FOOTBALL: AT LAST IT'S PARTY TYNE

NEWCASTLE boss Kenny Dalglish made an impassioned "thankyou" speech to the Magpies' long-suffering fans at the end of a tense season.

Dalglish shook the hand of every single Newcastle player with a relieved smile as wide as the River Tyne.

He said afterwards: "We have survived in the Premiership and the players have done everything asked of them.

"It has been a long season for the players who have been involved in the League, the Coca-Cola Cup, the Champions League and the Cup with some of them representing their country too.

"I'm so pleased it has ended well though the League has not gone as well as expected - we must now try to rectify that."

Dalglish sent his players round the ground to acknowledge the cheers of the 36,000-strong crowd.

He said: "It was not a lap of honour but a lap of appreciation to those people who have supported us so well.

"We owe them respect and it was only right to show our gratitude.

"I had not planned to give a speech but I thought a few words from me were appropriate.

"We have tried not to be complacent and knew exactly what we had to do.

"Newcastle deserve to be in the Premiership but we don't hide from the realities. The pressure is off and maybe now they can start banging the ball about a bit."

Dalglish would make no commitments about his team's prospects, but said: "We have done well against Liverpool three times this season and Manchester United twice and we made it difficult for Arsenal.

"They set the standards for the rest to be judged by so on our performances against them we are not far behind but in other matches we have not been as impressive and accept that."

Only on Tyneside could a narrow escape from relegation be greeted with an ecstatic lap of honour.

The Newcastle players milked the applause and celebrated survival with the sort of gusto normally reserved for winners of major trophies.

It mattered not that Chelsea boss Luca Vialli's European Cup- Winners Cup finalists fielded a side that bore no resemblance to that which will take on Stuttgart later this month.

Goals from Nikos Dabizas, Robert Lee and Gary Speed give United their biggest Premiership win of the season and that was enough to send the long-suffering Geordies crazy with joy.

The vast majority stayed behind to salute the team of under- achievers.

When United kicked off their campaign in August, with a 2-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday, hopes were high that Dalglish's side would improve on two successive Premiership runners-up spots. That dream was dead before Christmas but yesterday's demolition of the Londoners gave the noisy Toon Army some idea of what might have been.

But a glance at the Chelsea team sheet - they were without a host of stars including Dennis Wise, Graeme Le Saux, Dan Petrescu and Gianfranco Zola - must have filled the Newcastle dressing room with confidence.

But Chelsea's young side fought spiritedly and aggressively until the impressive Dabizas scored his first goal since his pounds 1.3million move from AEK Athens.

The Greek's opener was a stunning back-post header on 38 minutes that gave visiting keeper Dmitri Kharine no chance.

Robert Lee's perfectly-flighted free kick caught out the Chelsea defence and Dabizas ghosted in to find the net with a powerful header.

Chelsea were still recovering from that blow when Man of the Match Lee hit them with a second goal three minutes later. England captain Alan Shearer, whose week has been clouded in controversy, was on his best behaviour throughout.

Shearer turned provider with a glorious cross from the right and Lee flung himself at the ball to bullet another unstoppable header beyond the helpless Kharine in goal.

Speed put the issue beyond doubt with a well-struck left-foot shot from the edge of the box after good work by Alessandro Pistone and Andreas Andersson.

It was a delightful finish by the former Everton schemer and one that showed why Dalglish forked out pounds 5.5 million for his services.

Roberto Di Matteo pulled a consolation goal back for Chelsea on 78 minutes with a well-judged right-foot curler that gave home keeper Shay Given no chance.

At the final whistle the ecstatic Geordie hordes let out a massive roar of relief and sang "We're Going To Wembley."

Dalglish, under fire for much of the season, summed up the campaign for the cheering crowd from the pitch.

"In the League we haven't given you too much to cheer about," confessed Dalglish. "But we've tried our best.

"We've got a wee bit of something to look forward to with the Cup Final."

But Arsenal at Wembley on May 16 will be a much tougher proposition than this weakened Chelsea side that had at least one eye on the Cup-Winners Cup Final in Sweden.

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