Pardew - We Deserved The Breaks

PARDEW: WE DESERVED THE BREAKS

Alan Pardew believes his Newcastle United side deserved their good fortune after riding out second half pressure to record a 3-1 over West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground.

The Magpies almost went in 2-0 up at the interval courtesy of well-taken goals by Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy in a dominant first half but a Mike Williamson own goal just before the break and two excellent chances for Carlton Cole and Andy Carroll in the second half threatened to wipe out the visitors' deserved advantage.

It was left to man-of-the-match and opening scorer Yohan Cabaye to seal the win with a trademark free-kick in injury time, capping a performance which displayed the visitors' attacking potency and defensive resolve in equal measure.

"We could have had more than the two goals at half time," said the manager. "2-0 wouldn't have flattered us, so to concede in the last minute of the half and knowing that Ravel Morrison is on the bench, Andy Carroll is on the bench, the crowd are going to get involved; we had to show a different side in the second half.

"We dogged it out, we were diligent, we had a little break here and there and had a couple of good chances, then sealed it right at the death. So for an away performance as a manager, I can't be more pleased with how we played, other than the final minute of the first half. We did well to see it through."

Victory in the capital was United's sixth away win of the season in the Barclays Premier League and gave the squad an ideal send off as they embark on four days of warm weather training in Abu Dhabi.

"We have had a great week on the training ground. Last year we would have been travelling on Thursday and Friday and recovering on Saturday. But we had a good week's work and I thought it showed. We dominated that area in midfield which we have worked on this week with Vurnon Anita, Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote, and that gave us the platform for victory.

"The players deserve a bit of sun now but they're not going to get a break because we pencilled it in to work hard. We all thought we'd still be in the cup and that we'd be coming back to a cup game so that's a big disappointment to our season, but you can't argue with 36 points and the way we've played some of our football this season, especially away from home. It has been terrific.

"You could perhaps argue we could have two or three more points but overall the players have been magnificent and we just take that into the next game. To a man today I'm very proud of them."