90 mins: Steve Watson supplied a party-piece throw-in which dropped into the Gallowgate End box and saw Alan Shearer take a tumble. Alan Wilkie indicated a spot kick and although Beardsley put his first effort over the bar, he retook successfully it after some encroachment had been spotted. 1-3

Full time: Newcastle 1 Celtic 3

Arthur Cox said:
 
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Independent match report:

They came to pay tribute to Peter Beardsley at St James' Park last night. And they came to pay homage to Kevin Keegan.

The Tyneside ground was jammed to its 36,000 capacity for Beardsley's benefit match in which Celtic beat Peter Beardsley Select 3-1. And, while the Toon Army duly honoured the local lad who became one of Newcastle United's all-time greats, they worshipped Keegan with Messianic devotion.

Chants of "Keegan! Keegan!" boomed round the ground as Fulham's chief operating officer took the field to replace Paul Gascoigne for the final 20 minutes. He failed to hit the target, but the decibel count hit the roof as the Toon Army celebrated the cavalier days of old.

It was only to be expected. It was, after all, the first time Keegan had returned to St James' since the breakdown of his Newcastle United dream two years and three weeks ago.

Having led Newcastle from the clutches of the old Third Division to the brink of the Premiership title, he left because of the club's imminent stock market flotation. "Once the football became of secondary importance I had no interest in staying," he said.

And Newcastle United have not been the same since, as the Toon Army were lamenting last night. Still awaiting the arrival of sexy soccer, Ruud- style, they were given a tantalising glimpse of the fantasy football of old.

The dream team assembled around Beardsley included colleagues from the beloved cavalier side that Keegan built - Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, and Steve Watson - and from the Newcastle team in which he played alongside Keegan in the 1980s, Chris Waddle and Paul Gascoigne.

Beardsley's squad also included, ironically, Kenny Dalglish and Paul Dalglish, both of whom happen to be at odds with the present regime at St James' Park.

Dalglish Snr is in dispute with his former employers over the terms of his departure five months ago. And Dalglish Jnr has become the focal point for dissension within the ranks of Ruud Gullit's squad, the senior members having taken exception to his sudden disappearance from the first-team picture.

For Dalglish Snr there was also the chance to take on, if not take over, the club in whose colours he became Beardsley's boyhood hero.

And green and white was almost as prominent as black and white, the travelling Celts having literally brought Newcastle to a halt when draping an Irish tricolour across the Tyne Bridge en route to St James' Park.

They made their presence noisily felt inside the ground too, jeering Gascoigne's every touch, chanting Beardsley's name and celebrating as though their team was about to win some kind of British title after a Darren Peacock own goal, a Lubomir Moravcik piledriver and an 86th-minute tap-in by Mark Burchill emphasised their superiority on a carnival night.

The Dalglishs made a joint entrance midway through the second-half, but the third Newcastle manager in attendance merely waved to the crowd at half-time.

Gullit happens to be suffering from flu, as well as a bad side, and in the latter regard his recovery will not have been helped by confirmation from Milan that Taribo West will not be moving to Tyneside.

For Beardsley, who scored with a twice-taken penalty two minutes from time, it will be back to the Third Division basement on Saturday with Hartlepool at Rochdale - from the spotlight to Spotland. For Keegan, it will be back to the Second Division promotion trail with a home game for Fulham against Northampton.

"I'm pleased that tonight has given me a chance to say goodbye to the Toon Army," he said. "It closes a chapter in my life in the nicest possible way because the Newcastle supporters are fantastic people."

Glasgow Herald match report:

Celtic fans got most of what they came for at St James' Park last night as they saw their team defeat Peter Beardsley's Newcastle select, witnessed a goal from the man the night was designed to honour, and caught a glimpse of Kenny Dalglish in action alongside his son, Paul.

They also saw Kevin Keegan arrive to a hero's welcome for the last 14 minutes - and were even given the good news after the game that central defender Marc Rieper's toe injury may not keep him out of action as long as first feared. However, they did not see the sight they had hoped to - that of the hero of the night, Beardsley himself, switching sides to wear a Celtic jersey.

Beardsley has always insisted that Celtic are a club for which he wanted to play and, even if only for a few minutes last night, the 5000-plus Celtic supporters would have welcomed him as one of their own. Still, they were able to look back at the three goals that gave them victory, one an own goal from Darren Peacock, the second a glorious strike from Lubomir Moravcik, then a third from Mark Burchill three minutes from time.

The good news about Danish World Cup defender Rieper was delivered later, when it was revealed that he will go through an operation on his injured toe this weekend. Last week there had been fears that the player's career was in danger and that he might even require a partial amputation.

Last night, however, it was stressed that the operation will see him have his toe ''shaved'' and there are hopes that he will be back playing before the end of the season. He may be ready for first team action in March.

There were 36,000 fans packed into St James' Park to salute Beardsley when his select side, studded with players from his former clubs, faced Celtic. Before the game, the 5000-plus Parkhead supporters had heard over the loud-speaker that Beardsley had asked for Celtic to provide the opposition - and had insisted he wanted no-one else.

That should have put them in party mood - and it did so, except when Paul Gascoigne was in possession, when their old enemy was jeered with every touch of the ball he had. However, the former Rangers midfielder dismissed it as ''a bit of banter''.

Said Gascoigne: ''The Celtic supporters helped to make the night special. They were giving me some stick, but I expected that. At one stage they were singing about stopping the 10-in-a-row and I reminded them they still had nine to go.''

Still, it was a night for the Celtic support to savour as they took the lead after only three minutes and then were able to add to that goal before half-time came.

Celtic approached the testimonial in the same way as they have always approached these games. They were competitive, they were professional, and they were there to maintain the club's reputation.

After just three minutes, they were in front after Henrik Larsson broke clear down the right. He left his marker trailing behind him and then cut the ball across the face of the goal.

It struck Vidar Riseth and bounced on. Peacock attempted to clear but could only send the ball past Shaka Hislop for an own goal. It took the all-stars some time to recover from that blow.

Indeed, in 23 minutes, Celtic were the team who struck again. This time the goal came from Lubomir Moravcik.

He picked up a ball a few yards outside the penalty box, looked up and then curled a glorious shot out of the reach of Hislop and into goal. How the Celtic fans celebrated.

It was half-time before Beardsley's team were able to threaten the Scottish side's goal - and then it was the man himself with a snap shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Jonathan Gould.

The Select side made four changes at the start of the second half, with Pavel Srnicek, of Sheffield Wednesday, taking over in goal and Steve Watson (Aston Villa), Chris Waddell, and Newcastle's own Alan Shearer being brought into the action.

Celtic, not to be left behind, made the same number of substitutions, with Dr Jozef Venglos clearly using the match to allow some of his squad players a run in first-team action. Gould, Stephane Mahe, Moravcik, and Harald Brattbakk all went off to be replaced by Tony Warner, Tosh McKinlay, Simon Donnelly, and Burchill.

The substitutions continued, with Southampton's John Beresford replacing Steve Howey.

Then, in 61 minutes, Waddell tried a shot from long range that flew high and wide as the select team simply could not find a way through.

After 67 minutes, one of the substitutions that the fans had been waiting for took place when former Celtic player Dalglish appeared along with his son, Paul, now of Newcastle as John Barnes and Beresford went off. The father and son were given a rapturous reception from both sets of fans, to be followed another former United manager, Keegan.

Beardsley's team came closest to scoring as the veterans appeared, with Dalglish forcing a shot past the post soon after he took the field. The game ended with the select side having 13 men on the field but still seemingly unable to give Beardsley the goal that would have crowned his night.

That was until the dying seconds after David Hannah brought down Shearer in the penalty box. The kick was awarded and Beardsley blazed it over the bar, only for the referee to order a retake, from which the former England man finally scored.

Biffa