he seen it, I'm sure that Cooper would have walked as it would have been his second yellow card. If he had been sent off, it would have been pretty unfair as it was not that kind of game, a fact borne out by only four bookings. (Goma, Dabizas, Flemming and Cooper)  In the last ten minutes, and with nothing else to care about, Boro starting pushing forward a bit more. Harper made a great point blank save from Flemming who hit a blinder from just inside the right corner on the area.  Gallagher then made way for Robinson, and he received a standing ovation from the crowd as he left the field.  Newcastle's last really good chance came from a free kick right on the left hand corner of the area, but Solano and Shearer played a little bit of 'after you' and it allow the Boro wall to get forward and stifle the attempt.  Robson the elder then made a second change brining on Glass for Solano and it was as this change was being made that Boro struck as the Toon defence lost their concentration a bit and Deane slipped in to make it 2-1.  Newcastle never looked in any kind of trouble after that goal went in, but there was a huge cheer as the referee blew the final whistle on a good win.  My men of the match, Shearer for his two goal and Dyer for the work he put in....he popped up everywhere on the pitch. ............From ITK...

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