ON THIS DAY - OCTOBER 5th - 2002
2002/3 Newcastle 2 West Brom 1
NEWCASTLE: Given, Griffin, O'Brien, Dabizas, Hughes, Solano (Jenas 82), Dyer, Speed, Robert (Bernard 89), Shearer, Bellamy (LuaLua 82).
Subs Not Used: Harper, Ameobi.
WEST BROM: Murphy, Moore, Gilchrist, Gregan, Balis, Clement, Johnson, McInnes, Marshall (Koumas 77), Roberts, Dobie (Hughes 69).
Subs Not Used: Wallwork, Sigurdsson, Jensen.
Att: 52,142
Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer grabbed a precious double to fire his side to victory over West Brom.
The former England skipper struck with the 298th and 299th league and cup goals of his career to claim all three points on an afternoon when the Magpies were far from at their best.
Indeed, they had to come from behind after Slovakian Igor Balis had opened the scoring 27 minutes into a game which Newcastle dominated but never really looked like running away with.
That was testament to the efforts of Gary Megson's rearguard of Darren Moore, Sean Gregan and Phil Gilchrist, who never gave Shearer and Craig Bellamy an inch.
And the Baggies will count themselves unfortunate to have had their lead cancelled out in controversial circumstances when referee Chris Foy ruled that Balis had passed back to keeper Joe Murphy, making his first Premiership start, to give Shearer a chance he was never going to pass up from seven yards.
While Newcastle spent their midweek going down fighting in a Champions League clash with Juventus in Turin, a much-changed Albion side suffered the embarrassment of being dumped out of the Worthington Cup by second division Wigan.
However, if the supporters arriving at St James' Park expecting a major gulf between the two sides, they were very much mistaken.
Newcastle, as expected, enjoyed the major share of the possession, but whether it was the rigours of their gruelling schedule in recent weeks or the massed ranks of green and yellow shirts in front of them, they lacked the cutting edge which is a feature of their play when on top form.
Instead, it was the visitors who showed the greater potency in front of goal as Jason Roberts led the Magpies' rearguard a merry dance, aided and abetted by the pacy Scott Dobie.
Robson's side had already been caught out on a couple of occasions when Nikos Dabizas and Laurent Robert failed to deal adequately with a loose ball deep inside their own penalty area after the Greek international had dispossessed Roberts on 27 minutes.
As they stood and watched, Balis made the most of his invitation too crash a low left-foot shot past Shay Given to give his side the lead against the run of play, but certainly not at odds with their use of the ball they had.
Newcastle stepped up a gear in the search for an equaliser, but got little change out of a back five supplemented at regular intervals by a hard-working midfield trio.
But it was the intervention of Mr Foy, who had earlier turned down penalty appeals from Dabizas and Solano and ignored Andy O'Brien's tug on Roberts' shirt as he homed in on goal, which handed them an opportunity to level.
The official ruled that Balis' touch on Solano's deep cross in the final minute of the half was a back-pass after Murphy picked the ball up, and when Solano rolled the ball to Shearer only seven yards out, there was only ever one likely outcome.
The home side returned after the break determined to make the most of their reprieve, but with Megson's side defending as if their lives depended on it, few clear-cut chances came their way.
Craig Bellamy, suspended for the game in Turin, was guilty of passing up a glorious opportunity to mark his return with a goal when he headed over from close-range on 48 minutes, and full-back Andy Griffin shot wide after linking well with Kieron Dyer.
The Welshman flashed another, better header just wide on 57 minutes, but Neil Clement's 64th-minute free-kick, which forced a good save from Given, served as a reminder that there was still a long way to go.
However, Newcastle finally got their noses in front with 69 minutes gone when Nolberto Solano climbed well at the far post to head a Gary Speed cross back across goal where Shearer pounced from point-blank range to make it 2-1.
The Baggies had their chances as time ticked away, substitute Lee Hughes forcing a good save from Given and Roberts firing wide after twisting his way through the home defence but the Magpies held out.