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NEWCASTLE v MIDDLESBROUGH FULL-TIME REPORT
Yakubu made the game after being an injury doubt but Franck Queudrue missed the game with a knee injury. Shay Given had been ruled out with a broken finger but surprisingly, he started.
Boro, with several players unavailable and without a league win since 20th November last year, gave a debut to Lee Cattermole and adopted a 4-4-2 formation with Gaizka Mendieta on the right.
Schwarzer, Pogatetz, Riggott, Southgate, Parnaby, Morrison, Doriva, Cattermole, Mendieta (Bates 69), Viduka, Yakubu (Hasselbaink 72)
Jones, Johnson, Maccarone
THE FIRST HALF
We nearly got the best possible start after Amdy Faye had fouled Gaizka Mendieta in the first minute. Gaizka took the free-kick himself from just outside the box and it sailed agonisingly over the bar.
Four mimnutes in and Boro's second chance arrived with Yakubu using his strength to power his way through and once again it was Gaizka Mendieta who shot and once again, we were unlucky not to have taken the lead.
But Gaizka's chances were made to look like half-opportunities a moment later as Boro's defence went to sleep and allowed Albert Luque a clear run on goal. Luque found himself in a one-on-one with Skippy who he easily rounded and left himself staring at a wide-open goal.
Somehow, the Spaniard managed to hit the post when it looked as though it would have been easier to score. For sure, he has missed a complete sitter and Boro had received a mighty let off.
It had been a frantic start and a usual lively Boro opening but the game cooled off for a ten minute spell until Luque hit the bar in the eighteenth. It was offside anyway but it was a warning shot that had been fired across Boro's bows.
Boro responded well and James Morrison combined with Mark Viduka and Yakubu to create a scoring chance that was put wide. Morrison was looking more assured as the game went on and with Lee Cattermole making a bright debut, it was Boro who were slowly gaining the upper hand as the game reached the quarter mark.
Evidence of this was when the Newcastle net was stretched in the twenty-sixth minute. Not by the ball though, which was sent flying high over the bar, but by Mark Viduka who tumbled in to the goal when he should have scored instead. One missed sitter each.
The Geordies went straight up the other end and won a free-kick which everyone expected Alan Shearer to take. Shearer stepped aside and let Nobby Solano take it and the Peruvian sailed a brilliant shot straight past Skippy and Newcastle had the lead.
NEWCASTLE 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 (Solano 27)
Boro's heads didn't go down and we resumed where we had left off just before the goal, James Morrison showing some fantastic skill in turning Lee Clarke inside out but the first Boro goal remained elusive as Skippy once again outwitted Luque at the other end.
Solano was yet again instrumental in the goalmouth but this time at the Boro end as he cleared a Mendieta corner off the line.
Newcastle exerted a little pressure as we entered the final five minutes of the half but Boro held them at bay and worked hard to create opportunities of their own.
The end result was a mad goalmouth scramble involving seven players in the six-yard box and James Morrison coming the closest again. Newcastle hit us on the break and it took a tremendous tackle from Gareth Southgate to prevent Newcastle's lead increasing.
And that was how the first half ended, with Boro slightly unlucky to be a goal down but with everything to play for in the second half. We hopefully would not be regretting the chances that we didn't put away, come the final whistle.
FIRST HALF FAN REACTION
"The referee's bloody useless and is a 'homer' as well."
Dessie
"The result is disappointing but at least we're trying this time. We need the sinking of the Solano!"
Smoggy Suicide
THE SECOND HALF
There were no substitutions for either side during the break and once again, Boro started brightly with Yakubu and Viduka both probing and almost finding a way through to goal.
Albert Luque was in the same mood at the other end though and was always a source of danger to Boro and always looked capable of making a breakthrough.
Referee Steve Bennett was having another stinker - remember West Ham and Liverpool - and completely missed Babayaro's foul on Chris Riggott. It could have put Chris Riggott out of the game and it was a travesty that it went unpunished.
Boro's first proper attack came twelve minutes into the half when that man Morrison made a blinding run and cut through the Geordie defence to give himself time to cross to Yakubu who was there to smash home his twelfth goal of the season.
NEWCASTLE 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Yakubu 57)
Chris Riggott took another knock just after the goal and left the field with a bleeding nose for a few minutes. It was starting to border on victimisation from the Skunk players but Chris was handling it well.
Boro's equaliser seemed to have knocked a bit of confidence out of the Newcastle players and Boro pushed forward in search of the lead.
Boro made a change in the sixty-ninth minute with Matthew Bates coming on for Gaizka Mendieta. It is unclear whether the switch was tactical or due to Mendi not being able to continue but Boro didn't change formation and Stuart Parnaby moved into midfield.
As soon as the change was made, Solano beat Mad-Dog Pogataetz to the ball and sent in a header that sailed just over and should have been considered as a let-off for Boro.
Another change was made just moments later when Yakubu was taken off and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink entered the action. St James' Park had gone flat by this stage, the atmosphere was visibly draining away, along with the Geordie's high hopes of derby day victory.
INTO THE RED ZONE
There was a few bad tempers flying around as the game entered the final ten minutes as first, Mad-Dog Pogatetz was involved in an incident with Shay Given and then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was booked for a clash with Boumsong.
Newcastle should have scored in the eighty-fourth as Skippy came out for a cross and left the goal unguarded. Two Newcastle players were there and Skippy only got a fist to it, knocking it into Boumsong's path but Boro escaped again.
Straight up the other end and Mark Viduka played a perfect ball to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who nutmegged Shay Given and sent the Geordie legions heading for the exits.
NEWCASTLE 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Hasselbaink 87)
Newcastle won a free-kick straight after the restart and threw every player apart from Given forward with Boro doing the same in reverse. Shearer failed to get his head to the ball though and with three minutes of time added on, it was a case of keeping possession, something that we are most certainly good at.
Matthew Bates was booked for taking too long over a throw-in and Newcastle put everyone forward deep into stoppage time, this time including Shay Given. It worked a treat as Gareth Southgate miscued his clearance and Lee Clarke was there to fire in a lucky equaliser.
NEWCASTLE 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Clarke 93)
There was no more time left and although a draw could be considered a fair result, the overall feeling was that Boro had just thrown two points and a win at St. James' Park down the pan.
FULL TIME FAN REACTION
"I just saw McClaren kick a bucket near the dugout. Could be the biggest irony of the season..."
Mike Read
Full time whistle: 1656 - Report online 1659
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