Football story by Fred Smith, Sun, 29 Jan 2006 17:20:00 GMT


Graeme Souness breathed a sigh of relief as Newcastle went through to the next round in the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over Cheltenham. But it was by no means an easy match for the Magpies who have been hit by injuries in the last two months.

Cheltenham fans could have been forgiven for thinking that it would be an upset at Whaddon Road since Newcastle have been struggling for most part of the season. But the Magpies had better chances at goal and played purposeful football. The results of this determined play were seen when Michael Chopra headed in at the 41st minute to put them ahead.

Scott Parker, who returned successfully from injury doubled the advantage a couple of minutes later when he flicked in Jerry Gill's attempted clearance. For the home team Odejayi troubled the Newcastle defense with his pace, but failed in the final hurdle. After the break, Newcastle were happy to sit on their lead and Cheltenham surged forward, but could not get any purchase. Shearer came close in the latter half, but could not connect to Charles N'Zogbia's cross.

Cheltenham boss John Ward said his players had given a dignified account of themselves, "We've been dignified, played well and given people a different perception of Cheltenham - the players can be very proud.

The second goal was a bit of a killer blow for us, there was an element of good fortune about it for them." Graeme Souness was happy to take away the win, "Cheltenham were a credit to their division and played fantastically well - it was never comfortable for us. You can sometimes come unstuck in games like this and we are just grateful to be in the next round."

Match Details
Referee: M Riley

Cheltenham: Higgs, Gill, Caines, Townsend, Armstrong, Melligan (Vincent 84min), Finnigan, Bird, Wilson, Odejayi, Guinan (Spencer 73min,)

Newcastle: Given, Ramage, Bramble, Boumsong, Babayaro, Solano (Emre 58min,), Parker (Luque 75min,), Clark, Ameobi, Shearer, Chopra (N'Zogbia 65min)
Goals: Chopra 41, Parker 43

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