Magpies soar up to third after Ba treble

FORGET the nightmares usually associated with Halloween, Newcastle United are still finding the sort of Premier League form that's the stuff of dreams.

Ten Premier League games in and still unbeaten courtesy of Demba Ba's latest heroics which lifted the Magpies up to the dizzy heights of third.

If that's not enough, Alan Pardew has also guided his team to within a point of Manchester United. Not bad for a side considered likely to struggle after a summer of change.

It remains unlikely Newcastle will stay there. But, on the evidence of their outstanding start to the campaign, perhaps it is not as fanciful as it seems.

David Moyes, the Everton boss, sat in the stands at the Britannia Stadium, will have taken note of a team possessing plenty of endeavour and quality ahead of their visit to St James' Park this Saturday.

That, though, is the next game and last night it was all about inflicting only the second home league defeat on the hardened Potters this year.

If 2011 has been productive for Stoke, who head for Israel on Europa League duty tomorrow to face Maccabi Tel-Aviv, it has also been an impressive one for Ba.

The Senegalese striker, signed in the summer from West Ham on a free, grabbed two predatory first half goals and then a late penalty to take his tally to 15 since New Year's Day. Only Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney have scored more in that time.

At the ground where he would have been playing had he not failed a medical in January, the former West Ham man made it eight for Newcastle; all of which have arrived in his last five league games.

Newcastle may have surrendered the only unbeaten record in the English leagues at Blackburn a week earlier in the Carling Cup, but last night was about trying to preserve their Premier League start.

Only leaders Manchester City could boast being undefeated after ten matches and that was something Pardew tried to deliver in the absence of key midfielder Cheik Tiote, ruled out with a knee injury.

But crucially Newcastle were able to name Steven Taylor at the heart of the defence, sporting a mask to protect his fractured nose.

With Stoke bombarding the visitors' box with the long throwing prowess of Rory Delap, the fact Newcastle could name the same back four for the tenth Premier League game in a row provided the continuity required.

The promising, solid start defensively laid the foundations for a fantastic opening. Newcastle had already threatened with a couple of corners before they took the lead in the 12th minute.

Leon Best's hold up play proved effective. After turning inside the Stoke half, he laid the ball off and flicked a long Tim Krul clearance down the line for Gabriel Obertan despite a suspicion of offside.

The French winger picked out the unmarked Ba, who cleverly arched his body to divert the centre high beyond goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Ba, left frustrated in January when a proposed move to Stoke broke down, infuriated Stoke fans with his celebration by cupping his ears and blowing kisses to them.

His every touch was then jeered - until he silenced them with his second five minutes before half-time.

He had already gone close to adding to his tally when Begovic had to be alert to run from his line and clear a clever pass from Yohan Cabaye that cut the Stoke defence.

But after Matthew Etherington had volleyed into the arms of Krul when another Delap long throw was half cleared, Newcastle attacked and got their rewards.

Fabricio Coloccini's long ball to the back post fell kindly for Best. Despite the striker's scuffed shot, the ball fell invitingly for Ba to tap in from close range.

After the restart Stoke picked things up. The pressure on the Newcastle defence increased, with Taylor and Coloccini standing firm as balls peppered their area.

Occasionally Stoke did find gaps, but failed to trouble Krul. Robert Huth, the former Middlesbrough defender, should have done better when he headed an Etherington corner over from six yards.

Stoke probed, but their final pass tended to miss its target. But just when Newcastle looked like holding out, Ba's little nudge on Crouch ended with the England striker tumbling to earn a penalty.

Jonathan Walters blasted beyond Krul and suddenly Stoke had the encouragement to search for what had seemed an unlikely point.

But this Newcastle side has tremendous character and, just when the noise levels around the Britannia increased, Huth pushed Best in the box to concede the second penalty of the game.

Ba sent Begovic the wrong way to sign off with a hat-trick on Halloween that gave the Newcastle fans the treats they had been hoping for.

Matchfacts

Goals: Ba (12mins, 0-1); Ba (40, 0-2); Walters pen (75, 1-2); Ba (81, 1-3)
Bookings: Perch (79, foul)
Referee: Mike Dean (The Wirral) 6
Attendance: 26,564
Entertainment: ***

STOKE CITY (4-4-2): Begovic 6; Wilkinson 5, Shawcross 4 (Upson 19, 5), Woodgate 5, Wilson 4 (Huth 42, 5); Pennant 5, Delap 5, Whelan 5, Etherington 6 (Jones 68, 5); WALTERS 7, Crouch 5. Subs: Sorensen (gk), Whitehead, Jerome, Palacios.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): Krul 7; Simpson 8, S Taylor 8, Coloccini 8, R Taylor 7; Obertan 7, Guthrie 7 (Gosling 90), Cabaye 6 (Perch 78), Gutierrez 8; Best 7 (Sammy Ameobi 87), BA 9. Subs: Elliot (gk), Santon, Ben Arfa, Marveaux.

MAN OF THE MATCH
DEMBA Ba – his second hat-trick for the club lifted the Magpies up to the dizzy heights of third