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Your support makes all the difference.No, said Bobby Robson, the atmosphere in the visitors' dressing-room at Sunderland was not quite what it was when his Barcelona side had beaten Real Madrid, but on Tyneside they will not care.
It has been six years and three managers since Newcastle last tasted victory in a Tyne-Wear derby and Robson stated that, no matter what happened in the remainder of the campaign, this was their most important day of the season. They ended it second in the Premiership and with their city ablaze with optimism.
"It is not quite like Barcelona-Real Madrid," said Robson. "That was a nation, Catalonia, against the rest of Spain, this is a regional thing. But inwardly I am very pleased."
He owed his victory to a goal from an unlikely source, Nikos Dabizas, and some fabulous goalkeeping by Shay Given, epitomised six minutes from time when he made a full-stretch save to deny a dipping, curling shot from Kevin Phillips which seemed destined for the top corner of the net.
In the home dug-out, Peter Reid instinctively shouted "Goal!" while the words that issued from Robson's lips were somewhat unrealistically: "Catch it". Given did not catch it, but that he tipped it past the post was an astonishing piece of goalkeeping and not without irony.
As a 19-year-old playing for Blackburn Reserves he was taken on loan by Sunderland in January 1996 and so impressive were his displays that when a group of fans released their tribute song, "Cheer Up Peter Reid", its catalogue number was "Shay Is God". Yesterday he broke the hearts of those who had once idolised him.
Although Sunderland were outplayed in midfield and conceded the majority of possession to a team of significantly higher quality, they did not lack for chances, especially in the first half.
First, Phillips, bursting through two challenges to meet Niall Quinn's flick, forced Given into making a point-blank save. Then, a minute before the interval, a quickly and intelligently-taken free-kick by Claudio Reyna put Kevin Kilbane through. The winger, attempting to overcome very low confidence with a high work-rate, saw his drive well blocked by his Ireland team-mate.
Dabizas had been dropped from Newcastle's defence in last Sunday's FA Cup victory over Manchester City and yesterday he might have marked his comeback with a wholly unlikely hat-trick. One shot in a crowded area had been blocked on the line by Thomas Sorensen's legs while another, as he spun to meet Sylvain Distin's long throw, struck the intersection of post and bar.
The goal that will seal his celebrity on the north bank of the Tyne came, much to Reid's displeasure, from another set-piece, a free-kick from Laurent Robert that Alan Shearer nodded on for the Greek to head in. His shirt came off and, suddenly, he was enveloped among the Geordie supporters in the South Stand. "You are supposed to say you don't care who scores, but it matters to me that I scored," he said with wholly refreshing honesty.
He does not strike too often, but they tend to come in big games; he rated yesterday's goal above the one he grabbed in the 4-3 defeat of Manchester United in September. "That was shown all over the world, but this one is more important to the people here."
The defeat will matter on Wearside, too, where Sunderland have not won in two months. Reid's analysis that "my players have nothing to be ashamed of", was broadly correct. Joachim Bjorklund and Jody Craddock kept the threat of Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy broadly in check. Bellamy, nevertheless, was convinced that his 16th-minute strike had been wrongly ruled offside.
However, Sunderland are averaging less than one goal a game at the Stadium of Light and the replacement of Quinn with Patrick Mbomba, Cameroon's leading scorer in the African Nations Cup, did not significantly add to their threat. In the aftermath of derbies, omens are always looked for and across the North-East it will be pointed out that the last time Newcastle overcame Sunderland it was in a season when one qualified for the Champions' League and the other was relegated.
Goal: Dabizas (64) 1-0.
Sunderland (4-4-2): Sorensen 7; Haas 5, Craddock 7, Bjorklund 6, Gray 5; Kilbane 5, McAteer 6, Reyna 5, Schwarz 4 (Butler 5, 70); Quinn 5 (Mbomba 5, h-t), Phillips 7. Substitutes not used: McCartney, Williams, Macho (gk).
Newcastle United (4-4-2): Given 9, Hughes 7, O'Brien 6, Dabizas 8, Distin 6; Solano 6, Jenas 6, Speed 5, Robert 5 (Ameobi, 89); Bellamy 6, Shearer 6. Substitutes not used: Elliott, Acuña, Lua Lua, Harper (gk).
Referee: G Barber (Tring) 4.
Bookings: Sunderland: McAteer. Newcastle: Bellamy.
Man of the match: Given.
Attendance: 48,290.
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