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Goals from Nigel Winterburn and Ally McCoist gave the Legends victory but the Celebs will rue their misses.
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The Legends triumphed in The Match thanks to goals from from Nigel Winterburn and Ally McCoist but The Celebs were left to rue a host of missed chances, including a late penalty.
Darren Campbell saw his 89th minute spot kick well saved by Chris Woods, but it was Neville Southall who kept the Celebs at bay with a string of outstanding saves before being replaced. Twice he denied crowd favourite and Man of the Match Anthony Hutton with unbelievable saves
The Legends opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Peter Beardsley split The Celebs’ defence to put Winterburn through and the ex-Arsenal star finished coolly between Alex Lawler’s legs.
The Legends had started so well, the Celebs might have feared a rout. But The Celebs showed real character in dragging themselves back into the game. Southall produced a remarkable double save from Harvey and Hutton, the second while still lying on the ground.
The temperature in St James’ rose when Philip Olivier and Winterburn clashed and earned themselves bookings. And former Sunderland manager Peter Reid didn’t improve his popularity in Newcastle with a late tackle on Jonathan Wilkes. He too saw yellow.
Wilkes almost equalised late in the first half, getting onto Campbell’s long throw, but shot wide from five yards.
The second half began with Hutton cutting in from the left and hitting a cracking shot from 20 yards that Southall tipped over at full stretch.
The Celebs thought they had equalised when Harvey met a free kick and the ball hit a post and went in off Barton. But the referee correctly spotted that Harvey had handled the ball.
Next it was Alex Lawler’s turn to impress making two excellent saves in quick succession from Beardsley, but McCoist made the game safe on 71 mins with a classic header.
The impressive Hutton then went down in the box after a challenge by Beardsley, but Woods guessed where Campbell was going to put the resulting penalty. The Legends might have won, but the Celebs will be kicking themselves for their wastefulness in front of goal.
The Celebrities: Lawler, Pickard (Young 87), Jones (McGuiness 87), Craig, Little (Scott-Lee 74), Olivier (Mellor 78), Shephard, Wilkes (Thomas 87), Hutton, Campbell, Harvey.
The Legends: Southall (Woods 77), Anderson (Barton 33), Pallister (Albert 46), Walker, Winterburn, Le Tissier (Saunders 54), Batty, Reid (McAllister 58), Barnes (McCoist 61), Beardsley, Rush.
Goals: Winerburn 5, McCoist 71
Bookings: Celebs: Olivier
Legends: Winterburn, Reid, Barton.
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