Newcastle Res 1 Liverpool Res 0 Aug 27 2003

[dave u]

Newcastle Res 1 LIVERPOOL RES 0

Report by Dave Usher at Kingston Park

Scorer(s) - Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Kingston Park Date - Thu 27 Aug 2004 Star Man - Paul Harrison

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool reserves got their season off to a losing start away at Newcastle, as a solitary second half strike from England youth international striker Michael Chopra was enough to give the Geordies all three points on a wet evening at Kingston Park.

Hughie McAuley named a young side, with skipper Djimi Traore the only regular first teamer on view. Paul Harrison was in goal in place of the injured Patrice Luzi, whilst there was no place for recent signing Carl Medjani, who is strangely still awaiting international clearance. Florent Sinama-Pongolle made his first reserve team appearance. Anthony Le Tallec and Salif Diao were not included however, presumably they are being held back in case they are needed in the derby this weekend. Diao is short of matches, and tonight would have been an ideal opportunity to give him a much needed run out, but with Steven Gerrard a major doubt for Goodison, the reds were taking no chances with Big Sal.

Liverpool flew out of the blocks in this game, and could have been three up within the first twenty minutes. Darren Potter, playing in his favoured central role, was fantastic in the early stages of the game, as he and John Welsh dominated the midfield area. On ten minutes Robbie Foy was sent clean through on goal by Potter, but the young Scot's finish was a tame one, and Newcastle keeper Tony Caig made the most comfortable of saves. Foy was once again used in a central strikers role, which continues to baffle me, as he is far more effective on the left wing. Equally, striker Mark Smyth was used on the left of midfield. Maybe Houllier is picking the reserve side as well as the seniors!

Potter was really controlling the game, and two minutes later another great through ball sent Pongolle racing clear on goal. Once again though, the finish didn't match the approach play, as the young Frenchman blasted a low shot at the legs of Caig. It was all Liverpool early on, and Potter was the driving force. He's been moved to Melwood a year early, and already he looks to have more confidence about him from training with the seniors day in day out. Alongside Welsh, they were behind all the reds' best moves, and Welsh was also breaking up Newcastle attacks before they reached the back four.

Foy and Pongolle looked lively, and were posing a few problems for the home backline with their pace and skill. Foy almost opened the scoring on 29 minutes with a rasping low shot from 25 yards which fizzed just wide. Foy had been found in space after yet more good play from Potter. But at the half hour mark the game began to change. The reds became sloppy, and Newcastle stepped up a gear.Midfielders Steven Taylor and Bradley Orr had been second best up to this point, but the longer the game wore on the more they began to get the better of Welsh and Potter.

LuaLua was looking a threat up front, and gave Traore more than a few anxious moments. Djimi was sloppy at times, and had that look of "I'm too good to be here" about him. Whereas in the first team he'll more often than not do the simple thing and just clear the danger, here he was dwelling on the ball and trying to be like the mercurial Igor Biscan! Igor can do that in the reserves, because he's got skill. Djimi has not. He's a defender, no more than that, and should stick to the simple things.

A Traore error saw LuaLua rob him in the box on 35 minutes, and only a timely intervention by Traore's defensive partner David Raven prevented Chopra from giving the home side the lead. A minute earlier Chopra had been denied by a good block from left back Steven Vaughan. The best chance of the half fell to centre back Chris Carr on 36 minutes. A corner from the left wasn't cleared, and the ball fell at the feet of the big defender, who comicly blazed the ball over from seven yards.

The scoreline was goalless at half time, although it had been an entertaining half. The second period was not as enjoyable, particularly for the reds. After beginning the game so brightly, they found themselves increasingly under the cosh, and the second half was dominated by the home side. Paul Harrison in the Liverpool goal had an impressive game, pulling off one excellent stop and doing everything else he had to do with the minumum of fuss. 'Harro' is a good keeper, and is always very solid and dependable.

He could do nothing about the winning goal however, as on 50 minutes Chopra showed great pace and skill to beat Raven all ends up before firing a low shot through the keeper's legs. Liverpool's response was to bring on striker Stephen Gillespie for Smyth, meaning Foy reverted to his more natural role on the left wing. Foy immediately looked more threatening, whilst 'Gilly's' work rate meant the home defence had less time in possession.

Pongolle had shown some nice touches, and chased a lot of wayward passes, but closing down defenders does not seem to be a part of his game yet. Understable, as that's not a part of the game he'll have had to do before. I'm sure he'll learn, but watching this one couldn't help but reminisce about ressies games last year and the sight of the Boy Mellor charging around clattering defenders.

Mellor and Pongolle would have been a great partnership, particularly with Le Tallec supplying the bullets for them to fire. But with Mellor at West Ham, a lot of responsibility will be on Pongolle's shoulders this season. Tonight wasn't his best game, but there were plenty of glimpses of the skill he undoubtedly possesses. Try as they might, the young reds just couldn't force an equaliser. The closest they came were from two efforts from Gillespie. The first was well blocked after a good run, and the second was a snapshot on the turn which went straight at Caig.

Chopra wasted a golden opportunity to claim his second goal, when he blasted high and wide when it was easier to score, and overall the Geordies were value for the win. McAuley will take some positives from the game, notably the excellent form of the opening half hour, and the composed display of Harrison in goal. Other than that, many players underperformed.

An improvement will be needed for the next game against Man City at Chester next week.


Team: Paul Harrison; Jon Otsemobor, David Raven, Djimi Traore, Steven Vaughan; Michael Foley, Darren Potter, John Welsh, Mark Smyth (Stephen Gillespie); Robbie Foy, Florent Sinama-Pongolle::