KEITH ANDREWS is a huge fan of Newcastle folk hero Dan Burn and now we see why.
The towering Toon defender went out of his way to make sure Brentford reeled away from a game that descended into minor chaos with three points.
Having got away with a serious penalty shout after an hour when he legged over Bees’ forward Dango Ouattara, Burn doubled down on his generous nature by committing exactly the same offence against exactly the same player barely ten minutes later in pretty much the same position.
Referee Stuart Attwell who was already risking a riot among the normally genteel home fans at the G Tech Stadium could not let him off twice in one game.
And in a further twist, Burn picked up his second booking, was sent off and Newcastle were left scrambling to stop this game from running away from them for 17 minutes.
It’s this kind of giving nature that clearly makes Burn such a friend to opposition managers liek Andrews and rival fans up and down the country.
He even got a conciliatory pat on the back from the fourth official as he trudged off the pitch with gloomy resignation.
The few minutes of chaos that surrounded Burn’s dismissal, he was earlier booked for fouling Ouattara, turned a tepid Sunday afternoon game on its head.
Toon keeper Nick Pope had to come off as Brentford awaited their penalty kick, we assume with injury, which could mean curtains for international duty this next two weeks.
Newcastle were already without his England team-mate Anthony Gordon, missing from the start with a hip injury.
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Brazilian Joelinton trudged off before half time with what appears to be a shin injury and now it’s nine Premier League games since a win on the road.
Apart from that it was a great day out for Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, who watched his team take the lead in an away game for the second week running only to blow it again.
Last Sunday they were ahead at West Ham after only four minutes.
Here they went ahead on 28 when Harvey Barnes showed terrific composure to start a counter attack move and finish it with a twist and turn before drilling his shot through the legs of Bees’ keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Newcastle last won away back in April. The same month as Barnes previously scored a Premier League goal.
But instead of build on the advantage, it all came crashing down through self-inflicted damage, with a sprinkling of baffling refereeing thrown in for good measure.
A mix up in defence in the 56th minute in which keeper Pope and defender Sven Botman got in a muddle, allowed Kevin Schade freedom to head an equaliser.
And from there it went from bad to worse for Burn and Newcastle’s appalling record on their travels.
Newcastle’s cult hero was unlucky to be booked early in the second half when he went in close on Ouattara. It looked a fair if robust challenge. Can there be any other kind from a looming 6ft 7in presence?
Yet it looked like ref Attwell was looking up at Burn with favourable eyes when not only did he dismiss Brentford appeals for a spot kick on 61 minutes.
Ouattara went down flamboyantly but sincerely over Burn’s outstretched leg in the box. Not only did Attwell stand by his decision following a VAR check, he booked Brentford’s Burkina Faso forward for diving.
But on 73 minutes the sense of deja vu was palpable as the two players came together in a similar situation and the same happened.
Only this time Attwell did not want to risk the safety of his motor in the G Tech Stadium car park and awarded a spot kick, even though the first incident looked more like a foul.
Pope was crocked and Howe’s team was rocked. The keeper came off, Burn was sent off and Newcastle made four substitutions at once. The game was descending into farce.
Sub keeper Aaron Ramsdale’s first act was to pick the ball out of his net from Igor Thiago’s low shot.
With a massive shift in personnel, a keeper and a forward injured, and more than a third of his team changed in one fell swoop, no surprises Newcastle collapsed as Brentford gained in strength.
Andrews’ team has made a habit of bloodying the noses of the big guns this season. Manchester United and Liverpool can testify to that.
And they make the most of their chances. Thiago added his second and Brentford’s third five minutes into injury time to seal the deal.
