IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A tale of two newly-promoted clubs. Huddersfield Town and Newcastle United accompanied each other into the Premier League this season, but in just about every other respect, they could hardly feel more different.

Huddersfield ooze optimism, excitement and pride. Forty-five years on from their last appearance in the top-flight, this was a landmark day for a club that once dominated the upper echelons of the English game. The sun shone, the atmosphere bristled and thousands flocked to the spaceship-style John Smith’s Stadium hours before kick-off to soak up every last second of a take-off they never imagined possible.

They still can’t really believe they are in the Premier League, but they sense they are following a team capable of making their presence felt. Earlier this summer, the Terriers broke their transfer record three times in a week. They have made ten signings in the wake of their promotion, and when the name of their owner, Dean Hoyle, was announced on the tannoy prior to kick-off, the cheer was every bit as loud as the one that accompanied Aaron Mooy’s second-half winner.

It is safe to assume Mike Ashley would not elicit a similar response if he was to parade around St James’ Park ahead of this weekend’s game with West Ham. Whereas Huddersfield boast momentum, Ashley’s tightening of the purse strings sucked the life out of Newcastle’s promotion party before the current campaign had even begun. Two games in, and a familiar sense of doom and gloom has already set in.

There were three summer signings in Newcastle’s starting line-up yesterday, but one, Christian Atsu, was already on loan last season, and a second, Mikel Merino, is a 21-year-old loanee who would not have been anywhere near Rafael Benitez’s wanted list had the Magpies manager not missed out on a succession of alternative targets. This was effectively Newcastle’s Championship team with a couple of minor tweaks. Alarmingly, you could tell from the outset.

The Magpies were not outclassed, and on another day, they might have scrambled to a point after creating two or three decent chances in the second half. But their limitations in terms of both ability and ambition were glaringly apparent. For all that Huddersfield have started with two wins, they will surely be one of the teams battling with Newcastle to avoid relegation. On this evidence, not only were Benitez’s side incapable of beating them, it felt like they didn’t even believe they could leave with three points.

Content with sitting back and defending while the scores were level, they were incapable of making a significant change to their approach when they fell behind. Dwight Gayle barely kicked the ball as a lone striker and was hauled off within two minutes of Mooy’s opener. Joselu displayed plenty of energy after replacing him, but the £5m cast-off from Stoke is hardly going to have opposition defences worried.

That is the market Newcastle are operating in though, and for all that they find themselves back in the bottom five after the opening two matches, Ashley’s approach to the transfer market is unlikely to change. Benitez will have to make do with the players currently at his disposal. If they can’t match Huddersfield, what hope is there for them against the rest of the teams in the top-flight?

That might seem an unfairly negative prognosis after just two games, but the memory of Newcastle’s last relegation two seasons ago continues to cast a considerable shadow. There were plenty of games like this under Steve McClaren.

In fairness to Benitez, while it might only be the second week of the campaign, Newcastle’s resources are already severely stretched. The absence of Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett meant Chancel Mbemba was forced to line up as an emergency left-back, even though Benitez was more than willing to sell him at the start of the summer. Henri Saivet, recalled to the substitutes’ bench as the only remotely defensive cover, would have left last season had anyone wanted him.

Huddersfield, on the other hand, were brimming with new additions, and having marked their return to the top-flight with an opening-day victory at Crystal Palace, the hosts were always going to look to make a lightning-quick start. Initially, however, Newcastle held firm.

Their opponents dominated possession in the early stages, but with Merino and Isaac Hayden sitting deep to protect their back four, the visitors made a decent job of containing their opponents before the break.

Mooy drilled in a fourth-minute shot that was saved by Rob Elliot, and Newcastle’s goalkeeper was called into action again on the quarter-hour mark to keep out Tom Ince’s first-time effort after Atsu’s poor touch had played his team into trouble.

On the whole though, the Magpies remained relatively untroubled in the first half, with Atsu and Matt Ritchie dropping back diligently to help prevent Huddersfield’s midfielders from getting behind their opponents’ backline.

Newcastle’s desire to remain defensively secure meant their attacking ambition was limited, with Gayle often finding himself isolated in his lone-striker role.

Nevertheless, the visitors were still able to carve out the best chance of the opening 45 minutes, and would have been ahead had it not been a brilliant piece of goalkeeping from Jonas Lossl.

Ayoze Perez set up Ritchie on the left-hand corner of the penalty area, and the winger’s low shot was arrowing towards the bottom corner before Lossl tipped it around the post. It was a fine save from the Danish goalkeeper, who moved to Huddersfield in the summer on loan from German side Mainz.

It meant Huddersfield headed into the interval on level terms, and their winner arrived within the opening five minutes of the second half.

It was a beautifully-worked goal, with Mooy playing a slick one-two with Elias Kachunga before curling home unmarked from the edge of the penalty area. Javier Manquillo should have been much quicker to close Mooy down, but there was still much to admire in the quality of the Australian’s finish.

The goal forced Newcastle to be more adventurous, but while they spent more time in Huddersfield’s half in the second half, it would be stretching things to suggest they really posed a threat.

The only exception came in a 60-second spell midway through the second period, with two chances going begging. Lossl got down well to turn Joselu’s scuffed strike around the post, and from the resultant corner, Perez hooked a first-time volley over the crossbar after Ciaran Clark flicked the ball on.

Substitute Jacob Murphy burst into the box in the closing stages, only to be denied by a superb last-ditch challenge from Chris Lowe, but Newcastle were unable to get back on level terms.

The final whistle brought an outpouring of joy from the home ranks, with Huddersfield’s players joining Wagner as they celebrated in front of the fans. By then, the away end was all but deserted. Sadly, Newcastle’s supporters have seen all this before.