However, a belated VAR call cut short the celebrations of the visitors - Watkins deemed offside by the narrowest of margins as he beat Martin Dubravka, having strayed forward as the original cross came in.

That was a second body blow to the L7 occupants clad in claret and blue, whose celebrations of the penalty refusal were soon to be rammed down their throats.

This time their cheers turned to boos and shouts of "f*ck VAR", as evidence of a prematurely-ignited smoke bomb drifted away in the breeze. Unlucky.

A game of remarkably few clear-cut scoring chances for either side was littered with injuries and stoppages; requiring five minutes of first half injury time and seven before the full time whistle sounded amid massive relief.

With Jamaal Lascelles missing due to illness, Fabian Schar completed 90 minutes but needed attention to both leg and head injuries before playing on.

Alongside the Swiss defender there was a bow for Dan Burn and he gave a towering performance for his boyhood team on what he later admitted was a dream come true.

Burn's devotion to the cause saw him clutching a strip of Tyrong Mings' shirt at one point during the second half, that he then casually chucked towards a fan behind the Leazes goal.

Thankfully he managed to not to mark the occasion with an own goal just before half time, unwittingly diverting John McGinn's low shot from distance a whisker away from the goal with Dubravka a helpless bystander. 

Matt Targett meanwhile looked on; ineligible to feature for his loan club against his parent one. His place at left back went to Javier Manquillo, but he struggled through the opening half with ankle injuries before expiring during first half added time and going off to make way for fit-again Paul Dummett.

The most concerning casualty was Trippier, who had shaken off calf injury concerns to play. He looked in some discomfort before the break and went to ground early in the second half before limping off after an innocuous-looking clearance - although the damage had come from an earlier stamp.

Speaking after the game, Howe confirmed that the full back had undergone an X-ray of his left foot and he was later seen clad in a protective boot. Confirmation followed the following day of a broken bone will keep Trippier out for an unspecified period - a deeply worrying development given the immediate impact that the player has made since arriving from Madrid.

Off the field, there were two separate incidents in the second half that both appeared to be medical emergencies: the game halting for a few moments for a stricken fan in the upper section of the Gallowgate to receive attention.

The final minutes of play meanwhile continued to a backdrop of medical staff attending an incident in the East Stand lower section, close to where a similar situation had unfolded during the Spurs home game back in October.

A long way short of a classic then - and to the uncommitted watcher, the second half was so stop-start as to be virtually unwatchable. After a weekend of results in our favour though, the only thing that really mattered was getting three points to maintain that all-important momentum.

Thankfully, a combination of tenacity and technology saw United through to victory, despite a clutch of enforced reorganisations. Oh, and Trippier of course. Get well soon - his loss a reminder that this is still Newcastle United, where nothing ever goes smoothly.

But you knew that.

Biffa