Huge relief as Toon hang on - Newcastle 2-1 Hull City

A big win for Matthias Jaissle's Mags, as a game of two halves ended in a narrow Newcastle United victory over Hull City.

A response was needed after Monday's mess at Leeds, and we got exactly that in a rampant opening half hour, which saw us race into a 2-0 lead within seven minutes.

However, after Yoane Wissa missed a penalty to make it 3-0 just before the break, Hull fought back in the second 45 and very nearly rescued a point as panic set in inside St James' Park.

Was it convincing? No. After a superb start, we ran out of steam in the second half, where our lack of squad depth from the bench also played a part. 

But it's a much-needed three points and response, of sorts, following Monday's shocker at Leeds, sending us into the three-week break with renewed momentum and plenty still to work on.

STARTING XI: Hornicek - L.Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Hall - Steur, Willock - Murphy, Wissa, Barnes - Fernandez-Pardo.

 SUBS: Pope, Schar, Bamba, Toure, Thompson, Pivas, Salia, M.Miley, Mills.

Tino Livramento missed out through injury, seeing Lewis Miley fill in at right-back on a day we were already missing Burn, Joelinton, Osula, Ramsey, Gonzalez, Dedic, Elanga and Jaouen.

On the bench were five Under-21s, with Michael Mills, Kyran Thompson, Vakhtang Salia, Miodrag Pivas and Mason Miley all making the most of our mini injury crisis. 

Mags maul the Tigers in slick first 45 

In his press conference on Thursday, Matthias Jaissle asked his Newcastle side to be "more aggressive", sharper, and "hungry to collect the second balls", and that was evident from the off as we raced into a 2-0 lead within seven minutes.

Harvey Barnes set up both goals, showing our top scorer can create as well as finish, as Joe Willock and Lewis Hall produced emphatic low strikes at the Leazes End. Lewis Miley also played a key role in our opener, as it was his counter-press that won the ball back seconds before Willock struck.

We had 66% of the ball in a dominant first half, were slick in possession and fluid in attack, with Steur pulling the strings, Willock driving us forward, Hall heavily involved down the left and Barnes looking razor sharp.

The only criticism, however, was our failure to make it 3-0 before the break, as Wissa saw a penalty saved in first half stoppage time after Murphy was brought down by Thomas. 

Control to chaos in tense second half 

If the first 45 belonged to Newcastle, the second 45 belonged to Hull, who came within a whisker of a point after piling on the pressure in the closing stages.

Botman had a big chance to make it 3-0, powering Hall's delivery straight at Hull's goalkeeper, then Steur limped off in a change that saw us surrender some control in midfield.

Ali Cho scored with 67 minutes on the clock, finishing off a slick Hull break to make it 2-1. And then came the panic. 

Other than a clear opening for Thiaw that saw him fail to hit the target or pick out two black and white shirts for a tap in, Hull were in total control. We were struggling to clear our lines, conceding shot after shot and a flurry of corners, all while offering so little in attack as Hull smelt blood in a bid to remain unbeaten.

Belloumi forced Hornicek into a save, Mcburnie saw a goal-bound shot blocked by Wissa and Iroegbunam came within inches of making it 2-2 as his sliced effort almost found the top corner.

Fernandez-Pardo cramped up and was replaced by Toure, who barely got a kick in a false nine role, then Bamba came on for Willock, as Hull enjoyed 85% possession in the final 10 minutes of the match.

In the end, the visitors mustered 21 shots to our 10 and were good value for a point, but we hung on, sending us up to 8th, on eight points, with nine goals scored and nine goals conceded after five games.

Next up, a much-needed international break to get injured players back to full fitness after NINE senior Mags missed today's game.

Keep the faith. HWTL!