Once again Wor Flags managed to get it just right last night. On another big European night at St. James’ Park they remembered the biggest with an inspirational display dedicated to the Fairs Cup heroes of 1969.
I was born a few years after that Fairs Cup win and spent my formative years thinking that another success was probably just around the corner. It wasn’t. And so Joe Harvey’s boys became the stuff of legend to me. A group of players that any Newcastle side would need to live up to.
At half time last night, the words of Joe Harvey in Budapest drifted through my mind. Two nil down at half time in the second leg of the final all those years ago, Harvey told his players not to worry. “Get a goal and they’ll fold like a pack of cards.”
It was apt last night too, I thought. We were 1-0 up, but in need of a goal. With the game ticking over the hour mark, Benfica were having a lot of possession and it felt like we needed to weather the storm. If we could get a goal though, they’d fold.
Ten minutes later, Nick Pope collected a corner and went looking for options. Still in his own box, Harvey Barnes was one of a few players who started running as Pope carried the ball forward. And then it happened – Pope channelled his inner Tom Brady and launched a Hail Mary up field and into the path of Barnes who had sprinted into Benfica’s half. The covering defender couldn’t quite get there and Barnes was in, although a little wide. The rest is history.
Pope gets some stick for his distribution and rightly so at times. However, he was a hero last night with that throw as well as the customary crucial saves that we’ve come to expect!
In the shadow of the great Joe Harvey, Eddie Howe’s Mags made it another fantastic European night with a resounding 3-0 win. Here’s to another European adventure. Howay the lads!
Middle Age Fanclub 