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Match Report
Portsmouth v Newcastle 19 March 2005
Stones pecious equaliser
Portsmouth 1 - 1 Newcastle
Steve Stone's equaliser poached a precious point for Portsmouth in an ill-tempered contest against Newcastle.
Stone was on the spot to turn in Lomana LuaLua's cross, amid Newcastle claims he was offside.
Newcastle had earlier taken the lead when Kieron Dyer cashed in on an error from Linvoy Primus to head home from close range.
Referee Matt Messias had a busy afternoon, showing no less than nine yellow cards, five to Portsmouth.
Newcastle posed defensive problems for the home side who had trouble locating Dyer, used in a deep-lying role to support Alan Shearer.
Portsmouth's slide down the table has coincided with Yakubu's goals drying up, and his fragile confidence was in evidence as he ran clear, only to screw his shot wide from 16 yards.
Newcastle were not afraid to take the direct approach towards Shearer's head with Dyer buzzing around for flicks and touches from the former England striker.
Pompey's wide midfield men, Stone and Patrick Berger tucked in to prevent Newcastle getting wide and supplying crosses for Shearer.
But the by-product was a lack of support at the other end where Lua Lua whipped in dangerous crosses but found no blue shirt to cash in.
Yakubu became the fourth Pompey player booked before half-time, following Giannis Skopelitis, Arjan de Zeeuw, and Linvoy Primus.
Newcastle fired a warning shot when Laurent Robert saw a header crash off the underside of the bar and bounce on the goal line.
Portsmouth failed to heed it and fell behind two minutes before half-time when Lee Bowyer's cross forced an error from Primus and Dyer read the situation to nick in ahead of Jamie Ashdown and head home.
Little had been seen of Pompey as an attacking force but they drew level in first-half injury time when sloppy defending allowed Lua Lua to turn and work in a cross which Stone appeared to stab home from an offside position.
Thick fog enveloped Fratton Park, but it was easy to see Portsmouth in a more determined mood in the second half and with Berger prompting, the pace of Lua Lua and Yakubu at last began to ask questions of the Newcastle defence.
But although they enjoyed more possession than the first-half, Portsmouth appeared reluctant to throw men forward in pursuit of a winning goal.
Report From BBC Sport
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