Given that the wider media failed to grasp any signifcance of the pre-match game they chose to cover, this is probably the only place you'll read about Saturday's passionate rendition of the Blaydon Races

Unless you were at the match on Saturday night, you'd struggle to get a feeling of the raw emotion that came with Hector Gannet's moving rendition of the Blaydon Races.

It didn't even warrant a 10-second clip on BBC Match of the Day, while Sky Sports chose to show a few moving images of the North Shields singer and opted to have Jamie Redknapp rabbiting over the top of it with no audio of the club's new anthem. Don't get me wrong, Saturday wasn't a great day for Newcastle United after they lost 1-0 to Aston Villa, but this was BEFORE the poor performance on the field unfolded.

Just after lunchtime, Hector Gannet's Aaron Duff had belted out his sound check in a near-empty stadium, apart from a few journalists getting into work early to set up and a few stewards. Even then, the emotional rendition got a warm round of applause, and the song was also very well received by the 50,000 Geordie fans inside moments before kick off.

Duff had said last week: "We have a duty to celebrate our heritage, to preserve it, to pay it forward and ensure that those words are sung with pride for generations to come. It’s a song that we all have a connection to, it takes us to a time and a place, unique to our own lives.

"During recording I put everything into it, I was thinking about my son, my Mam and Dad and all the family and friends at home, and all those we’ve lost along the way too, I can almost hear their voices, like they’re with us when we sing this."

It was such a shame that Sky Sports opted against tapping into that moment, given Duff's emotions were clear to show as he stayed composed and did the song justice.

Quite rightly, we hear anthems like You'll Never Walk Alone at Liverpool or Man United's Stone Roses' walk-out song, This is the One, get the full treatment, so why not at Newcastle for those who are already paying through the nose for Sky subscriptions?

As Duff wandered off the pitch to a standing ovation, he looked like he was in bits as he headed back down the tunnel at the Leazes End. By then, Sky Sports had well and truly missed the trick with Redknapp and co still waffling from a studio.

I think most fans would have felt what Duff was going through too, and with Newcastle aware that they need to work on their pre-match anthem, this was a promising start.

Just days after Coventry City had set the tone for their 4-1 win with the Sky Blues walking out to the spine-tingling 2007 hit We'll Live and Die in These Towns by The Enemy, it's good to see Newcastle chiefs taking pre-match duties seriously.

I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I heard last week that a new Blaydon Races song was being released by the club. And for all the talk of those who say it is a little slow, I tend to disagree, as it dramatically builds up to the lyrics we all know and love.

Like anything, the song has had mixed reviews online (what doesn't these days?), but overall I think this can be part of the match day experience at St James' Park and hopefully it can gain momentum. For me, Duff simply fighting off the emotion of a song that is part of the fabric of the region said it all for me, and the crowd joined in with him.

The only negative was that the team could not match the singer's passion on the day as a poor performance unfolded.