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Ipswich Town 0 Newcastle United 4

ROY KEANE was as surprised as everyone else inside Portman Road when Kevin Nolan scored the first three-goal haul of his Newcastle United career. “Don’t know if he has scored many hat-tricks, but I bet he thought it was Christmas,” said the Irishman, referring to Ipswich’s awful defending.

The truth, though, is that Nolan was equally astonished by his achievements in front of goal in Suffolk.

If scoring his first after half an hour was celebrated, his second two minutes later took him by surprise. To add a third just five minutes after half-time completely stunned him.

“It’s the first time I have had the matchball in my professional career,” said Nolan, born in Liverpool and a regular for the city’s schoolboys team. “The last time I scored a hat-trick was in a school final when I was 15. I didn’t get the matchball then but I’ve still got the shirt.

“I’ve scored a few braces in my time but when the third one went in it was like ‘it’s happened!’. I’ve got the ball for my daughter Jasmine. I am absolutely delighted.”

During ten years at Bolton he scored 40 times. When he arrived in January in a £4m deal, Newcastle supporters expected goals, but they dried up.

He went through the final five months of last season failing to add to the one goal he scored for the Trotters, while Saturday’s haul doubled this term’s tally to six.

“The last couple of seasons I have been struggling with injuries but since I have got to Newcastle, they have looked after me and that’s been a big plus,” said Nolan. “The last six months have been the first time I have trained every day for a long time.

“It has been really good. I have really enjoyed training every day and that is why I am starting to produce on the pitch. Long may it continue.”

Nolan’s renaissance is typical of the transformation across the Newcastle squad since relegation was confirmed at Villa Park in May.

When the 27-year-old arrived he labelled it a dream move and never envisaged he would end up in the Championship.

But, like so many of his team-mates, Nolan has looked a different prospect from the one who suffered the ignominy of dropping out of the Premier League.

Not only does he look slimmer, he is also starting to resemble the player who once attracted interest from top four clubs.

“Since I arrived, I have enjoyed every minute. Don’t get me wrong, the last day of the season was the worst time of my life. But the next day, I went for a pint with my dad and it was like ‘I can’t wait to get back,’” said Nolan.

“We have worked together as one. It is only a start. We are only nine games in. There is a long, long, way to go but it is the start we wanted. All the teams which have gone down have done well. We had a blip but we bounced back.”

After losing their unbeaten start to the season at Blackpool almost a fortnight ago, Newcastle have responded by defeating both Plymouth and Ipswich in the league.

Victory at Portman Road always looked likely once the pre-match tributes to Sir Bobby Robson had been made and Nile Ranger had forced Richard Wright into a low save inside four minutes.

Once Nolan directed Ryan Taylor’s free-kick into Wright’s top left corner with a powerful header there was no stopping the Magpies.

Ipswich were awful. Their defending was atrocious; worse, if that was possible, than they were at Middlesbrough two weeks ago.

Nolan made the most of that by turning defender Pim Balkestein inside out with a casual drag back before rolling his finish underneath the Ipswich goalkeeper.

Wright, a former England keeper, then moved off his line to allow Taylor to curl in a 30-yard free-kick over him into the net to leave Ipswich three down in four quick-fire minutes.

Inbetween angry chants directed towards Mike Ashley, there were favourable songs sung about Hughton, which were further justified when Nolan added his third five minutes after the break.

A bursting run from Zurab Khizanishvili led to Taylor centering deep into the Ipswich box. Ranger rose to nod goalwards and Nolan arrived to crash his side’s fourth beyond a hapless Wright.

Keane, who knows Hughton from their Ireland days, is convinced Newcastle are heading for the top flight again.

“I can’t comment on other clubs, but when you talk about the long term I bet Big Sam (Allardyce) thought he had the long term there to work towards and he didn’t get it,” said Keane.

“Chris will probably end up being there the longest of them all. He should just enjoy it. He has focused on the job, they have started well, and they have a great chance.”

Newcastle’s victory put them two points clear of West Brom and four clear of thirdplaced Preston, while Ipswich remain rooted to second from bottom.

And the former Sunderland boss, who delivered promotion to Wearside in his first season in charge, said: “We can’t compare where we are to where Sunderland were when I took over. It’s like chalk and cheese. What I did get was a bit of luck up there, maybe I was very, very lucky and I’m being found out.”

If Keane has been found out, Hughton certainly hasn’t.

By Craig Hope

GEORDIE striker Andy Carroll has won his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad ahead of next Tuesday’s friendly against Holland.

The 20-year-old, who has previosuly turned out for England Under-19s, has netted twice for the Magpies during pre-season and looks set to win a starting berth during this weekend’s curtain-raiser at West Brom.

Stuart Pearce’s Three Lions take on the Dutch in Groningen.

By Craig Hope

Haris Vudkic

SLOVENIAN starlet Haris Vuckic has added to his collection of individual honours by landing both the top goalscorer and player-of-the-tournament accolades as Newcastle United Under-18s returned victorious from a competition in Bosnia.

The Ljubljana-born midfielder, still just 16, fired five times for Richard Money’s Academy side as they swept past opponents from Macedonia and Bosnia en route to the final before enjoying a 4-1 success over Bulgarian side Levski Sofia to lift the trophy.

Vuckic, captain of his under-17 national team, arrived on Tyneside in January from NK Domzale and has gone on to earn rave reviews following a string of classy displays for the club’s reserve and junior sides which have yielded five goals.

And Magpie coach Money believes that a big future awaits the young playmaker.

“He’s beginning to settle in now,” the Academy chief told nufcTV.

“Coming over from Slovenia in January was never going to be easy, especially with such a big reputation.

“But week by week he’s really beginning to come to grips with what we want.

“And on the evidence of the tournament in Bosnia and some of the things he did before we went away, he has all of the ingredients to be a top, top player.”

And when asked if Vuckic could make an impact at first-team level in the Championship next season, Money confidently came back: “I don’t think he’s too far away if I’m honest.

“He’s got everything really; great size, good athlete, change of pace and he’s very clever and creative with the ball.

“I think that given the right environment and the right development then he’s got a big future ahead of him.”

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/

Hong Kong’s Eastern Athletic battled back from two-goals down to rescue a 3-3 draw at home to Kedah of Malaysia.

Khyril Muhymeen Zambri opened the scoring midway through the first half before Sabree Abu added a second on the hour mark for the visitors.

But the hosts sprung into life midway through the second-half as two goals in 10 minutes from Machado and captain Wong Chun Yue dragged them back on level terms.

Zambri’s 85th minute strike looked to have secured the three points for Kedah but Pau Ka Yiu equalised at the death.

“In this game we were determined to win,” said Eastern coach Chan Hiu Ming.

“We had a lot of chances but because of some poor errors we made out situation difficult.

“The players gave a good effort right until the final minute. The result was a little disappointing but I will not blame any of the players.”

Kedah coach Azraai Kor Abdullah was understandably disappointed his side could not hold out for the three points.

“I’m not very happy,” he said. “For me we should have won the game when we were 3-2 up.”

Eastern Athletic coach Chan Hiu Ming has labeled Tuesday’s AFC Cup meeting with Malaysia’s Kedah as “the most important game” of the Hong Kong sides Group G campaign.

With Thailand’s Chonburi topping the table with a 100% record, Eastern, Kedah and Vietnam’s Hanoi ACB are all tied on three points at the halfway stage and currently locked in a battle for second place and a place in the knockout stage.

Kedah picked up their first win of the campaign with a 2-0 triumph over Eastern two weeks ago in Malaysia, but back on home soil and with Cameroonian striker Julius Akosah set to be available after recovering from a toe injury, Chan is in an upbeat mood.

“This is the most important game in the first round for us. Ourselves, Kedah and ACB are at the same level, there is not much difference, so this game is very important,” he said.

“The next game will be tough against the team from Thailand (Chonburi) so our last game will be away and we will need get a point from that to qualify. But first we need to win tomorrow (Tuesday).

“We lost to Kedah in the last game but it is totally different playing away, we played too defensively and lacked confidence. We need to play our own style.”

Having lost their first two games, Malaysian treble winners Kedah revived their fortunes with their win in Alor Setar against Eastern.

The northern Malaysian side have bounced back after a slow start to the season which saw them fail to register a win in their first four games of the current Super League campaign.

They have gone on to win seven of their last eight games to put themselves back into contention for a third straight league title.

Coach Azraai Khor Abdullah, the architect of two consecutive domestic trebles for Kedah, was overlooked this week for the post of Malaysia national coach and will be keen to show Football Association of Malaysia officials just what they have missed out on.

In the other Group G game, leaders Chonburi will have a chance to seal their passage into the last 16 if they can maintain their perfect record with a home win against Hanoi ACB.

Last season’s Thai league runners-up have been in sparkling form so far in the AFC Cup with second-half goals by Arthit Sunthornphit and Ekaphan Inthasen lifting them to a 2-0 win in the Vietnamese capital two weeks ago.

Having lost two matches in a row after their opening win against Kedah, Hanoi ACB will be looking to turn the tables on Chonburi and revive their hopes of securing one of the two knockout stage spots up for grabs in Group G.

Kedah recorded their first win in the competition with a 2-0 success against Hong Kong’s Eastern Athletic, a result which keeps them in contention for a place in the knockout phase of the tournament.

“I am not satisfied with their performance as what they played tonight was not our usual game,” said coach Azrai Khor Abdullah.

“There were not much running on the flanks and I felt that the players did not show much urgency in their game. Sure we won our first full points in the competition although at times I was a little worried by the lapses in concentration.”

Meanwhile, Chan Hiu Ming, the team manager for Eastern Athletic, felt that the unpredictable weather conditions on the night played havoc with his team’s hopes of winning the tie.

“The weather is so different when compared to how it is in Hong Kong. We did not expect the weather to be so extreme from one to the other,” said Chan.

“It rained for the entire first half and that affected the team’s rhythm. And in the second half, the rain suddenly stopped but by the time we found the rhythm, it was already a little late.”

AFC Cup 2009

ALOR SETAR – Kedah secured their first points in Group G of the AFC Cup with a 2-0 win over Eastern Athletic of Hong Kong at the Darul Aman Stadium on Tuesday.

Having lost earlier matches to Hanoi ACB of Vietnam and Chonburi FC of Thailand, the Malaysian treble winners put themselves back into contention for the last 16 with goals either side of half-time by Farizal Rozali and Azrul Ahmad.

With the return of several injured regulars, Kedah coach Azraai Khor Abdullah was able to deploy his best players with Saramsak Kram leading the attack alongside Farizal.

However, it was Eastern Athletic that created the first real chance in the fourth minute when Yeung Ching Kwong’s free-kick went narrowly wide.

Azrul got an opportunity for the home side in the 11th minute but Eastern custodian Yap Hung Fai was equal to the task while Farizal saw his header come back off the far post six minutes later.

But the deadlock was finally broken in the 27th minute when Badrol Bakhtiar’s corner was headed home by Farizal.

Rain fell throughout the first half but when it finally tapered off just before the hour mark, the visitors began to assert themselves with Yang Xu firing in a shot from 25 metres out.

But Badrol responded from similar distance a minute later and the home side grabbed a crucial second in the 77th minute when a cross from the right by Farizal picked out Azrul, who slammed the ball home from close range to send the partisan home crowd into raptures.

Kedah custodian Helmi Eliza Elias made a fine save following a Yeung Ching Kwong corner two minutes later but the Malaysian side were reasonably comfortable in the closing stages as they held on for all three points.

Malaysian treble winner Kedah are boosted by the return of striker Saramsak Kram for their meeting with Hong Kong’s Eastern Athletic.

Kedah are seeking a first win of the campaign and head coach Mohd Azrai Khor Abdullah will have an out-and-out striker in Saramsak available for the first time after he recovered from an ankle injury.

“For the first time in this competition we are playing without any injuries and that gives us a lot of confidence,” said Azrai.

“I believe that in the first two matches, apart from being handicapped with having to play without foreign players, the number of injured players in the squad was incredible.”

Eastern Athletic manager Chan Hiu-ming is looking for his side to pick up where they left off last time out after beating Vietnam’s Hanoi 3-0.

“It was a good result in our second match but we need to pick up from there and obviously this means that we have to beat Kedah at home,” he said

“We are comfortable with the way the team is developing but we expect more from the frontline considering that in our last match, both goals that we scored came from midfielders.

“But our aim is obvious and that we are here to win all three points.”

AFC Cup 2009

ALOR STAR: Thailand’s Chonburi FC made it two wins out of two in Group G of the AFC Cup when they overcame Malaysian treble winners Kedah 1-0 at the Darulaman Stadium.

Mohamed Kone scored the only goal of the game just after the half-hour mark as the Thai Premier League leaders followed up last week’s 4-1 win over Eastern Athletic with another triumph.

Kedah started the stronger of the two sides and Badrol Bakhtiar fired narrowly wide with a low strike before Kone blasted an effort from the edge of the box the wrong side of the right post.

Khyril Muhymeen Zambri’s cross from the right presented Badrol with a chance but his touch let him down, while Chonburi skipper Anderson Freitas saw an attempt blocked by Kedah captain Victor Andrag.

The Thais had begun to take control of the game and in the 31st minute, they duly took the lead.

Kone latched onto a long ball and outstripped the Kedah defence before firing a shot past keeper Helmi Eliza Elias.

The last chance of the half fell to Freitas but this time Helmi was equal to his effort.

Badrol almost pulled Kedah level early in the second period but while his effort beat Kosin, Thailand defender Surat Sukha was on hand to clear the danger.

Both teams created several opportunities that neither could capitalise on before Kedah came agonisingly close to an equaliser after 77 minutes when winger V. Thirumurugan’s lob came back off the crossbar.

However, Chonburi held out to maintain their impressive start in this season’s AFC Cup.

KEDAH tewas pada perlawanan pembukaan Kumpulan G Piala AFC di Stadium Hang Day Hanoi, Vietnam kelmarin.

Pada perlawanan itu Kedah dibelasah 3-1 oleh kelab Hanoi ACB.

Begitupun, jurulatih Kedah, Mohd. Azraai Khor Abdullah berkata dia berpuas hati dengan kekalahan itu.

Reaksi yang diberikan Azraai itu mungkin akan mengundang kemarahan penyokong namun itulah jawapan yang diberikannya ketika diminta mengulas mengenai kekalahan skuad Kenari pada perlawanan pertama Piala AFC itu.

Azraai menjelaskan, dia bukanlah gembira pasukannya ditewaskan lawan tetapi berpuas hati dengan corak yang dipamerkan jentera Kedah ketika beraksi atas padang yang kurang berkualiti dan becak itu.

Katanya, walaupun pasukan lawan berjaya berada di hadapan dengan dua jaringan pada babak pertama namun pemainnya masih dapat mendominasikan permainan itu.

“Saya tidak menyalahkan mereka (pemain) dengan kehadiran tiga gol lawan itu kerana dua daripada jaringan muncul akibat pemain yang mengawal bola telah terjatuh sebelum bola tersebut disambar penyerang lawan.

“Pemain terjatuh akibat padang becak kerana hujan,” katanya ketika dihubungi semalam.

Tambahnya, rentak yang dipamerkan oleh pemain yang bukan daripada kalangan kesebelasan utama telah mempamerkan rentak permainan yang lebih bertenaga.

Menurutnya lagi, mungkin nasib tidak menyebelahi mereka walaupun banyak percubaan dilakukan oleh jentera serangannya yang diketuai Khyril Muhymeen Zambri dan Syafiq Jamal.

“Begitupun perlawanan ini bukanlah yang terakhir kerana pasukan Hanoi ACB juga akan bertandang ke Alor Setar selepas ini dan ketika itu saya rasa pemain pasti dapat menebus kekalahan ini,” tegasnya.

Kedah yang menghuni kumpulan G akan bertemu Chonburi FC dari Thailand di Stadium Darul Aman, Alor Setar pada 17 Mac ini.