Jack's Joy At Chelsea Triumph

By Steven Back

Jack Colback could not hide his delighted at Newcastle United's 2-1 victory over Chelsea at St. James' Park on Saturday.

Thanks to a pair of goals from second half substitute Papiss Cisse, the Magpies put an end to Chelsea's unbeaten start to the campaign and a 23-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Killingworth-born midfielder Colback described the result as United's best win of the season so far, and reserved special praise for 21-year-old debutant Jak Alnwick and his key role in the triumph.

"It's a great result for us," said the 25-year-old.

"We knew it was going to be tough and Chelsea have quality all over the pitch.

"They've got no real weaknesses so you have to defend well as a team, which we did and we have been doing over the past six or seven games. But we also showed that bit of quality going forward and held on at the end.

"It seemed like a long last 20 minutes, especially when they scored with ten minutes to go, which was a bad time to concede as they got a little bit of momentum. But we held on and it's great for the team and great for the fans that we got a win of that calibre.

"Jak (Alnwick) was brilliant to come on for his first appearance against the best team in the league, and he showed great bravery in coming for crosses and clearing up like he did.

"So it's brilliant for him. The lads gave him a good round of applause after and the manager gave him great praise and he deserves all the credit."

Colback played a vital role in Newcastle's resolute defensive display, particularly in the latter stages of the contest after they were reduced to ten men when Steven Taylor was sent off for a second booking.

But Colback was also involved at the other end and could have given the Magpies a first half lead, but was left waiting for his first goal for the Club

"I had a good chance when Ayoze (Perez) played me through and, in hindsight, I probably could have chipped it over the keeper," he explained.

"However, I'm not in that situation too often so I've not had a lot of practice at it!

"But maybe if we had scored then we possibly would have sat back a bit, so as daft as it sounds maybe it was a blessing I didn't score it."

Colback now hopes United can carry their confidence into a trip to the Emirates Stadium next weekend when they face Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League.

"Every game is tough in the Premier League," said Colback.

"But we've shown real character to win six in a row and then, after losing at West Ham and drawing at Burnley, we've shown it again to come back and beat Chelsea.

"Arsenal are next up and that is going to be a tough game but we've got to go down there and show our character again."