Beattie primed for Shearer role

Southampton 1 Newcastle United 1

Pit two in-form strikers, who have scored 20 Premiership goals between them this season, against each other and you can be sure that neither will find the net. So it proved yesterday on the south coast, as both James Beattie and Alan Shearer drew blanks in an otherwise highly entertaining draw.

That this match was all about the battle of the front men became clear as soon as the England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, chose St Mary's as the venue for his weekly football fix. Knowing that Shearer will not come out of international retirement to play alongside Michael Owen, the England management are looking for players built in his mould.

None come closer than Beattie, a robust forward who has modelled his game on the former England striker. Beattie was only a trainee at Blackburn when Shearer ruled the Ewood Park roost, but the Newcastle man remembers the young hopeful well. No wonder, then, Eriksson wanted to see how the pupil would fare against the master.

According to the Newcastle manager, Sir Bobby Robson, the Swede will have liked what he witnessed. "The boy Beattie didn't score, but he certainly showed enough strength and invention to suggest that his time with England will come." Gordon Strachan concurred, although he was more inclined to talk about the game as a whole. "It was great," he enthused. "It was my favourite match as a manager and I loved it."

The Scot was right to sing the praises of all 22 players, who approached the game as if they were on a basketball court. With six minutes on the clock, Chris Marsden, one of Southampton's unsung heroes, slid a delightful ball through to Brett Ormerod. The striker was clear on goal but could not find the back of the net from a narrow angle. "If only the ball had fallen to Beattie," you could hear the fans whisper.

Not that easy chances are always converted by good strikers. Less than a minute after Southampton's opening chance, Laurent Robert's free-kick into the area took a deflection before falling invitingly into Shearer's path. The former England man got a touch but not enough power, and Paul Jones got down well to save.

Newcastle had another chance to take the lead after 22 minutes, when Kieron Dyer's run from deep took him beyond the last defender and around Jones. Claus Lundekvam kept his composure, though, and got a vital touch to turn the ball away from the open goal.

Eight minutes later, it was the turn of Gary Speed to give the home side a scare with a looping header, which the agile Jones palmed over to safety. At the other end, Shay Given had to be equally alert to keep out Ormerod's cross-cum-shot from out wide on the right wing. Then, just before the interval, Dyer popped up on the edge of the area and, following neat footwork, delivered a dangerous ball across the face of Jones' goal. By the time Shearer realised that the scoring chance was on, the ball had skimmed beyond him.

With all eyes still firmly set on Beattie and Shearer, Craig Bellamy was allowed too much space on the edge of the Southampton box four minutes after the restart and the Welsh dynamo took full advantage. Having skipped past Lundekvam, he sent a right-foot curler past the diving Jones into the back of the net.

Newcastle's tail was up and they should have doubled their lead within 60 seconds. Bellamy was again at the heart of the move, using his trickery to round Lundekvam once more, before delivering an inch-perfect pass to the unmarked Jermaine Jenas. The young Magpie needed only to side-foot the ball home, but his first touch let him down and enabled Jones to save.

Strachan was quickly out of the dugout to let his players know exactly how he felt, and they responded immediately. The excellent Fabrice Fernandes embarked on a run down the right wing before delivering one of those low crosses that defenders hate. The Newcastle back four are no different and, having failed to clear, watched Marsden sneak in at the far post to bundle in the equaliser.

Marsden should have netted another when he headed Fernandes' cross wide from all of four yards. "I wanted to throw him a towel to dry his bald head," joked Strachan after the game. Marsden was at it again after 73 minutes, heading another clear, if less straightforward, chance high over the bar. If only Beattie...

Shearer had no such excuse when he failed to make good contact while ideally placed just wide of the penalty spot, but the former Southampton man saw the funny side as he trotted away. Andy O'Brien giggled, too, after heading a cross against his own bar on the stroke of full-time.