By Peter Donnelly
April 13 2003

Sir Bobby Robson's side were blitzed 6-2 by Man United on Saturday as our championship hopes were simply blown away. Man.U were on fire but we were far from it, although this one result shouldn't overshadow a terrific season. Jermaine Jenas put us ahead on 21 minutes in belting style, on his 50th Toon appearance. Man.U half cleared the ball after Bellamy had a good effort on goal and then JJ beautifully crashed the ball home past Barthez. It's just such a shame the goal counted for nothing.

Man.U equalized ten minutes later when Newcastle tried to play offside but failed and Solksjaer finished well after being put through on Giggs.

Only two minutes later Scholes then put Man U ahead when Solksjaer played the midfielder in behind the Newcastle defence once again and he finsihed superbly, volleying past Given. This was a shock to the system for Newcastle and mentally the players looked soft and shaken.

It then all became a bit crazy as Man.U went 3-1 up soon after when Scholes got his second.

Seven minutes later the match was a nightmare. Ryan Giggs scored his first and Man.U's fourth goal. John O'Shea easily avoided two feeble challenges and after he crashed the bar with his shot Giggs was there to fire home. It was getting embaressing.

In the second hlf things didn't get much better and on 51 minutes Scholes got his hat-trick as Gary Neville got to the by-line and cut the ball accross to the ginger lad who slotted the ball home.

The ref just added salt in the wounds when he gave a penalty against Titus Bramble after the defender brung down Diego Forlan. Van Nistelrooy converted, going the other way.

Losing 6-1 at home with 58 minutes gone isn't exactly how I thought the game would be and it was a painful experience.

However, the Toon Army still had time to get behind the team and te support to the team was fantastic.

Sir Bobby brought on both Lomana LuaLua and Shola Ameobi for Nolberto Solano and Hugo Viana and from this point onwards we actually got some joy. Alan Shearer had a decent chance but Barthaz save the skipper's shot.

The at least some pride was restored as the ever-developing Shola Amoebi finished well after a dodgy Barthez kick out to make the scoreline 6-2, which was the full-time score.

You have to take into account how good Man.U were but unfortunately we were poor and the defence was a shambles. Aaron Hughes and Titus Bramble were the main culprits but I'm still confident that the same defence will do well once they gell. In the centre midfield I don't think Jenas and Dyer quite seem to work, there are no set positions and they are both getting up and down which leaves a lot of space for the opposition. There is also a lack of physical presence. We've still had a excellent season though and we've got some very winnable games coming up which we need to win in order to cement a Champions League place.