Match Report

Hammers went for Agro - Geordies went for points!

Approximately 170 members of the Toon Army were probably quite relieved to be caged in a corner of the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo on Thursday 2nd November.

Relieved to be there safe and unscathed after all the pre-match hype about the bother we could expect after the trouble West Ham fans were involved in earlier in the competition. In truth nothing happened during the time we were there, other than a bit of a stand-off in a bar on the Wednesday night. This was handled very well by the local police who got the 14 of us under escort into taxis and back to our hotels!

In the ground there was an air of good natured pessimism among the usual die-hards, settling for a low scoring defeat against the joint leaders of Serie A.

The first few minutes were a bit scrappy and, understandably, there looked to be a lack of understanding between teenage debutant keeper Tim Krul and his back four but things soon settled down and The Toon, operating a 4-5-1 formation, more or less took control of the game with their possession football. The defence was giving nothing away and received good protection from Butt and Solano in particular. We looked like experienced European campaigners, which I suppose we are! Knowing nods of approval began to be seen among the fans as we realised that this wasn’t going to be the rout that many had feared.

Then, on 37 minutes, it happened, a pinpoint cross from Milner onto the head of Luque and we were 1 - 0 up. Cue bedlam as the Geordies celebrated by climbing onto barriers, running up and down the bits of green plastic which the Italians attempt to pass off as seats, and generally gannin mental.

We expected a Palermo onslaught and a soft equaliser before half-time but United continued to keep the ball and frustrate their rather clueless hosts, meaning that it remained 1 - 0 as the teams made their way to the dressing rooms.

The small company of the Toon Army spent the break shaking their heads in disbelief, reassuring each other that we deserved the lead. Very few availed themselves of the only refreshments available, a bottle of coke or a Cornetto from a wandering Sicilian vendor.

Newcastle continued to play well in the second half but were under a bit more pressure and it took a fantastic double save from Krul to keep us in front. It wasn’t all one way traffic, however, and we had chances on the break to make the game safe, the most noticeable being when the ball got stuck under Sisisky’s foot as he tied to find either Milner or Pattison when we had a 3 on 2 situation.

Desperation set in with Palermo as they brought on 3 of their “big guns” to rapturous applause from their fans, but little changed in the pattern of play.

Roeder responded by bringing on Sibierski in place of the tiring Luque, and two of his “little guns” in Matty Pattison and Andy Carroll.

Ultimately it stayed 1 - 0 and the Toon had recorded what we regarded as one of our best ever away victories in Europe. Not as important as beating Ujpest Dohza in 1969 or as attractive as 5 - 0 against Royal Antwerp, but considering Palermo were joint top of Serie A, a sensational result.

Credit to Glen Roeder and the players who all performed magnificently. Krul, Moore and Bramble stood out and got the plaudits in the Italian press, but my Man of The Match was Nicky butt, steadying the team, protecting the back four, slowing the game down and hardly wasting a ball all night.

After the game we were held back for 30 minutes before being bussed back into the city centre where the celebrations began with a large police presence. Some of the lads kept going until 6.00 a.m. after all we had earned the right. We were there!

DG