Record signing Ayegbeni Yakubu struck twice to send Everton back into Europe for the third time in four seasons.

The £11million that boss David Moyes paid for Yakubu has clearly paid off, with fifth place now secured.
He took his tally for the campaign to 21, and became the first Everton player to top 20 since Peter Beardsley 26 years ago.

Yakubu's first was a powerful header, and his second a late penalty. In between Joleon Lescott had settled Everton's nerves by putting them ahead again after a Michael Owen penalty had taken Newcastle level just seconds into the second-half.

At one stage Aston Villa - struggling to overtake Everton - were leading at West Ham, but that game ended 2-2 and Everton were already home and dry having held fifth place since the new year.

THE dramatic resolution of the 2007/08 season is upon us, and while Everton can only finish in one of two places, to my mind finishing fifth is significantly better than the place immediately below.

That's not just because the fifth spot carries with it the reward of UEFA Cup football.
Finishing fifth means you have effectively won the league beneath the so-called Big Four.

Kevin Keegan's comments in the week may well have angered his club's owners and maybe even some Newcastle fans, but what he says is fundamentally the truth as it stands.

IF there have been feelings of frustration or deflation recently, optimism and confidence should be the buzz words this weekend.

A run of one win in eight games might mean Everton have limped towards the finishing line, but expect them to sprint across it tomorrow. To some, this may seem like tempting fate yet there is little chance of the Blues fluffing their lines when it matters.

Those who attended the Blue Kipper awards evening at The Olympia on Thursday evening in their hundreds will vouch for that; a riotous, raucous affair, anyone who had fears that Everton might stumble against Newcastle United will have been assuaged by David Moyes.

While Everton legends Graeme Sharp, Kevin Sheedy, Dave Watson and Kevin Ratcliffe were in attendance with stalwarts Ronnie Goodlass and Matt Jackson, star of the show was Moyes, whose arrival on stage predictably raised the roof.
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HARRY'S never been happier - or fitter," said Bernie Mandic, agent to Anfield underachiever Harry Kewell. Reds fans have never been happier, too, after the over-priced but injury prone Antipodean quit after groin, knee, thigh, ankle and foot problems devastated his stay. But was he the biggest under-achiever Merseyside has ever known? Not by a long way!

OWNERSHIP of football clubs continues to be the hottest of topics and it is a joy to see that Everton are not in a mess like some rivals.

Manchester City, for example, have become a laughing stock again with the treatment of Sven Goran Eriksson but did he spend Thaksin Shinawatra's money well? Not from where I'm sitting..

CONGRATULATIONS to Joleon Lescott for picking up two player-of-the- season awards this week.

There were probably more candidates than usual but it would be hard to make a case for anyone being more impressive over the whole the campaign than the ex-Wolves defender.

Whether at left- back or centre-half he's been tremendous since arriving at the club and this season has seen him grow in stature - whenever we play the very top sides, the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, he often looks like the only one of our players who wouldn't look out of place in their line-up.

He certainly never looks overawed by anyone; only when appearing for England has he ever looked a bit out of sorts, and in some ways those indifferent performances at the tail end of the Steve McLaren reign might have worked in Everton's favour. In the past, whenever one of our players has starred wearing the three lions it has usually marked the beginning of the end of their Goodison career.

IN the weeks preceding the game no-one really pinned much hope on Everton taking anything from the game at the Emirates Stadium, but nevertheless the defeat on Sunday really did look like a missed opportunity given the weakened state of the side that Arsene Wenger sent out to contest what ultimately felt like a pre-season friendly.

It would be churlish to criticise the Everton line-up as we've often looked at our best with the five-man midfield while the pairing of Andy Johnson and Ayegbeni Yakubu has hardly been terrorising opposing defences in the last month or so.

The greatest striker to grace any turf died one year before I was brought into this world, yet the ominous legacy and fabulous story of William R Dean has always been close to my heart and thoughts as my Everton education has unfolded.

As I watched the touching Dixie Dean play being acted out in Crosby on Monday I realised more than ever that the esteem in which William was held far outweighed anything we are likely to ever see again at Everton. Whilst very few clubs can realistically expect to have a true great in their annals anywhere near the stature of Dean, I have clung onto the slimmest of hopes that one day a true great will again arrive for all Evertonians to embrace.

The painful truth is that it was a massive slice of Grand Old Lady Luck that Dean was born where he was and, much more importantly, when he was. Can we ever expect a truly great player to ever grace the field of a team who is either not playing in the 'Champions' League or has more money than sense and will risk all in trying to grace the aforementioned competition?

TYPICAL Everton. Things wouldn't be normal unless we were involved in some sort of last day drama and that will again be the case on Sunday.

Though we missed a gilt-edged opportunity to end the race for a UEFA Cup place at the Emirates Stadium last weekend, I am still extremely confident that the Blues will end the campaign as the fifth best team in the Premier League.

There will, understandably, be some anxious souls who are fretting that things may unravel. But while Aston Villa are capable of beating West Ham United, I would be genuinely amazed if Newcastle United won at Goodison

TOMORROW night sees Everton's annual end of season awards take place but we are still no nearer to knowing who will be named star man.

In the last couple of years, Mikel Arteta has been out on his own but, this time around, things are completely different and, with the greatest respect to the little Spaniard, it would be a surprise if he completed the hat-trick.

The reason that would be the case is down to there being numerous contenders from front to back. Tim Howard, for one, has been in outstanding form all year and built on the promise of his debut campaign at Goodison