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This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Newcastle United

Premier       Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home           7   4   1   2    14-8   13
Away           7   1   3   3     8-15   6
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Total (Prem)  14   5   4   5    22-23  19
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  43  24   7  12    87-48  59
Away (Div 1)  43  15  14  14    70-76  45
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Total (Div 1) 86  39  21  26   157-124 104
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   6   1   3   2     6-7    5
Away (Div 2)   6   3   0   3     6-4    6
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Total (Div 2) 12   4   3   5    12-11   11
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Total (Prem)  14   5   4   5    22-23  19
Total (Div 1) 86  39  21  26   157-124 104
Total (Div 2) 12   4   3   5    12-11   11
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Grand Total  112  48  28  36   191-158 134
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As will be seen from the statistics above, we do not currently have a very good record at St James' Park. Our only win in the Premier League at St James' Park was as long ago as 14th August 1993 when Teddy Sheringham scored the only goal of the match. Our team that day was:

Thorstvedt; Austin, Campbell, Samways, Calderwood, Mabbutt, Sedgley, Durie [sub Turner], Howells, Sheringham, Dozzell. [Walker and Caskey were unused substitutes.]

No one should have any trouble in remembering that season because we survived relegation because of winning 2-0 at Oldham Athletic on a cold, biting Thursday evening. The final home game of that ill-starred season saw us crash at home to QPR, then managed by a certain Gerry Francis ....

If I may be allowed to digress for one moment, it is interesting to note that of the youngsters then on our books, only Steve Carr and Stephen Clemence [and Neale Fenn] are still on our books. It illustrates just how difficult it is to make the grade at Tottenham.

Last season, Newcastle United were our opponents in the first home game of the season. Newcastle snatched the lead in the 16th minute when Harper's long downfield clearance fell into the path of the onrushing Solano. His shot did not give Walker any chance of blocking it.

In the 29th minute, Solano needlessly conceded a corner. He looked to have plenty of time to clear the ball but simply whacked the ball off for a corner kick. As the corner was taken, Iversen suddenly lost Speed, who was supposed to be marking him. Iversen timed his run to perfection to head the ball home decisively.

With the referee keeping his eye on his watch as half-time approached, the pressure finally told and Spurs had suddenly gained the lead at a very psychological moment. Anderton, wide on the right, found Taricco out on the left. The little Argentinean slipped the ball inside to Sherwood, Tottenham's stand-in skipper. Sherwood and Iversen swapped passes before the ball ran back to Taricco, who took it to the bye-line. Steadying himself by the flag, Taricco lobbed the ball into the goal-area and Ferdinand exploded from nowhere to firmly ram the ball home with his forehead.

It was inevitable that Spurs would score again. Goma made an ill-timed tackle on Iversen. Anderton whipped the resulting free-kick into the Newcastle goal area and Sherwood had a completely free run to nod the ball past the hapless Harper.

By the time of the return game, Newcastle had sacked Ruud Gullit and appointed Bobby Robson as their manager. The Toon had managed to climb out of the relegation zone.

Stephen Glass had put the home side in front after just five minutes, but Chris Armstrong levelled two minutes before the break with a header. Nikos Dabizas put Newcastle in touch with the mid-table pack as Bobby Robson's men scrapped their way to a deserved victory over Tottenham. The Greek defender won the match with a 58th-minute header in a blood and thunder encounter which said much about United's rediscovered vigour.

A month later, Spurs played two FA Cup ties with Newcastle, drawing 1-1 at Tottenham and losing 6-1 at Newcastle. In both matches, Spurs played very ineptly and deserved to crash out of the competition.

The previous season had seen us beat Newcastle United 2-0 at Tottenham, thanks to a goal in each half by Steffan Iversen. The return match had seen us draw 1-1 thanks to a penalty by Anderton after Carr had been upended in the penalty area. Ketsbaia, now with Wolves, equalised. A week later, we were beaten in extra time in the Semi-Final of the FA Cup, at Old Trafford, when Alan Shearer scored twice in extra time, once from the spot, to deny us a place in the Final.

So what are our chances of winning up there on tomorrow afternoon?

I think therefore that we will probably do well to draw up there, although I am hoping we will snatch all three points thanks to a very late goal. We should have done better at Middlesbrough but matches between Spurs and Newcastle are invariably tight. I shall be happy if we return from the North East with another point.

Cheers, Brian

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