Magpies end barren run with win over Birmingham

Newcastle 2 Birmingham 1

Newcastle ended their seven-game winless run with a precious victory over Birmingham to launch 2005 in the best possible way.

Goals from Shola Ameobi and Lee Bowyer before the break ultimately sealed the points on an afternoon when the result should have been beyond any doubt long before half-time.

Ameobi was standing in for injured skipper Alan Shearer after his comeback plans were shattered at the 11th hour by a calf problem.

Despite the first-half promise, Newcastle did not achieve victory the easy way and Emile Heskey’s 64th-minute strike ensured a tense conclusion.

City shook off the lethargy of their poor start to cause their hosts all kinds of problems thereafter.

But with Titus Bramble reacting positively to the imminent arrival of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Kieron Dyer expending every last ounce of energy from the middle of the park, the Magpies deserved their win.

That they did not make the most of their chances – Bowyer might have claimed a hat-trick on another day – will be a concern for manager Graeme Souness, but after starting the day in 14th place in the Premiership table, a victory was the only requirement.

Having not served up a victory for their home crowd since November 4, Newcastle could have been forgiven for running out with nerves jangling.

However, their much-improved performance in defeat against Arsenal in midweek had helped to restore confidence and a desire to take out their frustrations on Birmingham.

Under heavy rain on a cold Tyneside afternoon, they did just that as striker Craig Bellamy, again lining up wide on the right, set the tone by terrorising full-back Olivier Tebily to such an extent that Steve Bruce put the defender out of his misery with just 25 minutes gone by withdrawing him.

By that time, however, the visitors were already trailing to Ameobi’s sixth-minute strike, his third goal of the season and without doubt the most important.

Bellamy raced past the hapless Tebily and floated a cross into the six-yard box where Ameobi powered home a header off the underside of the bar.

That set the tone for an adventurous first-half display during which City rarely broke out of their own half.

When they did, Heskey directed a weak header straight at Shay Given and substitute Julian Gray was denied by a Bramble block tackle.

Newcastle should have been three or four goals clear long before the half-time whistle sounded.

Matthew Upson scrambled an Ameobi effort off the line and Maik Taylor produced two saves to deny Bowyer when the midfielder should really have done better.

City finally started to exercise some control as the half ran down, but just as they looked to be getting back into the game, they fell further behind.

Mario Melchiot’s slip allowed Laurent Robert to race clear and pick out Bowyer’s run, and this time the former Leeds man made no mistake to smash his shot past Taylor.

Ameobi went close again within seven minutes of the restart when his dipping shot from distance almost caught Taylor out, before Bruce’s side almost gave themselves a lifeline three minutes later.

Gray linked well with Stan Lazaridis down the left and crossed for Clinton Morrison to force a good save from Shay Given with a firm header.

Newcastle were guilty of surrendering possession all too readily, and that put the defence under unnecessary pressure with Given having to make a regulation save from Morrison’s 62nd-minute effort.

They finally paid the price on 64 minutes when, after Morrison had laid the ball off into space, Heskey blasted a left-footed shot past Given to give his side hope and set the alarm bells ringing.

Savage kept Given on his toes with a long-range effort a minute later, and City’s tails were up.

Heskey and Morrison started to cause a series of problems for the home defence, holding the ball up well to bring their midfielders into play and keep the pressure on.

Newcastle’s response was to drop ever deeper, a policy which did not impress an animated Souness on the touchline.

The visitors clearly fancied their chances of rescuing a point and committed men to the search for an equaliser, and that left space for their hosts, although they repeatedly failed to exploit it with any real conviction.

Dyer crashed a shot against the bar in the final minute of normal time and Bowyer went agonisingly wide from Jermaine Jenas’ pull-back seconds later, but there was to be no change in the scoreline.