After a truly horrific display against local rivals Sunderland on Saturday, we battled hard for a much-needed 2-1 win against West Brom on Tuesday night. After putting in a surprisingly decent first half in which we could and should have scored more than the two goals we got, things were running smoothly.

It took only nine minutes for us to break the deadlock. A wonderful through ball from the hopefully rehabilitated Joey Barton allowed Shola Ameobi to run at their last man, only for the naive Ryan Donk to bring our very own Pele down with a clumsy tackle. Barton clutched the ball and pelted home the penalty, his second goal for us and his his second penalty for us also. So two goals, two penalties, that is.

Both Ameobi and Martins had chances in the first half to further our lead, with Martins eventually netting his first goal of the season with a neatly placed header that appeared to take a deflection on its way. I honestly thought that this was it; a convincing and almost easy Newcastle win, but as I should have guessed, this was not to be.

In typical NUFC style, we managed to make hard work of a poor West Brom side, allowing the visitors back in to the game in the second half thanks to some weak defending yet again. This time it was Coloccini who strangely allowed a long ball to drift past him, only for Ishmael Miller to round past our super keeper Shay Given to slot home on 62 minutes. The rest was sheer nerves on our behalf, but at least we showed that we can at least hold on to a lead under pressure and gain three points, which were crucial, all be it against definite relegation candidates.

At the end of the day, this was a vital win which showed that we are capable of playing some good football at times. It also showed that we are low on confidence at the moment, but after this win we can only build and hope that this is the start of some kind of revival under interim manager Joe Kinnear.

Also worth a quick mention, Barton, Guttierez, Ameobi, Martins and even our defence were all fantastic in the first half and it has to be said that with these players fit, it is hard to see us getting relegated, regardless of who is running or not running the club. Also, Mr Damien Duff made promising runs all night but the end product was never there. It could even be said that the Republic of Ireland International is becoming a bit ball-greedy, as he seems to be looking to score every time he gets the ball! Good sometimes, but on one occasion against West Brom he had Martins and Ameobi making decent runs either side of him, but rather than spread the joy, Duff took it himself and shot with about as much venom as is in my little finger (none, I hope).

All in all though, this is me being whingey about Duff, who at least can take on a man, unlike some. Guttierez is a legend though and I cannot wait for him to score, hopefully whipping out his Spiderman celebration for us. A celebration that is arguably as impressive as his fancy footwork and amazing haircut. Plus, I like football and Spiderman, mixed together would be monumental.