Peter Lovenkrands dedicates goal to his father

Jan 19 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

AN emotional Peter Lovenkrands dedicated his point-saving headed goal against West Bromwich Albion to the memory of his late father after Newcastle United came from behind to rescue a point against their promotion rivals.

Lovenkrands was battling back tears after he rose superbly to nod Jose Enrique’s cross past Scott Carson in the 55th minute of a pulsating Championship contest at St James’ Park.

It was a crucial contribution from the former Denmark international, who had not even been expected to play following the loss of his father to cancer on Friday.

He had been given indefinite compassionate leave by Newcastle manager Chris Hughton but decided to play as a tribute to his dad.

Lovenkrands greeted his goal by lifting his head to the sky above St James’, clearly engulfed by emotion and with tears in his eyes.

The striker has now scored four goals in his last two games to emphasise his importance to United – who are looking to strengthen up front after missing out on Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford. “It’s hard to put things into words. It’s all still a bit surreal, and there’s still a bit of emotion now. I was just so pleased that we got at least a point and I got a goal for my dad. It meant a lot,” he said.

“It was a difficult decision (to play) but my dad was a very big football fan. He

would have wanted me to do this and I didn’t want to let him down.

“It was a fair result. West Brom had some big chances and so did we. Overall, when everything has calmed down, it’s probably a fair result.”

Hughton led the tributes to Lovenkrands after the game, saying that his performance was a testament to his character.

“I think Peter Lovenkrands deserves immense credit. We left it up to him and he wanted to play. For him to get an equalising goal shows great credit to him and the spirit here,” he said.

“The happiest person will be Billy Davies because that’s the best result for him, but we’re still six points clear of West Brom and three clear of Forest with a game in hand.

“The three sides up there are quality teams who will push right to the end. We expected a tough game and got it.”

A draw was probably a fair reflection of a contest that swung back and forth, but the United boss felt aggrieved that referee Paul Taylor did not award a penalty for a shove by Jonas Olsson on substitute Andrew Carroll in the final minutes of the game.

“Yes, I thought it was a penalty,” he said. “We have the benefit of seeing it again and Olsson has no intention of going for the ball. He sees Andy, although whether he would have got there or not.

“But overall it was a fair result. We showed a lot of character to come back twice from being down, particularly when it was such an early goal in the second half. We felt we ended the first half in the ascendancy and that if anyone kicked on at the start of the second half, it would be us.”

Meanwhile, Hughton revealed that he hopes to make progress in the transfer market this week and hinted that Marlon Harewood could be his new number one striker target.

“Marlon was one that we were always considering. He got better over the period of time he was here,” he said.

“Of course we will be making decisions because we have to.”