Newcastle plays Portsmouth to disappointing draw

By: j | April 28th, 2009

Newcastle’s “must-win” visit of Portsmouth to St James’ Park concluded with a disappointing scoreless draw that further deepens the relegation mire the club is trapped in. The result leaves the Magpies three points behind Hull City for safety.

Whilst the result is a painful one to consider, “number 9″ took an admirable aggressive stance and chose the attacking trident of Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka. Though Newcastle may have been shy of the needed supporting talent, they made up for a great deal with tactical mindset and “should” have come out with the three points. Unfortunately “should” means very little and the biggest surprise of the day came from Michael Owen and Oba Martins both missing quality chances that I dare say, if only Mr Shearer still had his boots it would have been so very, very different. Sadly the legend can grace the grounds and Gazza can’t resist returning but the present day crew suffered from one of the worst traits that can be uttered of a professional on Monday evening; when the chips were down, they didn’t respond.

Newcastle had its chances and in many ways, more than its fair share as Mike Riley turned a blind-eye to what many considered an obvious penalty call but still couldn’t turn the screw. Sadly as the match waned on the hearty Newcastle supporters who sang with pride earlier were forced to watch a toothless assault that lacked the venom needed for a relegation fight.

Now the Magpies must rally and find strength in the past and summon a siege mentality lest that succumb the drop that as Leeds and Charleton can state, can be a terrifying slide with many unfortunate surprises. On Sunday Newcastle ventures to Anfield and they will need to summon the magic of number 9 and the strength of the Toon Army if they are to return home with points.