Wear-Tyne derby: Toon leave Wearside upbeat despite late leveller

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was satisfied with his side's 1-1 draw with Sunderland

If you had offered Newcastle United fans a point following Cheick Tiote’s dismissal at Sunderland yesterday, you can be sure the majority would have taken it.

With in excess of 65 minutes still to play at the Stadium of Light, the Magpies were winning 1-0 thanks to Yohan Cabaye’s excellent third-minute finish, but Tiote’s red card left them facing an unenviable task.

It took the Black Cats until four minutes from the end to finally bundle home an equaliser, and but for some bad luck from a Seb Larsson free-kick, Newcastle would have held on for a famous victory.

They had repelled the likes of James McClean, Stephane Sessegnon, Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson admirably, and while the Sunderland quartet all disappointed, that was in large part due to excellent Newcastle defending.

Fabricio Coloccini was a class apart at the back and it is no coincidence Sunderland’s leveller came when he had left the pitch.

Credit must also go to Mike Williamson, Davide Santon, Danny Simpson and James Perch for keeping Sunderland’s attackers quiet, but it was Coloccini who held it all together.

Yesterday’s game proved Newcastle are a completely different proposition with the Argentinean defender in their team, with his composure, skill and doggedness not only keeping Sunderland at bay, but also calming his team-mates in the process.

Toon manager Alan Pardew remarked after the game that his captain’s performance “was like watching Bobby Moore”, and that is a compliment his captain thoroughly merited.

In an encounter where attacking talents were expected to shine, Coloccini deservedly picked up the man of the match award and showed just what Newcastle have been missing in recent weeks due to his injury absence.

I have never seen a better defender in a Newcastle shirt, and Coloccini’s display at the Stadium of Light yesterday was certainly one of the best defensive performances in the club’s recent history.

Until Tiote’s sending off in the 25th minute, Newcastle were by far the better side.

For all the pre-match talk of Sunderland being favourites, it was the visitors who sprinted out of the blocks and Cabaye’s opener was the least they deserved.

However, the Ivorian then turned the game on its head with his crazy sending off.

His challenge on Fletcher was dangerous, reckless and thoroughly deserving of a red card, which was made all the more moronic given the referee had already blown for a foul in Tiote’s favour before he dived in on the Scot.

Tiote has been walking a disciplinary tightrope for some time

Many fans have defended Tiote and insist he should not have been sent off, and one argument they have given is that Sunderland’s Larsson was not even given a booking for an equally reckless challenge on Shola Ameobi.

Larsson’s foot was so high it almost took Ameobi’s head off, and he at least deserved a yellow card, but Tiote could have no real complaints.

His dismissal also led to Ameobi being sacrificed by Pardew, which clearly disappointed the front-man.

However, it was a wise decision by the manager to bring the striker off, as Newcastle could no longer afford to play two up-front, Demba Ba offered a better goal threat and Ameobi was on a booking due to his part in the aftermath of Tiote’s dismissal.

Newcastle coped admirably with their one man disadvantage and were worthy of at least a point.

They will be the team most satisfied by their performance in the cold light of day, however galling it was to lose their lead with time running out.

Ba was desperately unlucky after a dogged display up-front to head Larsson’s free-kick into his own net, but the Magpies managed to hold on for a point.

Both sides will have been relieved with the draw, but for very different reasons.

Sunderland will have been delighted not to lose the game having trailed for so long, while Newcastle must have feared the worst after Tiote’s red.

In truth, they didn’t come under anywhere near as much pressure as they might have expected until the last 10 minutes, when their legs were weary and Sunderland managed to gather some momentum.

It was a typically ferocious and atmospheric derby, but unfortunately it is again off-the-field matters which are dominating the headlines.

A Sunderland fan is being investigated for allegedly racially abusing Ba, while neither set of supporters covered themselves in glory.

While a relatively small number of arrests were made, a section of Sunderland fans chanted the moronic “We wish you were dead” at Toon defender Steven Taylor in retaliation to his ill-advised pre-match comments, and some Newcastle supporters chanted equally tasteless songs about Lee Cattermole and Jimmy Savile.

Neither side can take the moral high ground when it comes to chanting as both showed extremely poor taste.

It is disappointing that this is even a talking-point but it seemed inevitable due to the intense build-up this fixture always invites.

For Newcastle, they will have left Wearside with mixed emotions but the overriding one should be upbeat as they proved just what a good and resilient side they are.

If they had managed to keep 11 men on the pitch, they would surely have fancied their chances of taking another three points back to Tyneside, but they can’t be too devastated by a solitary one.

Newcastle once again had the better of a derby and their performance should stand them in good stead. Their season is finally up and running and they should feel much more positive now with their pride very much intact.

Michael van Gerwen's World Grand Prix triumph the first of many

Michael van Gerwen's passion for darts is great for the sport

Michael van Gerwen was threatening to become a darting enigma.

He burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in 2006, when he won the BDO's World Masters, and several other blistering displays in the months that followed made him seemingly destined for greatness.

However, after moving to the superior PDC in 2007, he struggled.

The sense of inevitability he would soon be dominating world darts wavered and he became seen as an erratic and inconsistent player.

Commentators, experts and fans seemed to forget that, as a teenager, setbacks were obviously going to come his way.

They started looking for reasons behind his defeats on TV, labelled him a disappointment and questioned whether he would ever fulfil his obvious talent.

What they didn't realise is that all those defeats and heartbreaks - including an agonising defeat to Phil Taylor in the 2008 World Championship first round, when he missed a dart at double 12 to win - were the making of him. They grounded him and ensured he would never take anything for granted.

However, the criticism and defeats threatened to break van Gerwen.

The Dutchman slipped down the rankings and was forced to participate on the youth tour in order to regain his confidence.

This, seemingly, was the turning point for him.

He found his love of darts again. He found his love of winning again.

van Gerwen twice reached the final of the World Youth Championship and, despite losing on both occasions, he had re-found his belief.

The talent had never gone away and was always waiting to be sparked into life, and over the last 12 months, van Gerwen has delivered.

He has been much improved on TV and on the floor, and that culminated in last night's thrilling 6-4 victory over Mervyn King to win the World Grand Prix.

van Gerwen had been 3-0 and 4-1 down, but dominated the closing stages in front of a delighted Dublin crowd.

He seems to have been around for a long time, but van Gerwen is still only 23. That must be frightening for the other players.

He is only going to get better, and with triumphs like this, his confidence is only going to soar further.

van Gerwen is capable of magic spells in matches to take the game away from his opponent, and that was in full evidence against King.

The Dutchman was occasionally erratic on his finishing doubles, but his scoring bought him so many darts at the double that his misses almost seemed irrelevant.

He won the match - and with it the tournament - with a brilliant 145 checkout to finish in the grandest of style.

As for King, he will have left Dublin wondering what might have been.

King missed out on a first major PDC title

As an experienced professional, he should have closed the game out from a position of 4-1 up, but van Gerwen is capable of such blistering spells that you can never count him out.

King came across as a bitter loser in his TV interview following the loss and seemed to suggest he would have won if it wasn't for the crowd's behaviour (they repeatedly booed when he was on a double) but this is nothing more than a case of sour grapes.

Yes, the crowd were out of order in booing him, but King could not have expected anything else.

He seemed to cope pretty well with it when he went 3-0 and 4-1 up against van Gerwen, while his semi-final win over local hero Brendan Dolan was played in an even more fervent atmosphere.

To blame the crowd for his defeat will not help King's fortunes in future, as it is likely supporters will only target him even more after seeing what a sore loser he is.

This has been in evidence before, most notably in his BDO days, when he was known to blame defeats on anything ranging from air conditioning to the length of the oche.

He also targeted van Gerwen before the match, criticising the Dutchman's extravagant celebrations during matches, but he was out of order there, too.

Just as King is entitled to keep his cool on stage after sinking crucial doubles, van Gerwen is entitled to let off steam.

His delight at success is part of the package of van Gerwen, and this enthusiasm is part of the reason fans get behind him, along with his fast pace and obvious talent.

It is understandable that King was deeply frustrated after throwing away the match from a dominant position, but his words afterwards will not have done him any favours.

Playing in the PDC, he has to expect raucous atmospheres and his behaviour in the past is always going to make him a target.

If he wants better playing conditions, he should go back to the BDO. No successful darts player with ambition would be so stupid, though.

It seems certain King will forget all about the atmosphere in Dublin the next time he looks in his bank account and sees an extra £40,000 in there - his runner-up prize.

The best prizes, players, excitement, competitions and prestige are on offer in the PDC, and with that comes certain negatives, like the crowd participation King so despises.

As for van Gerwen, he pocketed a cool £100,000 for his win and rocketed up to number eight in the world rankings.

He seems destined to continually improve that ranking as he has finally found his feet.

van Gerwen will now surely be installed as one of the favourites for the World Championships, which start in December.

The usual suspects - Taylor, Adrian Lewis (who van Gerwen beat in Dublin), James Wade and co - will take some beating in the most prestigious tournament in darts, but the Dutchman will be in the mix.

The confidence his triumph in Dublin will give him should carry van Gerwen to even greater heights, and he will be eager to prove himself again at Alexandra Palace.

He is a pure darting talent and has now provided two of the greatest moments of the year in darts - his nine-darter at the World Matchplay in Blackpool and now his maiden major triumph - with the promise of plenty more to follow.

The World Grand Prix may have been van Gerwen's first PDC major title, but it certainly won't be his last.