Scunthorpe United v Newcastle United
Glanford Park
Coca-Cola Championship - Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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FULL-TIME
Scunthorpe United 2 Newcastle United 1
This seems to be getting more and more of a recurring event, but there's nothing left for me to say. I don't need to tell you just how huge this is. I'll leave you with this sentiment: What a result!
SECOND-HALF
94 Minutes: Whistles are going everywhere. And now the referee's joins the ones from the crowd. United have won!
92 Minutes: Sub by Scunthorpe - McCann replaced by Andrew Wright (for height I suspect). Newcastle are launching an aerial bombardment at the moment.
91 Minutes: Josh Wright lamps the ball forward to Forte. Forte beats his man for pace, and gets in one-on-one with Harper. He steers the ball towards goal (and it's going in, make no mistake about it) until Harper pushes it wide. But no corner is given. I was in-line with that. It was certainly a corner - or should've been, at least.
89 Minutes: Sub by Scunthorpe - Woolford replaced by Garry Thompson. Four minutes are added. This is tense.
88 Minutes: United are trying to weather a storm. They're getting nine men behind the ball, and pumping it up towards the only spare man, Jonathan Forte, to chase when they win it. He almost got in on-goal a second ago, via that tactic.
86 Minutes: Sub by Newcastle - Hardly a surprising one. Guthrie leaves play; Ranger enters it.
85 Minutes: United are still running like it's the first minute. Especially the energetic Sam Togwell. Danny Guthrie, on the other hand, has just received treatment for cramp.
84 Minutes: Ryan Taylor scuffs a shot in the box, courtesy of Martyn Woolford's close marking.
81 Minutes: Gutierrez gives it to Harewood, who sees the run of Nolan behind him, and slots it into his path. Thankfully though, the ball has just too much weight on it for Nolan to catch it, and Murphy is able to smother.
79 Minutes: Goal for Scunthorpe! If I'm going to be honest, since they scored, Newcastle have been doing much of the pressing. It's therefore even more of an amazing moment when Martyn Woolford pokes the ball under Harper, and United ahead, from about twelve-yards.
Scunthorpe United 2 Newcastle United 1
78 Minutes: Sub by Scunthorpe - Hooper is replaced by Forte.
76 Minutes: Kevin Nolan beats Josh Wirght to the byline, swings a boot at the ball to get it into the box, from where Marlon Harewood comes close(ish) with a bicycle kick.
73 Minutes: The Magpie's are starting to turn the screw a little, if I'm going to be honest. I think it's going to be a case of United hanging on in this game for a point.
71 Minutes: Now Rob Jones goes into the book as well as Smith for an equally poor tackle on Jonas Gutierrez. He chopped the Newcastle midfielder as he started a promising move towards goal.
70 Minutes: Marcus Williams and Gary Hooper play a neat one-two, which allows Williams to get the ball into the box. His low cross is cleared easily, however.
68 Minutes: Into the book goes Alan Smith after a lunge of the type nobody likes to see on Martyn Woolford.
65 Minutes: Goal for Newcastle! And I said that Kevin Nolan was the dangerous looking one at the break. It's him who gets it, coolly rolling the ball beyond Joe Murphy from just inside the area. Suddenly, the presence of 2,000 or so Newcastle fans inside Glanford Park becomes apparent.
Scunthorpe United 1 Newcastle United 1
63 Minutes: Despite their size and presence, neither Marlon Harewood or Andy Carroll can't manage to turn the ball home with their head from very close range when a cross lands in-between them.
62 Minutes: Newcastle sub - Geremi is replaced by Marlon Harewood.
61 Minutes: "Attack, attack, attack, attack, attack" scream the Newcastle fans. They've been pretty quiet today, considering their reputation.
59 Minutes: Gutierrez does well on the wing, before cutting the ball back towards Geremi. But the player obviously didn't take tips on how to shoot from some of the world's finest players during his time at Real Madrid and Chelsea. The only thing he's close to beating is the stand.
57 Minutes: Andy Carroll gallops through, but can only manage to send a sizzling shot into the travelling Toon Army. He'd got beyond the last man, but had dragged the ball too wide in order to get himself there.
51 Minutes: Goal for Scunthorpe! Hooper gets the ball in the box. He has support from Martyn Woolford. Hooper dribbles a little, then gives it to Woolford, who seems to take an age to steady himself and slot it in. But who cares! United lead!
Scunthorpe United 1 Newcastle United 0
49 Minutes: Andy Carroll takes a needless swipe at Grant McCann in the centre-circle, and is lucky not to end up in the book (in my view). Moments after, United nearly have their revenge when Hayes gets into an advanced position, and puts a teasing ball into the box... which flies past the danger zone.
47 Minutes: Jose Enrique creeps up from left-back, and slashes a shot across goal. I must confess that I thought it was going in, and was pleasantly surprised to see it smash into a hoarding past the post.
45 Minutes: Newcastle start the game back up.
HALF-TIME
Scunthorpe United 0 Newcastle United 0
Juding by the enthusiastic round of applause that greets the United players as they depart the field of play, the majority of United fans are pleased with what they've seen in the first period.
And what they've seen is a committed and honest performance from United. You can tell with ease just how much this game means to each and every Iron out there. Newcastle are a scalp which they clearly aim to collect.
At the break, both teams have had chances, and either could find themselves ahead. Nolan looks really dangerous, however. If he plays like this every week then it's hard to see him stayting on next season at the Magpie's if they fail to go up this one.
Hooper and Hayes look as lethal as ever in attack. If Scunthorpe can keep Newcastle out, then there's always a chance that one of them two will grab a goal. Based on recent form, I wouldn't bet against McCann locating the goal either.
Attendance: 8,921 (a new Glanford Park record - surpassing the old figure by fifteen)
FIRST-HALF
45 Minutes: Murphy is forced into a few more saves by Newcastle, before the referee blows for half-time.
41 Minutes: A fair amount of luck, as the ball bobbles off Rob Jones (in the Newcastle box) and falls perfectly for Woolford, gifts United a great chance. Woolford is on his right-foot, however, and the chance goes begging...
35 Minutes: United are doing well at the moment. They're probing, which is giving everyone likes to see. Typically, as I started writing that, Newcastle went on the attack. Gutierrez got down the wing, and found Nolan (not for the first time tonight - United have got to get wise to this trick, or they're going to pay the price at some stage) who must have thought he was trying to score a rugby conversion. That's the only reason I can think of as to why he failed to find the net.
33 Minutes: One-on-one with him, Sam Togwell can see the whites in the eyes of Steve Harper. Sam allows the ball to roll across him, before rasping a shot at goal - but it's straight at Harper, who gathers it in his hands.
28 Minutes: A clever flick from Hayes finds McCann and Woolford. The ball bounces into the area, and Woolford then decides that he'll be the one who smashes it on the half-volley. Wide.
25 Minutes: David Mirfin throws himself in where it hurts (in-front of Kevin Nolan, that is) to clear a potential Newcastle chance. United break with Hayes, who squares it, but Harper's there before Togwell.
24 Minutes: Murphy has a goal-kick, but is clearly not happy with the pressure of the ball. He therefore kicks it towards the ref, to try and get a second opinion. But Rob Jones intercepts, and kicks it back to Murphy, leaving United's keeper looking pretty unhappy, which is also pretty funny!
19 Minutes: As is so often the case, Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper combine brilliantly to create a United chance. In this instance, their interplay feeds the ball to Grant McCann, but just as it looks like he's through on-goal, the last Newcastle defender gets a touch.
16 Minutes: Martyn Woolford and Sam Togwell make a nuisance of themselves in the box, which leads to the ball falling nicely for Gary Hooper. He directs a shot at goal, but as he's under considerable pressure, skies it.
15 Minutes: Great movement from Kevin Nolan allows Danny Guthrie to drive a long-range shot at the United goal. Guthrie's shot comes to nothing, but Nolan's part in the move was sheer class.
13 Minutes: Nolan misses a sitter. The ball is arrowed towards him at the back of the goal. He's unmarked, and all he needs to do is bring the ball under his spell. But he cannot quite manage it.
9 Minutes: Jose Enrique breaks away from Cliff Byrne on the left-wing; but Byrne shows real character and determination to track back and tackle him. I hope every United player shows that sort of spirit tonight.
7 Minutes: A long ball finds Paul Hayes. Hayes is somewhat surprised I think. He has time and space in the box, and seems to take an age to decide what to do. When he makes his choice, he sends a chip towards goal, which comes off Enrique, and has Harper scrambling back, before he can eventually catch it.
5 Minutes: Jonas Gutierrez endures chants of "where's your caravan?". I'm sure he'll love that!
4 Minutes: Jose Enrique makes space for himself on the wing, and sends in a cross to the unmarked Nolan in the box. Murphy makes a superb save.
2 Minutes: Jonas Gutierrez skips through the United midfield, creating a real moment of danger for United. The ball goes to Kevin Nolan eventually, and he slices a shot at a defender, and United avoid falling behind at an early stage.
1 Minute: United get us underway, after a photo-shoot for the 'One game, One community' initiative has taken place.
PRE MATCH
Following Saturday's positively delightful win over Sheffield United, Scunthorpe go head-to-head with Newcastle United tonight, for the first time in the league since they met during the 1963/64 campaign, in what is easily the Iron's most eagerly anticipated home game of the season so far.
Such is the excitement surrounding today's match that tickets for it sold out last week. I don't know for sure whether we will be in for a record attendance, but I'm fairly certain that the figure will be pushing the record mark - which was set at 8,906, against Nottingham Forest, in 2007.
Anyway, tonight's game sort of feels like a cup tie. Newcastle may be playing in the Championship, but they still have many credentials that resemble those of a Premiership team - they're still on television every week, and still have the likes of Nicky Butt, Geremi and Jonas Gutierrez at their disposal. Nigel Adkins said on Saturday that beating anyone in the Championship is a "fantastic achievement" for Scunthorpe United. I have to agree with that, looking at the two sets of players taking to the field tonight...
Scunthorpe United: Murphy, Byrne, Williams, Jones (c), Mirfin, McCann, J. Wright, Togwell, Woolford, Hooper, Hayes.
Subs: Slocombe, A. Wright, Sparrow, Thompson, Forte, Spence, Canavan.
Newcastle United: Harper, Enrique, Nolan, Guthrie, Simpson, Khizanishvili, R. Taylor, Smith (c), Gutierrez, Geremi, Carroll.
Subs: Krul, Harewood, Lovenkrands, Kadar, Ranger, Tozer, Donaldson.
So, midfield workhorse Michael O'Connor fails to make the United squad due to suspension, after picking up his fifth booking of the season on Saturday. Martyn Woolford replaces him. Grant McCann and Josh Wright scrape into the eighteen, after passing fitness tests on Monday. Needless to say, long-term absentees Ben May and Kenny Milne do miss-out.
On the other hand, Magpie's manager Chris Hughton, who has branded tonight's game a "big test" for his Newcastle side, is without Steven Taylor, Shaola Ameobi, Joey Barton and Fabricio Coloccini via injury.
The rain has started to come down over Scunthorpe (albeit intermittently) over the past couple of hours, and combined with the cold, should make for pretty horrible conditions tonight. In no way is that a bad thing for Scunthorpe though. Newcastle are about to engage in the sort of game which stereotypically, teams demoted from the Premiership dread.
With about half of an hour to go until this game commences, Glanford Park is starting to fill up. Rounds of chanting have already surfaced from the Doncaster Road End, and both sets of players are out on the pitch undertaking their warm-ups. Incidentally, the first United player to make it out onto the pitch was Martyn Woolford, who's recalled to the team this evening. Something tells me that he wants to seize his opportunity!
I've just had a quick glance at Andy Penn's (who is tonight's referee) game history for this season, and it seems that he's an official of the lenient variety. So far, the man from the West Midlands has shown only fourteen yellow cards in the space of ten games. Not that many. Especially when you consider that four of them came in one game alone (Millwall versus Brighton), and in five of his game's he's failed to show any card at all.
Ten minutes to go now. All of the Newcastle players have made their way back down the tunnel, as have nearly all of the United players. This place is packed to the rafters now. And there's a feeling of something special in the air. I don't know if it's expectancy, excitement or both. Any Old Iron plays over the tannoy. Goodness knows what the Geordie's make of this!
To say the welcoming is rapturous when the twenty-two players are welcomed onto the pitch would be an understatement. We're all set for the big kick-off now. United are in their usual claret and blue; whereas Newcastle are in their change strip, which is yellow.
SCENE-SETTER
The Iron enter one of their biggest games of the season on Tuesday night when they host Newcastle United at Glanford Park (7.45pm).
It would have been one of the first games of the season that United fans looked for when the fixtures came out in June.
And the clash sold out last week after tickets went on sale three weeks ago.
There are no fresh injury worries for the game, with Grant McCann and Josh Wright shaking off knocks to train on Tuesday morning.
However, Northern Ireland international Michael O'Connor misses out through suspension after receiving his fifth booking of the season in Saturday's 3-1 win over Sheffield United. He will sit out the visit of the Magpies but will return for the clash at Peterborough on Saturday.
The likes of Martyn Woolford, Garry Thompson and Matt Sparrow are on stand-by to replace the former Crewe man.
That one change apart, Scunthorpe are expected to be unchanged.
The only injury absentees for Scunthorpe are Ben May, who has an ankle injury that will rule him out until December, and Kenny Milne, who is still on the road to recovery following two knee operations last season.
Newcastle head into the game with major doubts over defenders Steven Taylor (hamstring) and Fabricio Coloccini (groin). The duo both missed the trip to Nottingham Forest and manager Chris Hughton has confirmed that they will sit out again. Also missing for them are Shola Ameobi and Joey Barton (both foot).
The referee for the game is Andy Penn from the West Midlands, who last took charge of a Scunthorpe game when they beat Charlton Athletic at Glanford Park in February 2008.
