Newcastle United 6 Barnsley 1

Mar 7 2010 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

SO the Entertainers are back – this time with a super hero on board – and Premier League football is now surely on its way too.

Had they all worn masks yesterday, Newcastle’s players would still have been instantly identifiable.

As champions.

During a season in which United’s dogged march towards promotion has demanded respect rather than adoration, their fans finally had cause to Marvel yesterday – and not just at Spiderman.

After 20 months and 64 games, Jonas Gutierrez finally confirmed the much-debated contents of his pants after only his second goal as a Magpie.

A strutting infield run and sweet right-foot shot in off the bar from 25 yards prompted the Argentinian to delve down below, pull out the hitherto mythical disguise and pop it on.

But any hygienic doubts over the winger’s party piece were more than masked by the sweet smell of success already wafting around St James’ Park.

For Gutierrez’s goal was United’s fourth in a magical 16-minute spell either side of half-time which made a glorious mockery of their struggle to break Barnsley’s resistance for most of the opening period.

And that Jonas was not quite the game’s biggest star turn sums up just how well United played once referee Grant Hegley had lent a helping hand.

Peter Lovenkrands caught Hegley’s eye with a high-speed 41st-minute tumble over Luke Steele, but whether he was caught by the outrushing goalkeeper remains open to question.

Having awarded a penalty, Hegley had to dismiss Steele, whose lingering protest before leaving the pitch spoke volumes.

But if there was an even bigger victim than him, it was substitute ‘keeper David Preece, who came on to face Lovenkrands’ spot kick.

Comfortably beaten low to his left by the Dane, the former Sunderland trainee’s afternoon was about to get worse – and quickly. Three minutes after the break, Lovenkrands headed home his and United’s second. Barely 90 seconds after that, Danny Guthrie lashed in a third.

Then came Gutierrez’s big moment, before Guthrie deceived Preece from a free kick and Kevin Nolan waltzed through to make it six with almost 20 minutes still on the clock.

Lovenkrands was the woodwork’s width from a hat-trick and Fabrice Pancrate and Ryan Taylor missed late sitters.

Barnsley’s embarrassment was tempered by the late consolation conceded, seemingly in sympathy, to substitute Alex Bogdanovic.

But the Tykes walked off just as shellshocked as their forebears did after shipping six at St James’ Park to Kevin Keegan’s promotion-chasers in 1993.

Rarely have Newcastle evoked such memories of that charge back to the top flight under King Kev. That they did so, however, may be as much to do with accident as design.

But for an injury to Alan Smith, Guthrie might have been deployed in an unnatural but all-too-familiar wide role yesterday.

Though never one to complain, he made his point emphatically with as good a display of playmaking as Newcastle fans have seen for several years.