Paul Dummett is hoping his dream finish against Manchester United can finally kick-start Newcastle's season.
Paul Dummett is hoping his dream finish against Manchester United can finally kick-start Newcastle's season.
The 24-year-old defender rescued a precious Barclays Premier
League point with a 90th-minute equaliser which secured a 3-3 draw at St
James' Park on Tuesday evening and although the result left the Magpies
still inside the relegation zone, the way they scrapped for their lives
on the night augurs well for the future.
Dummett told nufcTV: "It feels like a victory, the way the game
went, especially the cruel blow when [Wayne] Rooney hits that into the
top corner with 10 minutes to go.
"But to get the goal in the 89th minute is an unbelievable
feeling. It's something you can't really describe as a grown-up. As a
kid, it's something you always dream of, especially at the Gallowgate
End. It's a special feeling.
"We were disappointed not to get the three points but it's a
positive, fighting back twice to get a point, and it's hopefully a step
in the right direction for this team, which battled on and didn't stop
right from the start until the end to get the point."
Dummett's goal, a searing strike which deflected off defender Chris Smalling and flew past helpless keeper David de Gea
into the top corner, was just his third for the club and his first
since September 2014, although he revealed some of his team-mates were
not so sure it was his.
Asked what was going through his mind when the ball dropped to
him on the edge of the penalty area, he said: "'I'm going to hit this as
hard as I can and see what happens', really.
"It took a little nick to go in the top corner - I'm getting a
little bit of grief in there over whether it's an own goal, but
hopefully it's been given to me and I'll take the credit for that one."
The Magpies had gone into the game on the back of four
successive 1-0 defeats in all competitions and the omens were not good
when they went 2-0 down with just 38 minutes played, as Wayne Rooney's early penalty and a second goal from Jesse Lingard seemingly put the visitors in control.
But Georginio Wijnaldum's eighth of the season three minutes
before the break gave them hope and when Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled
from the penalty spot with 67 minutes gone, the comeback was well and
truly on.
However, Rooney's second of the game with 11 minutes left on the
clock looked to have won it before Dummett's last-gasp intervention.
The thriller was watched by new signings Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saivet,
who were presented on the pitch before kick-off, and head coach Steve
McClaren is hoping there will be further arrivals before the end of the
month with a striker the club's main focus.
However, there are also likely to be departures and McClaren
declined to confirm afterwards if midfielder Cheick Tiote had played his
last game for the club in the wake of £12million Shelvey's arrival amid
interest from Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua.
He said: "We are not too sure about that. As I said before, when
something happens, we'll announce it and let you know. But I do think
he has been very, very good in the last two or three games for us."
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