Move Run Sports

After 63 minutes of play and the scoreline being 0-0 referee Mark Hasley had to call an end to proceedings at St James Park. On an afternoon which saw the rain go from bad to worse, after raining from the very early hours of the morning. It was surprising to see the game last even that long, the pitch was extremely waterlogged. The ball was hardly moving, whether that be by a pass, dribble or run with the ball.

Even with the weather conditions I thought that Yohan Cabaye stood out with his passing and ability. Looking like a brilliant signing already. Being able to tackle and make the passes he did on the waterlogged pitch bodes well for when we have the perfect surface at St James Park minus the water.

Another positive to take has to be Haris Vuckic and his performances in pre-season in general. Scored a couple of goals and has some very well deserved buzz around him. Hopefully he can keep himself fit and we will be seeing a lot of him this season.

Could this possible be the last time we see Jose Enrique playing at St James Park? Well let’s hope not, it doesn’t seem like any real bids have come in and as it stands at the moment he will be playing for Newcastle for the coming season. However, let’s hope we have no more silly deadline day sales!

The above picture is just a small look at how wet the pitch actually was! Dan Gosling got 45 minutes but again with the conditions it was very difficult to pass any major judgement on him as a player.

I was hoping that this game would let me see how the players were looking after playing all other pre-season games away from home (and being unable to attend both Darlington and Leeds, as originally planned) but that did not really happen with the weather. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing, I guess I must have hope more than anything for the Arsenal game!