47mins Pedersen picked the ball up on the left, beat Milner and then thumped an unstoppable shot right-footed shot into the top left of Shay Given's goal. 2-1

90+3mins With Rovers pressing for a late equaliser, 'keeper Friedel had come forward for a corner and when the ball broke to N'Zogbia, he played it up to Obafemi Martins on the halfway line. Oba skipped past one challenge and then had Robbie Savage on the run before passing the ball into an empty net to seal the victory and embarking on an elaborate celebration.... 3-1

Full time: Blackburn Rovers 1 Newcastle 3

Glenn Roeder said:

"We had to work hard, but the win was thoroughly deserved.

"The first half was excellent we took the game to Blackburn. Martins' opening goal was unstoppable, but he always scores goals like that in training.

"The red card for Stephane Henchoz was deserved. Rules are the rules, he was the last man.

"Some people haven't been too complimentary about Oba so far, and I have warned them to be careful. When he comes good, he is going to score a lot of goals in this league.

"He's lightning over those first ten or 12 yards, and he'll leave most central defenders trailing in his wake.

"Gallas and Toure is arguably as good as centre-half pairing as there is in the league, but he gave them an awful lot of trouble with his pace.

"Since then, he's really moved forward. He's getting better and better and I'm sure we'll see plenty more goals from him between now and the end of the season. Some of them will be spectacular, because his first strike was typical of what we see most days in training.

"As a defender, you have to make a decision. You have to decide, 'Do I let you go so I stay on the field and take a chance that the keeper makes the save, or do I make a tackle?' You know that if you get it wrong, you're going to be sent off. He obviously made the wrong decision."

Shay Given added:

"It was always going to take Oba time, and we have to be understanding of that. But I think he's shown in the last couple of games that it's all starting to come together. We've all seen it in training, but it can only help that he's getting the goals on the pitch now as well.

"It was only a matter of time before that started to happen, but the longer that he went without scoring, the lower that his confidence was probably going to go. That's just the way it is for strikers, and I'm sure it's true of all of them.

"Now he's scored three goals in two games, I'm sure he's on a massive high. He's very difficult to defend against when he's playing like that because not only has he got the pace, he's also very powerful as well.

"Now, he's got the finisher's touch to go along with that and, when you put it all together, it's a pretty exciting package."

Debutant Paul Huntington said:

"It was pleasing to get on but more importantly we got a good result. Obviously I am delighted to get my debut. It went well.

"I have been waiting in the last six or seven games dying to get on, it's good to get a result but from a personal note I am pleased too.

"With the injuries I also felt I might get a chance eventually. I am just happy to be involved.

"We are on a good roll now which is even more pleasing despite the injuries.

Mark Hughes whinged (incorrectly on all three decisions):

"Stephane won the ball in the air and as he came down he clipped the back of Martins' heels.

"The ball was going away from the goal. So how the referee can give the sending off?

"For the first goal, when the ball was played forward, he (Martins) was offside.

"The second was even more offside because if you look at it again Taylor is standing in an offside position when the ball goes out wide and is crossed into the box.

"It breaks to him and he scores the goal, so surely he is interfering with play. You cannot get more interfering than by scoring a goal.

"I had a chat with (referees' chief) Keith Hackett for a couple of hours this week. He was explaining the first phase, second phase rule to me, and if I am right then Taylor was offside.

"I thought we were magnificent in the second half. We asked real questions of them and I thought we showed magnificent determination to get something out of the game.

"It was a fantastic goal and it always looked as if we were the team with the extra guy.

"I think their only shot on target in the second half was the third goal, which was into an empty net, so I think that shows how well we did in the second half.

"I thought we showed great character in trying circumstances."

On the ground where Alan Shearer built the goalscoring reputation that ultimately persuaded us to part with  £15m for him, his successor in Newcastle's number nine shirt enhanced his own standing with a well-taken brace.

It seems a long time since Obafemi Martins was introduced to the SJP crowd, but three months on from his scarf-twirling non-playing entrance at the Ventspils game, he was deservedly applauded by the Toon crowd in a similar manner.  

Two games in four days have seen that solitary early strike at West Ham and the pair at home to Tallin joined by a penalty conversion and two sharp shots to give us a more tangible return on our investment - and head off at least one line of potential questioning at next week's AGM. 
 
Whether Roeder would have kept faith with Martins had he had any real choices in the striking department is a question that thankfully doesn't have to be asked. He's played himself in and that penalty conversion against Reading seems to have boosted his confidence levels vastly. 

The flashes of talent that were evident against Arsenal were shown on a more sustained basis again today - and perhaps significantly his foil/saviour Dyer wasn't present this time. 

Two ahead at the interval, the dismissal of Henchoz merely capped an awful half for Rovers, who seemed to have sited most of John Lennon's infamous "4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" immediately in front of Brad Friedel.

Despite their UEFA Cup progress and their manager's positive profile, many home fans had voted with their feet by not bothering to turn up at all. And of those who were there, police had to intervene as pro and anti Lucas Neill factions fell out with each other in the stand.

(if you've not been following this one, the Australian defender and Rovers captain was set to switch to Anfield in August but the deal fell through. And while he's not gone down the Paul Ince shirt-wearing road, he's done everything bar sing "Ferry across the Mersey" on the club karaoke night out since then to give the impression of wanting to room with Bellamy again).

However it's as well to retain a sense of proportion when watching our lot -  we surely weren't the only ones to mention or at least think about that 4-0 up, 5-5 draw at Loftus Road twenty years ago during the half time interval...

And when former Toon target Pedersen instantly gave his side a toehold in the game with a howitzer of a strike, it merely confirmed suspicions that this one wasn't quite put to bed yet.

Despite some Hughes-inspired hoofings though, we held out despite suffering yet more injury woes. Given once again earned his money and new boy Huntington came on to make a timely late contribution as we withstood a late flurry from Rovers, before rounding things off in style.

Butt again was simply outstanding - his relief at coming to his senses and escaping from the clutches of Steve Bruce obvious. And around him there were a number of other noteworthy displays, Sibierski once again running himself to a standstill in the cause.  

Some things don't change here - the weather tends to be bloody miserable and the floodlights normally come on by the time the Captains are getting their photo taken. 

There's also normally some divot on the home side who we taken exception to due to historical divisions - David Speedie was always a popular choice (with his popular wife), while ex-Mags from Howard Gayle to Andy Cole and Keith Gillespie to Craig Bellamy have also had some-tongue lashings from the Darwen End.

Today though the punters were spoiled, with a pair of blonde bombsites on display - Michael Gray and Lily Savage, neither of whom appear to have lowered their self-opinions, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  

However it has to be said that both were eclipsed in the rottenness stakes today by Shabani Nonda, an alleged striker from the Congo on loan from Roma. 

Coming from a long line of striking duck eggs to have pitched up here - Coraddo Graddi, Egil Østenstad, George Donis, Martin Dahlin etc. etc - this bloke was just dreadful and didn't reappear for the second half, presumably having failed to find the home dressing room.....  

With both sides on the same points total before kickoff and suffering similar injury woes, it was easy to paint parallels between the two - especially given the fact that both managers were welcomed (initially at least) simply because they weren't Graeme Souness.

But there is a vast difference between them - they've won silverware in living memory, while we continue to fill our ground via a mixture of promises, devotion, expectation and daftness. There's a pressure playing in front of 50,000 but surely that's preferable to turning out in front of the handful who routinely attend here?

This is precisely the sort of thoroughly mediocre side that has to be beaten on our long road back to respectability - and it's always enjoyable to see the likes of Hughes appearing with their post-match pet lip. There's nothing more grating than a manager who never gives credit to the opposition.

After a good week we've suddenly found daylight between ourselves and the sides at the bottom, but the margin for error remains slight. Defeat today would have had us right back in the mire, with its attendant doom-mongering and internal division.  

Not for the first time recently though, we looked as if we just wanted to win more - for that Roeder has to be applauded, along with getting a side out who stick to their task despite seemingly endless obstacles appearing. 

Keep on the sunny side - and get them early Xmas presents bought; never mind bloody bath salts, you just know your auntie Mary wants to cheer us on against Chelsea in the Carling Cup.... 

Biffa

PS - Special to mention to birthday boy JJ (no, not that one) - Jordan Jones, 13 today. 

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