Obafemi Martins and Peter Lovenkrands climbed off the substitutes' bench to hand Alan Shearer a first victory and Newcastle a Barclays Premier League lifeline with a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough.

The Nigeria international struck within seconds of replacing Michael Owen with 20 minutes of a pulsating encounter remaining and the Dane secured the points with four minutes left to drag the Magpies out of the relegation zone and send Hull into the bottom three.

 

 Shearer savours breakthrough win

 

It was Newcastle's first home win since December 21 and just their second anywhere in 18 attempts in what Shearer had described as the biggest match of his career, and he celebrated accordingly on the final whistle.

But opposite number Gareth Southgate could have few complaints about the effort his players put in as they fought for their top-flight lives to the death, although their plight now looks desperate after an 11th successive away league defeat.

They had taken a third-minute lead when the unfortunate Habib Beye bundled the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Steve Harper had blocked Tuncay Sanli's close-range shot.

However, defender Steven Taylor levelled within six with a bullet header after Boro old boy Mark Viduka had hit the post on a night when both sides enjoyed spells of control in front of a passionate crowd of 51,252.

Owen, who admitted his disappointment at being dropped for the trip to Liverpool last time out in his programme notes, returned to the starting line-up in one of five changes as Shearer went for broke.

However, with Boro also having reached the point of no return, Southgate too adopted an attacking approach with record signing Afonso Alves partnering Marvin Emnes in attack as the Dutchman was handed a first league start, and Stewart Downing lined up on the right in an attempt to test makeshift full-back Damien Duff.

The first goal arrived within three minutes of the kick-off, but for Shearer, it came at the wrong end and with a good deal of misfortune.

Tuncay turned well on Alves' pass, but looked to have overrun the ball.

He got there just ahead of the fast-advancing Harper, who blocked, only to see the rebound ricochet back off Beye and into his own net.

Newcastle's luck did not improve at all three minutes later when Viduka blasted a shot towards Brad Jones' top corner, but with the goalkeeper looking on helplessly the ball cannoned back off the post.

But if there was any sense of despondency at St James' it disappeared with nine minutes gone when Taylor rose to meet the first of a series of Danny Guthrie corners and guided a header past Jones.

The home side took the game by the scruff of the neck and Jones had to pull off a vital fingertip save to keep out Owen's flicked 27th-minute header.

But Boro gradually eased their way into the game and with Downing and Tuncay prospering on the wings and Emnes causing all kinds of problems to stretch the Magpies defence, they threatened to restore their lead.

They very nearly did just that when the Dutchman benefited from Mohamed Shawky's tackle on Viduka deep inside his own half and blasted in a shot which Harper blocked with his legs, and the striker wastefully dragged the loose ball wide.

Alves later departed on a stretcher to be replaced by Marlon King, but the game was very much in the melting pot as the players headed for the dressing room.

Viduka might have put the home side ahead with the cheekiest of efforts when he back-heeled Beye's 46th-minute cross wide of the far post, and Nicky Butt drilled a free-kick into the defensive wall as the Magpies started brightly once again.

But Boro's response was concerted and as the home side completely lost both their shape and concentration, it took an excellent save from Harper to keep out Gary O'Neil's goal-bound 57th-minute strike.

The Teessiders were by now looking the more likely to break the deadlock, and Shearer decided the time had come to replace Jonas Gutierrez with Lovenkrands.

But it was Martins' arrival as a 70th-minute substitute for Owen which proved the turning point.

Viduka headed on a high ball past Kevin Nolan and the Nigerian stepped inside Matthew Bates before dispatching the ball past Jones despite slipping as he shot.

The noise inside St James' almost lifted the roof, although the game was far from over as the home fans settled down for an agonising finish.

But Lovenkrands calmed the nerves with four minutes remaining when he thumped home Nolan's cross to seal a win as important as any in the club's recent history.

 

 

Shearer savours breakthrough win After the match Shearer ordered his players to enjoy their victory in the biggest match of his career - but not for too long. He said: "I have just said to them, 'Enjoy this tonight, enjoy that winning feeling. You have worked your socks off to get it, now it's in our hands'. "I said to them before, 'It's been a good weekend, let's go and make it a great one tonight with the right result'. "It's been a great weekend for us - but there are another two weekends to come. "It's the first game of three. We asked them to go out and get three points, they have done that. "They were magnificent under difficult circumstances. They have got now to go and do that again on Saturday, enjoy that winning feeling and hopefully, there's another one there on Saturday. "But it will be just as tough because Fulham are flying themselves." Shearer added: "I have just said, 'Enjoy it, enjoy it lads because we have been in that bottom three for a long time. Enjoy being out of it and let's make sure we are not back in there again'. "I really believe we will [stay up], but we have won one game. "Let's enjoy this tonight, but we are back in tomorrow and preparing for Saturday. "There is still a long way to go. I don't want to sound negative, but it's one win. We have got to get another two and make sure we are safe." Boro manager Gareth Southgate, who lost record signing Afonso Alves to a suspected broken bone in his foot, was left to reflect on key decisions which went against his side in the run-up to Martins' strike. He said: "For them to lose in manner we did having gone ahead is very difficult for all of us to take. It's a tough evening for everyone associated with our football club. "The players gave everything, but unfortunately, key events on the night went against us. "The second goal, looking at the television pictures, I thought at the time it was a foul on [Robert] Huth by Viduka, but it was also offside. "It then dropped straight to their guy - they are key things and unfortunately, they didn't go for us."