Newcastle United 5 Cardiff City 1

CHRIS Hughton might have fielded all six of his January signings, but it was a player who remained at St James’ Park despite interest from the Premier League that inspired Newcastle United to their most impressive win of the season so far.

By scoring two goals and setting up another, Andy Carroll effectively killed off Cardiff City within the opening 15 minutes, and after eschewing interest from both Everton and West Ham during last month’s transfer window, the England Under-21 international finally appears ready to use his obvious abilities for the good of his hometown team.

Hughton might not regard the 21-year-old as a worthy recipient of the number nine shirt, and there have been plenty of occasions in the past when Carroll has appeared a pale imitation of some of the legendary centre-forwards who have preceded him.

Play like he did tonight, though, and the most prized peg in the Newcastle dressing room should be his for the taking.

It wasn’t just Carroll’s barnstorming centre-forward display that was reminiscent of some of the best performances of the Magpies’ not-too-distant past either. After weeks of grinding out results through a combination of grit and resilience, this was the evening when Hughton’s side threw off their shackles.

With new arrivals Wayne Routledge and Leon Best providing the pace that had been lacking in so many of Newcastle’s displays in the first half of the season, and Jonas Gutierrez weaving a series of eye-catching patterns on the left-hand side, this was silky rather than stubborn, flamboyant instead of feisty.

Peter Lovenkrands’ second-half double – a brace that made it six goals in as many games for the Dane – completed the home side’s scoring, and while Aaron Wildig claimed a Cardiff consolation, the result still equalled the Magpies’ biggest win of the season.

After the traumas of May, winning in the first half of the campaign was deemed sufficient. Suddenly, though, a new-look Newcastle also look capable of winning in style.

Tonight’s starting line-up might have had an unusual appearance, with injuries to Fabricio Coloccini and Alan Smith forcing Hughton into a major reshuffle, but a change can sometimes be as good as a rest. After the opening six minutes, you wouldn’t have found anyone of a black-and-white persuasion cursing the need for wholesale alterations.

Two attacks; two goals. Too big a mountain for Cardiff City to climb, even with 84 minutes still to play.

The opener came from the first corner of the night, with Fitz Hall and Kevin Nolan keeping the ball alive at the back post, and Carroll stabbing home from inside the six-yard box.

The Gateshead-born forward was the common denominator behind Newcastle’s best attacking moves all night, and while he didn’t score Newcastle’s second, he could hardly have come any closer.

Picking up Routledge’s pass in the inside left channel, Carroll drilled a fierce low drive that cannoned off the base of the right-hand post.

The rebound took some off the pace of the ball, but it was still travelling with sufficient velocity to bamboozle Cardiff centre-half Gabor Gyepes, who failed to get out of the way in time as a rebound of his own ended up in the back of the visitors’ net.

The woodwork was shaking at the other end two minutes later, as Ross McCormack cracked a 22-yard half-volley against the crossbar with Steve Harper beaten, but with the frenetic early pace refusing to slow, Newcastle claimed a barely-believable third as the clock reached the quarter-hour mark.

Unsurprisingly, it was Carroll who found himself at the heart of things again. Danny Simpson swung over an inviting cross from the touchline, and Carroll towered above his marker to plant a fierce downward header into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Without wanting to labour the point about number nines, it was an aerial conversion that was reminiscent of a certain Mr Shearer in his pomp.

It also afforded Newcastle the breathing space they needed to really cut loose. Adam Matthews might have inspired a brief wobble with a first-half cross that crept over Harper and hit the post, but the opening 45 minutes were as good as anything the Magpies have produced all season. So much for a supposed inability to win in style.

Predictably, the second half was slightly more low key, with Newcastle refusing to push too hard in search of further goals, and Cardiff failing to come up with anything to unduly trouble Harper.

Former Magpie Michael Chopra forced the goalkeeper into a smart tip-over with a shot that deflected off Patrick van Aanholt, but when a real chance came his way shortly after, he fluffed it.

Sent clean through as Newcastle’s defence momentarily switched off, Chopra lofted a weak chip straight into Harper’s arms.

Lovenkrands showed him how it should be done with 22 minutes left, surging onto Routledge’s through ball and prodding a well-taken finish past David Marshall.

And after Carroll came within inches of claiming his hat-trick - Mark Kennedy cleared the striker’s goalbound effort on the line – Lovenkrands cut in from the right to curl in his second goal of the evening off the left-hand post.

Wildig’s close-range strike handed Cardiff a consolation they barely deserved, but did nothing to detract from the quality of Newcastle’s win.

Match facts

Goals:

Carroll (3, 1-0; 15, 3-0), Gyepes (own goal, 6, 2-0), Lovenkrands (68, 4-0; 82, 5-0), Wildig (89, 5-1)

Bookings: Best (39, foul), Gyepes (77, foul)

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicester) 6

Attendance: 44,028

Entertainment: ✰✰✰✰

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2):

Harper 6; Simpson 7, Williamson 6, Hall 6, van Aanholt 7; Routledge 8, Guthrie 7, Nolan 6, Gutierrez 7 (R Taylor 79); CARROLL 8, Best 6 (Lovenkrands 60mins 7). Subs (not used): Krul (gk), Kadar, Pancrate, Ranger, Ameobi.

CARDIFF (4-4-2): Marshall 4; Matthews 4 (Kennedy 46, 5), Gyepes 3, Gerrard 4, McNaughton 5, Blake 5, McCORMACK 6, Whittingham 5, McPhail 5 (Wildig 75); Chopra 4, Bothroyd 4 (Burke 30mins, 5). Subs (not used): Enckelman (gk), Quinn, Taiwo, Feeney.

MAN OF THE MATCH

ANDY Carroll – scored two and set up another as Newcastle blew Cardiff away in the opening quarter-of-an-