Newcastle players left St James' Park knowing they had passed up a great chance to maintain the pressure on the sides chasing them at the top of the Championship.
Although they battled back well to salvage a 2-2 draw against Bristol City, they went into the game as clear favourites, and it was very much a case of two points dropped.
The Magpies found themselves up against it midway through the second period, after Aaron Wilbraham and David Cotterill capitalised on defensive errors to shock a packed St James' Park.
To their credit, United kept their heads up, and deserved their two second-half goals to pick up a point.
Jonjo Shelvey forced home the first - though it will go down as a Korey Smith own goal, before Ciaran Clark popped up with the equaliser.
So what went wrong, who was to blame, and who stood out for United? Here are Chris Waugh's player ratings.
Karl Darlow 5
Mark could have been a lot lower after first-half howler, but made two important saves from Cotterill after the break
DeAndre Yedlin 5
Caught out positionally a couple of times and not at his marauding best
Jamaal Lascelles 5
Captain isn’t in best of form and was caught out for the first Bristol City goal
Ciaran Clark 6
Far from his best, the Irishman did not look as consistent as he normally does - though did pop up with the equaliser
Paul Dummett 5
Terrible miscommunication for the second goal and looked nervy all game
Jonjo Shelvey 6
Failed to take control during first half, but influence grew after the interval
Jack Colback 5
Doesn’t have the same dynamism as Hayden and struggled to dominate
Matt Ritchie 7
Bundle of energy and chased down every last cause, driving United on
Ayoze Perez 5
Largely anonymous, did have a couple of decent chances but didn’t take them
Christian Atsu 8
His delivery remains inconsistent but Atsu attacked the byline during the second half and dragged team forward
Aleksandar Mitrovic 5
Visibly lacking in confidence, Mitrovic missed a couple of excellent chances
Substitutions
Mo Diame 6
For Colback, 58. Steady, nothing more
Yoan Gouffran 5
For Perez, 79.
Not used: Elliot, Hanley, Gamez, Anita, Murphy