Portsmouth 0, Newcastle United 0

Apr 14 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

AFTER three consecutive victories, Newcastle United travelled to the birthplace of Charles Dickens with great expectations. But ultimately the Toon Army must have travelled home feeling, like Oliver Twist in the dinner queue, as if they wanted more.

Saturday’s game was an indication that while much has been achieved, there is plenty more to be done if Kevin Keegan is to lift the Magpies from the Premier League’s poorhouse.

Their striker may have been in charitable mood and a goalkeeper with a Scrooge-like record even more so, but a 0-0 draw at Portsmouth represents a creditable result. Pompey could point to Jermain Defoe’s misses, United to David James’ saves to back up their claims to deserve all three points but the spoils were rightly shared.

Five-fifteen kick-offs are rarely the prelude to a feast of football, and Saturday was no exception. Having inconvenienced Newcastle’s fans by switching the start time at short notice, the TV company got what they (if not the supporters) deserved: very little. Considering the number of goalmouth chances, the game was uninspiring. James’ occasional oddities provided more entertainment than the other 21 players put together as a dodgy pitch and a lack of urgency stifled two footballing sides.

It provided another chance to assess Michael Owen’s role behind the front two and the managers were split on its effectiveness. While logic backs Harry Redknapp’s argument that the goal-poacher is better higher up the field, the evidence for Keegan suggested he may have pulled off the kind of tactical masterstroke he is not supposed to have. Although Owen failed to score for the first time in five matches, it was only due to James’ apparent laziness. “I was going to cut my hair during the week and I think if I had, we would have lost 1-0,” he smirked afterwards. James’ big afro diverted his friend’s shot after Sylvain Distin’s miscued clearance. The goalkeeper might not have known much about it but it was reward for making himself big on a day when his bad work outweighed the good.

If Owen had the best chance, Martins had the most thanks to his optimism. It took 16 seconds for his first shot, from his own half. It was Newcastle’s second touch of the match – the first being his control – and was never going to beat James. Another Martins strike in the second half looked equally optimistic, coming from such a tight angle. But such was the speed with which James had to get down to it, it brought the best save of the day.

When James rushed from his line six minutes from time to head a ball he could have caught, he presented it to Martins, but Pompey’s defenders were rather more switched on than their goalkeeper and crowded him out.

Two minutes before the break Mark Viduka had miskicked from Geremi’s corner, though he saw it very late with Steven Taylor jumping in front of him. Seconds later the defender caused mayhem in his own box when Nwankwo Kanu’s shot struck his foot and bounced on to his hand. Penalty appeals were ignored. Never comfortable out of the limelight, Taylor also managed an acrobatic volley but failed to direct it.

Yet another clean sheet for a club supposedly incapable of keeping them disguised the fact Newcastle granted Defoe a number of opportunities a predator of his class ought to have taken. His first came in the 54th minute, when Sulley Muntari picked him out at the far post. With time to control, it was a measure of the in-form striker’s confidence that he volleyed first time. But like his shot, the self-belief was misplaced.

When Abdoulaye Faye got caught under James’ 74th-minute punt, Defoe dragged it wide. Soon after, his volley from a corner went astray. That Defoe failed to hit the target on all three times was a big surprise and the main reason it was a draw. When he did force a stretching Harper into action it was via a deflection off Jose Enrique.

The game may have lacked a satisfactory ending but Keegan’s reworking of Newcastle United is, like many of Dickens’ best storylines, developing on a week-by-week basis and this is still the first chapter.