Sheffield Wednesday 2 Newcastle United 2

Dec 27 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

TRUST Newcastle United to arrive at Christmas bearing surprise gifts.

The worry is that surrendering another two points away from home will bring undue festive cheer to the rest of the Championship.

Having stolen a march on the clubs below them, the talk on Tyneside has been of promotion as a certainty.

If that mindset is to blame for the type of performances with which they have dropped four points in a fortnight in South Yorkshire, it is clear United DO face a serious threat to their Premier League prospects.

That threat does not come from a frankly woeful Sheffield Wednesday . . . or any team the Championship has to offer.

No, Newcastle’s only real enemy is complacency.

On this evidence, it could yet prove to be a challenging foe.

To say United played in fits and starts yesterday would be kind.

For all of 75 minutes, they were abysmal.

The fact that when they did perform, they sliced through Wednesday like a knife through brandy butter - with quickfire goals by Kevin Nolan and Shola Ameobi cancelling out Luke Varney’s opener - only made the Magpies’ general lethargy all the more infuriating.

Nolan now boasts 11 for the season with a superb 19th-minute headed equaliser, before Ameobi made it seven in as many league starts – and eight for the season overall – with an even better – if offside – goal, three minutes later.

For a short while after that, Newcastle ran the show and looked likely to strike at will on the break as Wednesday huffed and puffed.

However, the visitors simply did not turn up for a second half in which their efforts were summed up by Steve Harper’s powder-puff attempt to collect a routine cross which presented Wednesday with a 59th-minute equaliser.

Harper - and his manager - were insistent Varney fouled him as they jumped together, but few others around Hillsborough agreed the goalkeeper was blameless for an episode which resulted in James O’Connor tapping home.

United’s response was anything but as decisive as it had been earlier, meaning a mundane match more or less trundled to its conclusion.

Given time to reflect, few of a black and white persuasion will try to argue this was anything but a case of two points not so much lost as casually tossed away.

That is before you even make the point that Wednesday had gone 631 minutes without a goal before Varney’s strike.

Newcastle had been pegged back by their hosts from the off when a right-wing corner was cleared only to its taker Darren Potter, who cut the ball back cleverly to O’Connor.

Wrongfooted, United simply stood and watched as O’Connor stood up a neat cross which Varney headed powerfully home from 10 yards.

Newcastle’s response was swift and indicative of a class gap between the sides. A throw-in aimed down the right for Ameobi fell nicely for Danny Guthrie to look up with time and space to tee up a cross.

His measured delivery was met by Nolan with an equally well-directed header on the run which flew into the top right-hand corner.

Wednesday had been reduced to 10 men before the goal went in, but the temporary loss of bloodied forward Jermaine Johnson was a moot point next to a goal of such quality.

Better was still to come – and soon.