"When you play against the top sides you want to do much better and to do that you need to get your nose in front.

"The ref had to make a couple of major decisions in the first 50 minutes and they all went against us.

"The two penalty decisions were both quite similar in some respects. Bellamy was running through - he knows he can't be tackled or touched - he's in a very dangerous area.

And Jason Euell's not sure if he's touched him or if Mark Fish's touched him or if anyone's touched him - in the second half we were a little bit shy of going near him...

"Then Jonatan Johansson's gone in to the box with two Newcastle players chasing him. Both decisions, the referee was behind the play.

"In my opinion, he should have either given them both or not give them at all. Obviously we've come out the wrong end of it because he's given one and not the other. So we're very disappointed.

"When you're playing against the bigger teams you need things to go for you. But I don't want to take anything away from Newcastle because once they got in front they were the stronger side and with the week they've had...

"Once it was 2-0 it was very difficult for us, they've got great pace and they can really hit teams on the break. It was the prefect opportunity for Newcastle to go on and hurt us even more - thankfully they didn't.

"We tried to get ourselves back into the game and fashioned a couple of half chances but it wasn't going to happen.

"It was a big game for everybody. People have been talking about us and saying some nice things about us and we were really looking forward to it. Newcastle coming to town is one of the big games of the season, but it was always going to be tough.

"Our biggest problem today was that Mark Fish has been struggling all week with a bit of a knock and Rufus has been out for almost a month and he's not yet one hundred per cent. And with Bellamy and Shearer around, you need them both. We didn't cope with them too well today.

"It was a cheap booking that he (Young) gave away - there was no need for him to do it and that left him playing on a knife edge.

"And with people like Bellamy around, and Shearer was getting involved as he always does, one more tackle from Luke and it could've been a problem. That's why he came off because we didn't want to end up with ten men.

"But we're in a sad state of affairs if you can make two tackles and you're off in the Premiership. Perhaps I should give Mr Dunn a bit of credit.

"The nice thing for Newcastle is that no-one's taken notice of them but they've crept right into the frame with eight games to go. They have to be taken seriously: they've got a squad capable of winning the title.

"The combination of Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy was too good for us. We came up against Thierry Henry last week and Bellamy poses the same problems.

"Newcastle will always be a threat when they have someone like him about."

Dean Kiely added:

"The penalty was really disappointing because the lads didn't think there was a great deal in it. I think with Newcastle having played during the week we knew we'd have to come out of the traps and work really hard and I think we did that.

"But none of the big decisions in the game went for us and for all our hard work and endeavour there was no real reward at the end of it."

"It's fair to say that you know where the ball's going, but Shearer strikes them so true and so well that they find the bottom corner and it's very difficult to save. You have to give him credit for that.

"But we live to fight another day and the bigger picture is that we're doing okay - in the grand scheme of things we're going in the right direction.

"For us it's about progression. We want to progress and get better and keep raising the standards and if we do that we've got a chance and that's what we've got our eye on at the moment."
 

Bobby still remains undefeated in games post-Europe and we have finally posted a victory South of the Thames - our first since November 1997 at Palace. It was our first top-flight win over Charlton at The Valley since the 1955-56 season.

And that London record just gets better and better - since breaking the sequence last December at Highbury of 29 games without a victory within the M25, we've won 3 of the next 7 (Spurs twice, Charlton) and drawn at West Ham, sampling only defeat at Arsenal twice (one in FAC) and Chelsea. 

And after a poor first half of the season, our away points tally is starting to turn round:

1993/94: 31 points from 21 matches (9 wins, 4 draws, 8 defeats)
1994/95: 24 points from 21 matches (6 wins, 6 draws, 9 defeats)
1995/96: 26 points from 19 matches (7 wins, 5 draws, 7 defeats)
1996/97: 26 points from 19 matches (6 wins, 8 draws, 5 defeats)
1997/98: 15 points from 19 matches (3 wins, 6 draws, 10 defeats)
1998/99: 19 points from 19 matches (4 wins, 7 draws, 8 defeats)
1999/00: 17 points from 19 matches (4 wins, 5 draws, 10 defeats)
2000/01: 17 points from 19 matches (4 wins, 5 draws, 10 defeats)
2001/02: 32 points from 19 matches (9 wins, 5 draws, 5 defeats)
2002/03: 18 points from 15 matches (5 wins, 3 draws, 7 defeats)***

*** current season - in progress.

Alan Shearer went clear third in the list of United goal-getters with his 144th Newcastle goal and joined Peter Beardsley on 108 league goals. The penalty that he smashed in to open the scoring was our 600th Premiership goal, fittingly on Al's 200th league appearance for the club.

Craig Bellamy was in electrifying form on his 150th career league start (71 Norwich, 33 Coventry, 46 Newcastle.) All told, with sub appearances his league stats read 54 goals from 167 appearances.) 

Shay Given kept his 12th Premiership clean sheet of the season from 30 starts - the best total in the league.

We've now scored 22 league goals away from home to this season - 2 more than Manchester United.
 

Last word to Sky Sports on their Man of the Match Craig Bellamy:

"Temperamental, fiery, frequently mouthy but when he's on form like this you have to acknowledge another telling fact - he's simply one hell of a footballer."

Couldn't have put it better me'sel.

Biffa