Meek Magpies fail to heed warnings as they bow out

ALKMAAR was the birthplace of Cornelius Drebbel, the inventor of the world's first navigable submarine, but after losing in the Dutch town last night, Newcastle's UEFA Cup hopes have been sunk without trace.

Glenn Roeder's side can forget about plotting a course to Hampden Park in May. After the 2-0 reverse ensured a defeat on the away goals rule, the Magpies will be treading water for the final two months of a season that must now be considered a failure.

Newcastle's 38-year wait for a piece of major silverware shows no sign of coming to an end, and with a mid-table Premiership finish seemingly the extent of their domestic ambitions, continental competition will surely be off the club's agenda next season.

Despite scoring four goals in the opening 37 minutes of their last-16 tie, United were ultimately unable to contain an Alkmaar outfit who maintained their remarkable record of never having lost a home European tie.

Only needing to concede less than two goals to progress, Newcastle were living dangerously from the moment Shota Arveladze ghosted between Titus Bramble and Steven Taylor to break the deadlock.

And with so many of the visitors' players failing to impress in the DSB Stadion, there was a sense of inevitability about the 56th-minute header from Danny Koevermans that guaranteed Alkmaar's progress.

While there were countless hard luck stories to accompany Newcastle's UEFA Cup exit in Lisbon two seasons ago, there was nothing unfortunate about the manner of the club's departure from the competition this time around.

After all, it is not as though the brightness of Alkmaar's attacking was difficult to predict.

While Newcastle had exploded out of the blocks in last week's first leg, Alkmaar's forward players had shown enough in the second half at St James' to suggest that the Magpies' progression to the quarter-finals was anything but assured. Last night, that was exactly how it proved.

Stephen Carr's calf injury meant that a Newcastle side that had kept just five Premiership clean sheets all season lined up without their most experienced defender, and the effect of the Irishman's absence was apparent as early as the 14th minute.

A buoyant Alkmaar had already gone close to clawing back half of their first-leg deficit before that, with Shay Given getting down well to beat out Julian Jenner's close-range volley.

But Given was unable to prevent Arveladze changing the complexion of the game 60 seconds later as Alkmaar's attackers profited from their opponents' defensive weakness on the left flank.

Koevermans skipped past Carr's replacement, Paul Huntington, and when the Dutchman delivered a precise low centre, Arveladze stole between Bramble and Taylor to side-foot a simple finish from the edge of the six-yard box.

A Newcastle advantage that had twice extended to three goals seven days earlier, was suddenly down to a less-than-imposing one.

It might have been doubled had an industrious Scott Parker found the target from the edge of penalty area rather than lofting wastefully over the crossbar in the 15th minute, and goalkeeper Boy Waterman had to pluck an Antoine Sibierski header from under his crossbar four minutes before half-time.

But with the Magpies repeatedly conceding possession in their own half, Alkmaar cranked up the pressure as the first half progressed.

Obafemi Martins' inability to hold up the ball enabled Alkmaar's midfielders to pour forward, and Belgium international Moussa Dembele - reportedly a summer transfer target for Real Madrid - proved particularly difficult for the Newcastle defence to track.

With Dembele pulling Bramble from one side of the field to the other, Huntington was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he appeared to mistime a last-ditch intervention that prevented Jenner exploiting a gaping hole at the heart of the visitors' back four.

Jenner continued to torment his teenage opponent after the break and after the wispy winger produced an intelligent pull-back in the 48th minute, Nolberto Solano showed commendable bravery to block Arveladze's goalbound shot.

Newcastle desperately needed an opportunity of their own to regain some momentum, and it came when the Peruvian proved similarly influential at the opposite end of the field.

Kieron Dyer raced on to Solano's quick free-kick, but after completely outpacing a static Alkmaar defence, the England international dragged the ball narrowly past the far post from an acute angle.

The miss proved costly as, just two minutes later, Alkmaar doubled their advantage on the night and took control of the tie on the away goals rule.

Maarten Martens swung in a corner from the right flank and, with Newcastle's defenders standing still, Koevermans stole in at the front post to plant a powerful header past Given.

Suddenly, the Magpies needed to score to keep their UEFA Cup hopes alive, but while Parker and Martins both forced Boy Waterman into smart second-half saves, only successive goalline clearances from Taylor and Huntington prevented first Koevermans then Dembele extending Alkmaar's lead.