Duff Demoralises Toons

Newcastle failed to impress and added to their striker worries last night as Damien Duff's second half strike handed 3 much needed points to Fulham.

After a poor first 45 under the lights at Craven Cottage the 25,000 in attendance were treated to a second half of flowing attacking football littered with chances. Unfortunately for the traveling Toon Army they had to watch their beloved Newcastle struggle to create chances and eventually succumb to Fulham's pressure.

Newcastle's woes continued off the pitch as an early collision with Steve Sidwell retired Shola Ameobi for the night, a potential 5 weeks out with a fractured cheek bone being the diagnosis. Aside from that the first half provided little in the way of entertainment, Dempsey's strike on the turn and a early strike from Duff, the only attempts on goal that threatened to break the deadlock in a half that lacked any flow, final balls or clear cut chances.

While Newcastle could only provide a threat from Barton's set pieces, Fulham found the form that has seen them grab 3 wins in their last 3 home games. Murphy and Sidwell provided service from midfield for Dempsey and Dembele as the Whites attacking play began to compliment the solid defensive play from Pantsil, Hangeland, Baird and Hughes.

Duff should have opened the scoring twice inside the first 5 minutes of the second period, firstly having his effort blocked, and then missing the easy rebound from a Dempsey strike 5 yards out. Dempsey had another effort saved after Dembele's through ball set him free down the left, but finally on 67 minutes Fulham had their goal. Danny Murphy's long ball was met by a perfectly timed run by Duff after the Irishman turned and held off Sanchez. With nothing in front of him Duff hit a first time strike past Harper to give Fulham the decisive edge.

Newcastle continued to struggle to create chances from open play while the introduction of Fulham's new on loan striker Gael Kakuta was able to add to the attack, almost scoring on his debut on a couple of occasions. Nile Ranger, brought on for Ameobi early on, almost made Fulham pay for their missed chances, but Schwarzer, back from Asia Cup duty, was able to smother the close range strike.

Newcastle head back north having lost another striker and failing to impress while Fulham extend their home form to 4 wins from 4 and move 5 points clear from the bottom 3.