A is for Alan

Went to the match this afternoon. The 150th Tyne Wear derby. Newcastle United v Sunderland. Newcastle played badly. Newcastle lost by 3 goals to nil.

The Forum challenge for February is an alphabet challenge. Today is A. I have chosen this shot of Newcastle manager Alan Pardew - on the right - sitting next to the assistant manager John Carver. I took this shot just before the second half kicked off. By this time Newcastle were 2 nil down so its no wonder they both look worried. As soon as the whistle went for the second half Mr Pardew got to his feet as usual and stood on the touchline while the match was played.

The crowd was very vocal and the home fans got more and more disgruntled as time went on. After Sunderland's 3rd goal went in a lot of Newcastle supporters left. Then we had a couple of blokes who ran on the pitch and had to be caught and "brought down " by security staff.

After the final whistle I quickly got away from the ground in case there was any trouble. Went to Waitrose, John Lewis, Fenwicks and T K Maxx. Got home around 5.30pm. Saw on the news later that there was a bit of bother at the railway station between rival fans with the police caught in the crossfire.