8 mins Jonas Gutierrez threaded the ball into the Gallowgate penalty area to Michael Owen, who slotted home a low shot for the opener.  1-0

24 mins Geremi sprayed a great ball out from central midfield to Obafemi Martins down the left, who supplied the perfect low cross for Michael Owen to knock the ball in at the back post. He collided with the upright in doing so, but thankfully avoided injury 2-0

Half time: Newcastle 2 City 0

60 mins A classically simple long-ball goal, as Sidibe beat Bassong to flick on Sorensen's long kick to Fuller. The sub steered his way round Coloccini and slipped the ball across the six yard line, for the unmarked Sidibe to ghost past Taylor and rifle home. 2-1

90 mins Cacapa's poor header played Bassong into trouble down near the touchline on the Stoke right. The slightest of contact by the Frenchman on Fuller had the adjacent linesman flagging and indicating an elbow in the back of a visiting player. Glenn Whelan drove the free kick over, with Danny Higginbotham's flick on putting it at the feet of Abdoulaye Faye - right in front of goal.

The former Toon defender swept home a right footed shot from six yards - with Gutierrez failing to block with a last-ditch lunge - before setting off on a celebratory run, finger pressed to his lips.

JFK was rightly incensed by the free kick decision and sent to the stands, later collecting another FA charge to go with the one for Fulham he has to answer this week. 2-2

The travelling fans summed it up nicely at the end - and in language familiar to our manager - with choruses of "2-0 and you f***ed it up."

That was interspersed with their now-traditional airing of "Delilah" - although switching to another Tom Jones hit would have more fitting - "It's Not Unusual" or "Just Help Yourself" coming to mind...

Those who came expecting to see United return to winning ways meanwhile left bewildered, having been served up equal measures of competent entertainment and brainless buffoonery - Half Toon show, half Goon show, if you will.

And while the Potters left praising Pulis for his tactics, they may also reflect that the ease with which they repelled United after the break meant that they should have constructed an equaliser far earlier than in the last seconds - those fabled long throws being less effective than free kicks today.

They could even have emulated Hull in making SJP the venue of their first-ever Premier League away win, had their manager brought Ricardo Fuller into the fray any earlier, having given the home side a two-goal start as his own team struggled to adjust to their changes.

As it was, The Magpies played out a fourth successive draw, letting slip a 2-1 lead at home in the closing stages of the game for the third time this season. 

In an echo of the last home game against Wigan, the goal that turned three vital points into just one came thanks to a close-range effort from a discarded defender. Titus Bramble had left us red-faced last time and today it was the Late Show - starring fellow ex-Mag, Abdoulaye Faye.

After successive 0-0 draws on the road, JFK had vowed to go for the jugular from the first whistle and his team took that instruction to heart, Michael Owen netting twice in the easiest 45 minutes we've played this season.

Stoke simply weren't in it, and it looked to be merely a question of how many we were going to score, with United even managing to serve up a decent corner for once - 44 minutes, N'Zogbia.

That all changed after the break though, with the absence of a hamstrung Nicky Butt compounded when Danny Guthrie failed to reappear for the second half with a hip problem. 

With no midfielders on the bench, that forced JFK to switch Gutierrez into the centre, Habib Beye pushing forward down the right flank and Steven Taylor coming on behind him.

But even that reshuffle couldn't excuse the lack of ambition as we seemingly looked to absorb pressure and hope that the pace of Owen and Martins would expose the Potters' back line. 

Stoke woke up to the fact that we were sitting on our backsides and boosted their attack with an extra body from the bench, halving the arrears almost instantly. Steven Taylor had intervened shortly after the break to foil one attack, but that warning wasn't heeded. 

Having elected to try and stonewall the game for 30 minutes through to a conclusion, Martins was again sacrificed, removing any semblance of pace or threat from our attack and exacerbating theories that we're not actually fit enough to play the full 90+ minutes.

Thus invited to push us back into our own half, Stoke duly obliged and the nerves of the home crowd were echoed by that of the team, as possession was gifted away time and time again.

Abdoulaye Faye had already missed a last minute opportunity when Given's punched clearance was played back in. But when a second chance presented itself within the first seconds of the five minutes of added time, he duly obliged.

So, another one of those draws that seem like a defeat and further evidence that with the minimum of injuries in a particular area, we're short-handed and lacking adequate replacements.

Noises are being made about January acquisitions, but like the sale of the club, actions speak louder than words. And after all, the last stab these lot had at bringing in reinforcements backfired badly with Gonzalez and Xisco. 

JFK may now share our belief that the world (and officialdom) is against us, but his attempt at a siege mentality is only being partially successful up to this point. 

Quite simply at this point, our attempts at seeing games out are failing too often for comfort. Some of the players may have changed, but the problems that frustrated the dreaded Allardyce remain evident. 

All we can really do is plod on, trying to tighten up and retain our belief. In what exactly, we're not sure.

Biffa