It’s always interesting to see how the other side report a game and last night the Yorkshire Post had a report out on the 2-0 Newcastle win.
They pointed out we did a lot better than Roberto Di Matteo’s side, who drew 1-1 on September 27th – the only time in the last six games the Tykes haven’t lost a league game.
Geordie Steve Bruce is now in charge of Villa and they got their first win under Steve last night – a 2-1 win with Ayew scoring the winner with a penalty on 90 minutes.
Some of the 5501 Newcastle fans last night at Oakwell
That’s only Aston Villa’s second win of the season and Steve has started out with 4 points from his first two games, but they still have only 14 points – half of Newcastle’s total after 13 games.
This is some of the report of the game from the Yorkshire Post last night:
“Exactly three weeks to the day since Aston Villa manager Roberto di Matteo had plenty to contemplate following a sobering midweek night in Barnsley in what turned out to be his penultimate match in charge.”
“Rafa Benitez was left to survey a job well done.”
“The Spaniard’s finest managerial hour came when he instigated Liverpool’s ‘Miracle in Istanbul’ from a 3-0 interval deficit against AC Milan in May 2005.”
“It will not have been lost upon him that it was Barnsley who helped inflict his nastiest surprise as Anfield chief.”
“That came in a painful loss to the South Yorkshire outfit, who famously triumphed 2-1 in a huge FA Cup upset when he was in charge on Merseyside in 2008.”
“But there no major shocks in store for his high-flying Newcastle United side last night, who went top of the Championship, despite a difficult first half.”
“The powerhouse visitors secured their fourth win on the spin to firm up their title bid.”
“One glance at last night’s teamsheet underlined the extent of Barnsley’s task in indelible ink.”
“While manager Paul Heckingbottom was down to his last 16 senior players, Benitez was blessed with a complete embarrassment of riches in comparison.”
“His only quandary was which multi-million pound player to leave out with a starting line-up described as “Premier League quality” by Heckingbottom.”
“It was one of their stellar talents in Dwight Gayle who proved the difference with a second-half brace to take his season’s tally to 11 goals, to the delight of the 5,501 travelling Newcastle fans.”
“In front of a crowd of 18,597, Barnsley’s biggest league crowd since September 2010, both sets of supporters saw a quiet opening 45 minutes.”
“After being so stout defensively in the first half, Barnsley switched off following a Ritchie corner four minutes after the break and it cost them.”
“The inswinging delivery from the right was not dealt with and Gayle pounced on the loose ball and fired home at the near post.”
“But any hint at a fight back was ended on 68 minutes when Newcastle sealed the three points thanks to Gayle. It was a moment of class with Ritchie and the striker combining again.”
“The Scottish international’s defence-splitting pass was latched onto swiftly by Gayle and he raced clear before hooking the ball past Davies.”
Here’s how the league table looks today.
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1 comment so far
lochinvar
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:49 AM
Comment #1Clubs such as Barnsley who have a strong football tradition are to be applauded for welcoming 5,500 toon fans and pragmatically adding some income to their bank balance while ensuring a lively atmosphere for all fans. It was good to see Brentford bringing so many fans to SJP and mingling with out fans before and after the game. Most of us thought the Championship could be an enjoyable experience and so FA so good. I think there’s 6,000 going to Preston and we should have 52,000 for Ipswich with shared memories of Sir Bobby – hope he gets a great chant from all the fans on Saturday.
Sunshine over the Toon