Derby County 3 Newcastle United 0

Feb 10 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

ALL good things must come to an end, although that does not make the inevitable any easier to accept as Newcastle United’s long unbeaten run finally came to a dramatic end at Derby County.

United were poor, lacklustre and perhaps even a little complacent after recent events, but they were sent on their way to defeat in controversial circumstances as Andy Carroll had a ‘goal’ ruled out for a foul on team-mate Wayne Routledge early in the second half with Derby just one goal up.

Had that stood – as it should – the outcome of this game may have been very different, but it was a hard luck story swallowed up in a library of other disappointments as Newcastle were given a painful reminder about the danger of taking their foot off the pedal in the promotion race.

Their unbeaten record has ended at the 16th time of asking and questions will once again be asked of a team which has already answered so many this season, particularly with another tough away trip to Swansea coming up at the weekend.

It is all very well handing out 5-1 thrashings one week, but campaigns move on quickly and one victorious battle does not win a war.

Indeed, if that humiliation of Cardiff City proves to be the highlight of Newcastle’s campaign it will have gone badly wrong somewhere.

For all of the delight generated by the exciting win over Cardiff, Newcastle’s lead at the top of the Coca Cola Championship has been cut back and the pressure of the chasing pack continues to be exerted. For the first time in more than three months it is West Bromwich Albion who now lead the division.