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THE NORTH-EAST SUMMIT - OWEN'S DOUBLE WINS DERBY 24-4-08
Stuart Young

Newcastle comfortably beat Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby and moved ahead of both Boro and Sunderland in the race for the Summit.

Bolton punished Middlesbrough at The Riverside after Boro failed to take their chances early on.

Newcastle

Two first half goals from Michael Owen were enough for Kevin Keegan's side to take the points in the Tyne-Wear derby at St James' Park last Sunday.

Newcastle were cruising at half-time. They went into the break two goals to the good and were playing some good flowing football.

Gordon had no chance when Owen glanced a header passed him from a well executed Geremi cross after only four minutes of play.

Although Newcastle were dominant in the first-half, they had to wait until the last minute of the first period to get the second goal. Mike Dean awarded a penalty after a clipped ball over Danny Higginbotham from Owen struck the defender's arm. It was a harsh decision in my eyes but Owen dispatched the penalty, just, to make it 2-0.

Newcastle took their foot off the gas in the second-half and could have let Sunderland back into the game had they taken their chances in front of goal.

Obafemi Martins had Newcastle's best chance in the second period when Owen released the Nigerian only for his effort to be saved by the impressive Craig Gordon in the Sunderland goal.

Keegan will be over the moon with his players after the response they have given since the awful start to his reign a couple of months ago. Things are looking up at Newcastle now. I bet Keegan can't wait for the summer spending to start.

Newcastle travel to Upton Park on Saturday and Keegan will be looking for five wins in six games.

Sunderland

Roy Keane's men battled well at St James' Park on Sunday but were let down by their play in the final third of the pitch. Although Newcastle dominated possession, Sunderland created enough chances to get something from the game.

Keane is a big believer in workrate but will feel disappointed about the number of chances his players missed.

After going two goals down, the Sunderland players grew stronger and found chances to score. Newcastle stood firm at the back however, and relied on Steve Harper producing a couple of top-class saves. The best chance for Sunderland came from Kenwyne Jones in the second half but Harper was equal to the powerful header.

Keane bemoaned losing three key players ahead of the game against Newcastle but thought his players played okay. However, he rightly said that "okay isn't good enough at this level".

Sunderland follow their Tyne-Wear match with another big game this Saturday - at home to Middlesbrough in the Wear-Tees derby.

This game has now got added punch because both teams are desperate for survival points. Keane will not want to lose two derby games in a row. He never lost a derby match playing for Manchester United so he is now in new territory.

Middlesbrough

Gareth Southgate's players went into the game against Bolton knowing that a win would guarantee them Premiership football next season.

The Boro players looked up for this game and dominated almost straight away. The first ten minutes should have sealed the victory for Middlesbrough but our lack of killer instinct again let us down in front of goal.

The Bolton goalkeeper was the busiest player in the first-half, producing save after save to deny the Boro strikers.

David Wheater had an opportunity early on when he connected with a Stewart Downing cross but his volley was parried to safety by Ali Al Habsi in the Bolton goal.

Tuncay and Afonso Alves both had similar chances but wasted their efforts from close range.

After the early pressure it was obvious to see it wasn't going to be Boro's day.

Bolton pressed Boro back in the second-half and started creating chances as Ross Turnbull in the Boro goal was put into action for the first time in the game.

The decisive moment of the match came after some scrappy defending by Boro led to a Bolton corner. The in-swinging corner was met by a towering header from Gary Cahill, which Turnbull brilliantly saved. However his parry fell to the unmarked Gavin McCann at the back post, who prodded the ball into the net from two yards out.

The Middlesbrough players were shell-shocked and did not react from this blow, which arrived on the hour-mark.

The Boro players will have to lift themselves again for a must win game against Sunderland on Saturday at the Stadium of Light. The local lads will know all about this game and won't need motivating. I'm just hoping the rest of the team know how much this game means to the club.

Newcastle increased their lead over Boro and Sunderland in the race for the North-East Summit. Newcastle have a tricky away day on Saturday so the winners of the Wear-Tees derby could reduce the gap in the race.

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