Newcastle 1 – 1 Pompey

By Nick Raynor
December 11 2004

Pompey came back from behind to hold Newcastle to a draw at St. James Park.

Shearer and Kluivert were both injured so that left Ameobi and Bellamy as the preferred strike partnership. 

It started well for Newcastle who went one-nil up after 3 minutes when Lee Bowyer scored his first Premiership goal of the season after rifling the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.  

Shocked to have conceded so early on, Portsmouth got men behind the ball and regained their composure. 

They finally got their first chance after 15 minutes where Fuller blasted his shot into a brave Aaron Hughes. 

Kieron Dyer has been a target of Newcastle fans in recent weeks and he did himself no favours by missing a golden opportunity to double The Magpies lead. 

Craig Bellamy robbed former team-mate Andy Griffin of the ball on the halfway line and changed towards goal. He crossed to the unmarked Kieron Dyer in the box but the England-star could only scoop it over the crossbar. 

Newcastle were made to pay when Bowyer did well to clear Dejan Stefanovic's header off the line, but Gary O’Neill gave it to Steve Stone whose shot took the wickedest of deflections off young-centre back Steven Taylor and ended up in the back on the net to make it all square after half an hour. 

After Half-Time, Pompey came out and got men behind the ball and played deep, keeping the Newcastle forwards at bay. 

Frustrated Newcastle were resigned to long-range attempts and substitute Laurent Robert went close but Ashdown tipped it round the post. 

Kieron Dyer tried to make amends for his earlier mistake but smashed his chance over the bar. 

Portsmouth then unexpectedly hit Newcastle as ex-Toon striker Lua-Lua tried an overhead kick which proved comfortable for Given to save. 

Pompey got forward then with O’Neill having a great chance but he put his header wide. Ameobi nearly won the game for Newcastle but he too could not get his header on target. 

Skipper Jermaine Jenas had one last throw of the dice in stoppage time but his acrobatic volley was off-target which left Newcastle in 12^th and with just a point. 

Portsmouth will certainly see they have won a point whereas it is 2 points dropped for the Toon who now lie 9 points off 4^th place but only 6 off relegation with many teams still to play.