By Craig Hope
CHRIS Hughton admits that his side were forced to "grind" their way to Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
The
Magpies, leading thanks to Shaun Derry's inadvertent first-half slice through his own net, were living on their nerves entering injury time at the end of the game as The Eagles pressed for parity.
But an incisive breakaway saw architect Wayne Routledge spring Nile Ranger clear and the teenage substitute did the rest with a composed finish to restore United's three-point lead at the top of the table.
And boss Hughton reflected: "It was one we had to grind out, and we can expect a few more of them before the season finishes, that's for sure.
"The only disappointment for me was that after having got the goal reasonable early, I always felt we needed the second goal to secure it, and it would have been nice to have got the second goal earlier than we did.
"But, for us, the most important thing was to get the victory and it was a good, cool finish from Nile to seal it.
"There are aspects of our game where we could have done better tonight - our final ball - but what we were up against was a good Palace side that we knew, regardless of the situation, are a team that's in form at the minute.
"The nucleus of what played is what has been playing for them, so we certainly knew they weren't going to roll over and make it an easy game for us.
"They battled and credit to them, but we showed good spirit also and, in the end, got the win we desperately wanted."
