NEWCASTLE 1 ARSENAL 3 (From The Northern Echo)

NEWCASTLE 1 ARSENAL 3

7:23pm Saturday 21st March 2009 in

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FOR 45 minutes, it looked like being so good.

As they entered the dressing room at half-time, Newcastle's players must have had smiles as wide as the Tyne.

They had outplayed an Arsenal side who now look odds-on for a Champions League place, and produced one of their best 45 minutes of the season.

Had Obafemi Martins scored from the penalty spot, they would even have had a lead to defend.

An hour or so later, though, and Newcastle's world had caved in.

A defensive collapse - similar to that which saw Liverpool put five past the Magpies earlier this season - saw a creditable performance transform into yet another disaster.

Three Arsenal goals came in ten minutes of madness and, while Martins grabbed one in between, Newcastle were a bedraggled bunch by the time the final whistle blew.

The result was bad enough - it has left Newcastle two points adrift of safety with just eight games left - but the manner of the defeat was even more worrying.

If Newcastle can play so well for 45 minutes and yet still end up losing by two goals, what does that say for their prospects between now and the end of the season?

Teams tend to get relegated when they cannot take advantage of the occasions when they are playing well.

And while Newcastle have played much worse this season, ultimately, this was an evening that had relegation written all over it.

** READ A FULL REPORT AND ANALYSIS OF THIS EVENING'S GAME IN MONDAY'S NORTHERN ECHO **