SHOLA AMEOBI celebrated his second start of the season with his first goal since May to send Newcastle United through to the fourth round of the Carling Cup last night.

After Jermaine Jenas had pinched Newcastle's opening goal with just 78 seconds gone, Ameobi extended the home side's lead with a clinical penalty minutes before half-time to stretch Graeme Souness' unbeaten run since taking over to nine matches.

Had the result gone against Newcastle then Ameobi could well have turned from hero to villain after his silly trip on Mathias Svensson in the area allowed Norwich to reduce the arrears with an equally impressive spot-kick from former St James' Park front-man Darren Huckerby.

But, although failing to build on their impressive first half showing, Newcastle were always the most likely side to make progress and this 2-1 success, achieved without rested skipper Alan Shearer, ensured the home side emerged from the third round unscathed for the first time in three years.

Newcastle have only ever reached the League Cup final once, when they lost to Manchester City in 1976, but it remains one of the best chances of silverware for any club in the top-flight who put their mind to it.

And Souness' aims of ending 35-years without a trophy on Tyneside could lie in this competition, should pushes on the UEFA Cup and FA Cup fail.

The Carling Cup usually heralds a rare appearance for Shay Given's understudy between the posts, Steve Harper, whose last start was against West Brom at the same stage of the competition 12 months ago, and last night was no different.

But it was not Harper's inclusion, nor was it the omission of Shearer and Craig Bellamy from the first XI that had the Newcastle public watching on with an ounce of trepidation.

There was a new-look central defence to examine as Souness' only signing, debutant Ronny Johnsen, lined up alongside Titus Bramble, making his first start since the final game of last season against Liverpool, at the heart of the defence.

But both men, although suffering one or two nervy moments, fitted in well to contain the minimal threat posed by the occasional Norwich attacking foray.

Those changes to the side that overcame Manchester City in the seven-goal thriller at St James' on Sunday were part of a major reshuffle by Souness, prioritising his team selection with this weekend's trip to Bolton in mind. Only Jenas, Olivier Bernard and Laurent Robert remained from the team that edged out Kevin Keegan's men.

If there was a sense that Souness, four times winner of the League Cup during his career, was not going to treat the competition seriously then the players selected acted quickly to dispel those doubts. A quick surge forward brought the game's first corner.

And, with a little over a minute on the clock, Robert's centre evaded Aaron Hughes but deflected off Norwich midfielder Mathias Svensson before Jenas appeared to sneak the vital touch that pushed the ball over the goal-line.

From thereafter Newcastle carved open a weak Norwich back-line at will. The occasional touch of brilliance from Patrick Kluivert caused the less high-profile visiting defenders problems.

And it was a moment of magic from Kluivert, when he flicked the ball up before playing a delightful through ball, that set Ameobi free but he only found the side netting, with just goalkeeper Robert Green to beat.

The best chances continued to fall to Ameobi. He had two efforts in the space of a minute with the first blocked by Adam Drury while the second was fired straight into the arms of Green.

Newcastle's young striker turned provider not long after when his delightful chip to the edge of the area was acrobatically volleyed goalwards by Jenas. Yet once again the Canaries' shot-stopper was in the right place at the right time.

Jenas, Darren Ambrose and James Milner dictated play in the centre of the pitch. The triumvirate's work allowed Robert the freedom to roam from one flank to another and an impressive midfield play paid dividends four minutes before half-time.

Kluivert's quite exquisite backheel returned the ball back into the feet of middle-man Ambrose, who was felled by Marc Edworthy in the area and referee Phil Dowd had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Ameobi stepped up and slotted the penalty into Green's bottom right corner with relative ease.

Norwich hit the woodwork twice before the half-time whistle, through Damien Francis and Jason Shackell, but a goal from the visitors would have been harsh on a Newcastle team in the mood for dominating proceedings.

It would have taken a shambolic second half display from Newcastle to throw their handsome lead away after the restart. In fact a chance for the Magpies to replicate Norwich's 5-0 success on the only previous occasion these two sides met in Cup format 41 years ago was not out of the question.

But Newcastle, well aware of allowing a two-goal lead to slip in the Premiership fixture between the two sides earlier this season, handed Norwich a lifeline on 56 minutes. The assistant referee rightly raised his flag for a penalty after a clumsy challenge from Ameobi on Svensson in his own area.

Former Newcastle striker Huckerby tucked the ball away in style to make life interesting for the hosts.

Result: Newcastle United 2 Norwich City 1.

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