Dummett hopes dramatic leveller kick-starts Newcastle season

Rob Conlon
Paul Dummett: Left-back rescued a point in six-goal thriller

Paul Dummett: Left-back rescued a point in six-goal thriller

Paul Dummett wants his thrilling equaliser against Manchester United to galvanise Newcastle’s relegation battle.

The 24-year-old defender rescued a precious Premier League point with a 90th-minute equaliser which secured a 3-3 draw at St James’ Park on Tuesday evening and, although the result left the Magpies still inside the relegation zone, the way they scrapped for their lives on the night augurs well for the future.

“It feels like a victory, the way the game went, especially the cruel blow when [Wayne] Rooney hits that into the top corner with 10 minutes to go,” Dummett told nufcTV.

“But to get the goal in the 89th minute is an unbelievable feeling. It’s something you can’t really describe as a grown-up. As a kid, it’s something you always dream of, especially at the Gallowgate End. It’s a special feeling.

“We were disappointed not to get the three points but it’s a positive, fighting back twice to get a point, and it’s hopefully a step in the right direction for this team, which battled on and didn’t stop right from the start until the end to get the point.”

Dummett’s goal, a searing strike which deflected off defender Chris Smalling and flew past helpless keeper David de Gea into the top corner, was just his third for the club and his first since September 2014, although he revealed some of his team-mates were not so sure it was his.

Asked what was going through his mind when the ball dropped to him on the edge of the penalty area, he said: “‘I’m going to hit this as hard as I can and see what happens’, really.

“It took a little nick to go in the top corner – I’m getting a little bit of grief in there over whether it’s an own goal, but hopefully it’s been given to me and I’ll take the credit for that one.”

The Magpies had gone into the game on the back of four successive 1-0 defeats in all competitions and the omens were not good when they went 2-0 down with just 38 minutes played, as Wayne Rooney’s early penalty and a second goal from Jesse Lingard seemingly put the visitors in control.

But Georginio Wijnaldum’s eighth of the season three minutes before the break gave them hope and when Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled from the penalty spot with 67 minutes gone, the comeback was well and truly on.

However, Rooney’s second of the game with 11 minutes left on the clock looked to have won it before Dummett’s last-gasp intervention.

The thriller was watched by new signings Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saivet, who were presented on the pitch before kick-off, and head coach Steve McClaren is hoping there will be further arrivals before the end of the month with a striker the club’s main focus.

However, there are also likely to be departures and McClaren declined to confirm afterwards if midfielder Cheick Tiote had played his last game for the club in the wake of £12million Shelvey’s arrival amid interest from Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua.

“We are not too sure about that. As I said before, when something happens, we’ll announce it and let you know. But I do think he has been very, very good in the last two or three games for us,” he said.