Toon title dream lives on as youth has its day at St James

Quietly, Newcastle still dream. Cruelly they put Blackburn to the sword with a peppering of goals in the dying minutes and moved, temporarily at least, to within three points of the top. A tilt at the title may be a pipe dream, but it is still alight.

"One game more played, one less to play," Sir Bobby Robson said philosophically. "Still seven games to go, 21 points, Manchester United to come here. We have nothing to lose."

Blackburn though, were within a goal of a point until Newcastle's young legs accelerated away from them in the last five minutes and, if Dwight Yorke had accepted some of his early chances, they might even have scored five against Newcastle for the second time in the season.

"It will appear in the papers as 5-1 but I don't think it was," Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness, said. "For 75 minutes we gave them a game, but for the last 15 we had too many players not doing their jobs."

He added: "It is still very much game on for the title [for Newcastle]. The people here don't talk about it, but privately they think they can win the Championship."

Newcastle have now won all 22 of the League games that have followed a European adventure under Robson, but Yorke should have destroyed that record within the first 20 minutes. Had he been more lively he would have forced home Hakan Sukur's knockdown before Shay Given's brave intervention. Had he been more sure-footed he would have prevented Given from kicking the ball from his toe and had he been more aware he would have heard Keith Gillespie screaming before he shot limply at Given.

All of which awoke Newcastle and Laurent Robert. In the 24th minute he performed a 720-degree pirouette to shake off Martin Taylor and just as his team-mates were tiring of his selfish spinning he lofted a delightful ball to the back post where Nolberto Solano scored with a simple header.

The game though didn't come alive fully until after the break. Craig Bellamy shanked a shot horribly wide after an expansive Newcastle move and then Damien Duff dashed 40 yards on to Yorke's pass but failed to find the target. With a 25-yard swinging free-kick, Robert almost hit the target, but the ball bounced off the post. Then, with the half not even 10 minutes old, Titus Bramble up-ended David Dunn and became referee Neale Barry's 100th booking of the season. Tugay's free-kick rebounded to Duff who slammed a classical 25-yard volley to equalise.

Five minutes later at the other end, Vratislav Gresko disputed a free-kick and so upset Mr Barry that he became his 101st victim – and the kick was moved to the edge of the area. It was perfectly positioned for Robert and this time the Frenchman scooted it low around the wall and into the net.

Enter Andrew Cole and St James' was in uproar – even before the departing Yorke had a long, fingerpointing discussion in the technical area with Souness about the merits of the substitution.

"We play spasmodically," Robson said. "We had spells of great play and were brilliant, and then spells when we looked weary." In a weary spell, Cole had plenty of the sort of half-chances that this ground has seen him convert in the past, but Newcastle's extraordinarily cruel spell began in the 85th minute when substitute Jermaine Jenas, who is expected to be named in his first competitive England squad today, side-footed home.

Crueller still, Gresko then steered Kieron Dyer's cross into his own net before Bellamy completed the cruelty on the final whistle when he met Hugo Viana's cross to score his first goal since 18 January.

Newcastle United 5
Solano 24, Robert 61, Jenas 85, Gresko og 89, Bellamy 90

Blackburn Rovers 1
Duff 54

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 52,106