Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

&c

Newcastle concluded a turbulent home campaign with some genuine positivity on Sunday teatime, sending an abject West Ham one step closer to relegation thanks to some incisive attacking play.

Indeed the only real downside of the afternoon was the lifeline we threw Spurs, who now only need a point from their remaining two games to survive.

Lining up in a notional 4-2-3-1 with Woltemade behind Osula, Newcastle attacked from the off in a manner which has been missing for most of the season.

And it was Woltemade who opened the scoring, Harvey Barnes - playing on the right to surprisingly good effect - capitalising on some truly awful defending to chip the ball across for the unmarked German to score his first league goal in 17 games.

Big Nick was involved throughout and the combination of him and Osula showed real promise.

Osula grabbed another goal just four minutes later, Ramsey sliding the ball through for Osula following a lovely one-touch passing move, and the Danish striker finished calmly, having come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of months.

A tactical change from West Ham then led to a more balanced period of play, until more rank defending saw the visitors gift us the ball from a throw in, Willock and Osula combining well for the latter to finish.

That's his fifth goal in the last six games, and the performances are backing up the stats.

It was enough for Eddie Howe to say he was in pole position to start next season as our centre forward, and on this evidence there's absolutely a top flight striker in there.

In Kieran Trippier's last game for the club there was to be no clean sheet, Taty Castellanos (Potato Castellanos on Sundays, presumably) hooking a remarkable half-volley over the otherwise solid Pope from distance.

And whilst there was some mild discomfort at the back, including Taty hitting the bar from close range, there was to be no further scoring and we ended the day in 11th, trailing Chelsea on goal difference only and our neighbours down the road by two points, though with a much better goal difference.

So whilst Europe is still technically possible but realistically out of reach, we're left with pride to play for at Craven Cottage, along with dreams of what might have been had we not thrown away TWENTY SEVEN points from winning positions.

As moves begin to be made in the upper echelons of the club, including seeking investment to fund infrastructure projects, and buying the buildings on Leazes Terrace, we have to hope that we've got our transfer plans solidified ahead of a hugely important summer window.

We seem to be acknowledging some of the issues of last year, wantaway Gordon an unused substitute yet again, so hopefully we can show some speed and agility in the window for both incomings and outgoings.

Final word to Kieran Trippier, first in the door following the takeover, who bough into the club and the project heart and soul.

His physical powers may have waned in the last 18 months but there can be no understating the impact he's had on our club.

A true legend, and given a fitting send off by the crowd.