FK Ventspils 0, Newcastle United 1.

A PLANE-FULL of Newcastle fans failed to make it to Riga yesterday after their planned flight was grounded on English soil.

Last night though, in the Latvian capital's Skonto Stadium, the club's players successfully got their UEFA Cup campaign off the ground with a 1-0 win over the part-timers of FK Ventspils.

Titus Bramble's ability to soar above the home side's defence proved crucial as his 71st-minute header gained a victory that had rarely looked like coming in the face of some surprisingly spirited opposition.

But while the one-goal win all but guarantees the Magpies' progress from the UEFA Cup's second qualifying round, manager Glenn Roeder will surely have been alarmed by his side's plodding and pedestrian performance.

A game that was supposed to mark the take-off for another season in Europe's secondary competition merely underlined the paucity of resources currently at Roeder's disposal.

And unless some big-name signings come through the St James' Park arrivals lounge this month, it is difficult to see anything but a season of struggle for a side that continues to lack the firepower needed to improve on last season's inconsistencies.

Newcastle did what they had to on a night that will be quickly forgotten once the more testing business of the Premiership begins.

But while the result was the only thing that mattered given United's need for European football this season, no-one will have been fooled into thinking that last night's starting XI is good enough to mount a serious charge for continental honours this season.

At least with last night's first leg now out of the way, Glenn Roeder can spend the next nine days frantically chasing transfer targets ahead of next weekend's Premiership opener against Wigan.

Amdy Faye's departure to Charlton has created a midfield vacancy that the Magpies hope to fill with the purchase of Denmark international Thomas Gravesen, despite competition from a number of Premiership rivals including North-East rivals Middlesbrough.

Quite where that leaves the unpopular Nicky Butt is open to debate, but Roeder underlined his faith in the former England international by handing him his first Magpies start in more than a year last night.

Butt, who courted controversy by embracing Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of last year's FA Cup semi-final, began his rehabilitation with a quickfire brace in last weekend's friendly draw with Villarreal.

Sadly, for the 31-year-old, yesterday's anaemic performance will have done little to further his cause.

Butt was one of a number of Newcastle players to have under-performed in Riga and, while Bramble's winner eventually saved their blushes, things could have been very different had the ever-reliable Shay Given not saved his defenders' blushes as early as the fifth minute.

Both Bramble and Stephen Carr were guilty of grave errors of judgement as Sergey Zangareev and Andreys Butriks combined to send Igors Slesarcuks galloping into the heart of the penalty area.

A momentary hesitation was enough to allow Given to smother the ball at the striker's feet, but Newcastle's early lack of defensive cohesion was an all-too-familiar failing that would surely have been their undoing against more experienced opponents.

Vladimirs Kolesnicenko's header that whistled past the post ten minutes later merely served to underline the visitors' discomfort.

Fortunately, for the Magpies, Ventspils' defenders were every bit as edgy and imposing centre-half Jean-Paul Ndeki twice came close to putting through his own net in a frantic 60-second spell.

The second misjudgement - a bizarre back-header from an Emre shot - forced goalkeeper Andris Vanins to produce an improvised juggling act on his own goalline but while Shola Ameobi headed wide in the 13th minute, there was none of the early fluency that might have been expected of Newcastle's Premiership performers.

In truth, the visitors remained no more than functional throughout, with Ameobi wasting a second glorious opening midway through the first half.

Emre's searing through ball sent Nolberto Solano scampering down the right flank but after the Peruvian picked out Ameobi with his well-judged pull-back, the Magpies' lone striker failed to get a shot away.

If Ameobi is to become the 20 goal-a-season striker he clearly aspires to be, he cannot afford to be as hesitant or as wasteful as he was last night.

In fairness though, he cannot be as exposed either. Damien Duff, making his competitive debut following last month's £5m move from Chelsea, made a number of incisive breaks down the left flank, only for his resultant centre to find a wide open space in the box.

Filling that space has been Roeder's priority all summer. If he fails to sign a partner for Ameobi before the transfer window closes on August 31, Newcastle's continental campaign could prove a short one.

It was hardly in the best of health for much of last night's game, with Solano's tame 44th-minute free-kick providing a fittingly underwhelming end to an opening period that would have delighted Ventspils manager Ronan Grigorchuk and the vocal home supporters who had made the 150-mile trek to the Latvian capital.

Things almost got even better for the hosts five minutes after the interval when defender Kaspars Gorkss outjumped the entire Newcastle defence, only for his powerful downward header to drift narrowly wide of the target.

Duff continued to pose the Magpies' biggest threat, drilling a 20-yard strike over the crossbar and setting up skipper Scott Parker for a mishit drive that should really have tested Vanins.

But despite the Irishman's occasional bursts of inspiration, there remained precious little evidence of the visitors' supposedly superior status.

Solano went close in the 68th minute - stretching to head over the crossbar after Ameobi had worked an opening on the left-hand side - but Newcastle had done little to merit an advantage before Bramble headed them in front in the 71st minute.

Emre swung over a corner from the left-hand side and, after stealing ahead of his marker, the former Ipswich defender planted a powerful downward header into the corner of the net.

* UEFA Cup newcomers Gretna lost 5-1 to Derry City last night.