Joey Barton started the process of repaying Newcastle for their
faith in him by helping to fire them to a first Barclays Premier
League victory in eight games by beating West Brom 2-1.
The 26-year-old midfielder, making his first start for the club
since being released from jail, converted a ninth-minute penalty to
set the Magpies on their way to only their second league win of the
season and manager Joe Kinnear's first.
Barton, who was pelted with coins and bottles as he warmed up
during the derby defeat at Sunderland on Saturday, started the
healing process, but it was ultimately Obafemi Martins' 42nd-minute
header that won the day and lifted his side out of the relegation
zone.
But a crowd of 45,801 endured a tense finish after the Magpies
failed to make the most of the chances they created and saw
substitute Ishmael Miller pull one back for the Baggies with 25
minutes remaining.
Indeed, had keeper Shay Given, who had kept out James Morrison
before the break, not made a vital block from Miller eight minutes
later, the visitors might have gone home with a point.
Barton has found himself the subject of more column inches than
he might care to remember over the last 18 months or so, but had he
chosen to write the script for this evening, he may have done it in
this way.
The game was only nine minutes old, with the Magpies having
already forced Baggies keeper Scott Carson into a smart reaction
save, when the former Manchester City midfielder slid the ball into
the box for Shola Ameobi, who tapped it past defender Ryan Donk and
was then promptly upended by the defender.
Had Michael Owen been on the pitch instead of nursing a groin
injury, he would have stepped up and placed the ball on the
spot.
But he was not, and as soon as referee Mike Dean raised his arm,
Barton had only one thought in his mind, just as he had done at
Fulham last season when he scored his only previous goal for the
club.
His strike was firm, Carson went the wrong way, and the ball
nestled in the net, sparking mass celebrations both on and off the
pitch, some for a small step in the rehabilitation of a player
whose reputation precedes him, but most in relief after a traumatic
few months on Tyneside.
But if the home fans expected a procession from that point on -
and if they have followed the club for any time, they would have
known how unwise that was - they were soon to be corrected.
If anything, West Brom enjoyed the better of the possession as
they passed the ball swiftly and accurately to leave their
opponents chasing shadows at times.
But crucially, they lacked the cutting edge to really trouble
the Magpies at the back, at least until their big moment arrived 10
minutes before the break.
Robert Koren expertly turned Jonathan Greening's pass into the
path of Morrison to leave a flat-footed home defence in no-man's
land, but as he has done so often in the past, Given came to the
rescue with a fine save to preserve his clean sheet.
By contrast, Newcastle looked more than capable of adding to
their tally as the returning Jonas Gutierrez, Damien Duff, Ameobi
and Martins repeatedly stretched West Brom.
Habib Beye skied a shot high over the bar after Ameobi had
carved Mowbray's men open down the left with 37 minutes gone, but
the Senegal international made amends within five minutes.
The full-back, supporting Duff down the right wing, skipped past
Paul Robinson to drill a cross into the middle where Martins, with
the help of a deflection off defender Jonas Olsson, powered a
header home.
An open game continued in similar vein after the restart with
Martins' pace a constant threat to the Baggies, but Iglesias Borja
Valero and Greening pulling the strings at the other end.
Tony Mowbray made a significant change with 54 minutes gone when
he replaced midfielder Chris Brunt with striker Miller, although
the newcomer unwittingly blocked a goal-bound effort from team-mate
Morrison two minutes later.
Morrison was proving a key figure as the Magpies laboured, but
it was Koren who opened the door for Miller to drag his side back
into the game, wrong-footing Fabricio Coloccini to allow the
striker to round Given and slide the ball into the empty net.
He might have levelled within eight minutes had Given not
reacted smartly when Morrison's free-kick rebounded to the striker
off the defensive wall.
Substitute Xisco and Duff both passed up late chances to ease
the anxiety, but their side managed to hang on.
''Nobody likes being in that position but if we can carry on now
and get a second win then that would be great.
''If we can get a second victory back to back then it would be a
completely different picture.''
''We started the second half too cautiously.
''We kept defending deeper and deeper because we were trying to
protect what we had but we sat back instead of going for it and we
caused ourselves some problems.''
