Newcastle halted a run of four defeats with an welcome victory over Everton at St. James' Park on Sunday afternoon, despite falling behind after just five minutes.

A fifth goal in six games from Papiss Cisse levelled before half time, after which Ayoze Perez chalked up a fine fifth in our colours and Jack Colback got off the mark, tickling home what proved to be the winner as United closed the year with victory for the first time since back in 2002.

But when Toffees substitute Kevin Mirallas reduced the arrears with six minutes of normal time remaining, a sold out SJP were forced to endure a nerve-wracking final ten minutes before United collected all three points.

Looking to bounce back after a quartet of defeats that included the home derby loss, Alan Pardew's side made the worst possible start when Seamus Coleman took Aiden McGeady's pass and took advantage of Yoan Gouffran's hesitation to centre from the Everton right.

That cross was swept home by Arouna Kone for his first Toffees goal - and unlike the Ivorian's late winner for Wigan in 2013, there was only despair at our poor defending rather than outrage at a blatant handball. 

Unlike the last meeting of these sides at SJP in March though, Everton seemed unsure whether to stick or twist and allowed Newcastle to enjoy more possession than they've managed in recent weeks.

And although much of that was frustratingly slow and risk-free, territorial advantage did eventually turn into a goal threat - although our attempts at taking a corner kick were once again laughable. 

It was from one of those that referee Craig Pawson failed to spot Cisse reacting to Coleman's holding by elbowing the Ireland international in the face - but the incident didn't escape the attention of the TV cameras and he was promptly landed with a disciplinary charge and three game ban. 

Coleman was quickly back on his feet however and Cisse remained on the field to register his ninth goal of the season. A short corner routine between Colback and Cheick Tiote saw the latter clip a left wing centre towards the back post, to where Mike Williamson - one of three unmarked toon players - knocked it back for Cisse to steer a half-volley beyond Joel Robles from seven yards.

The second half continued with Newcastle looking the more dangerous and Jak Alnwick enjoying the quietest period of his fledgling first team career - his opposite number making a fingertip save to deny Gouffran.

That block came at the expense of a corner that Colback drilled over, only to be headed clear. Gouffran's block on the edge of the box though saw the ball arrive back at Colback and he prompted Daryl Janmaat to launch a speculative high ball back into the Everton box.

More poor defensive work from the visitors saw Colback and Janmaat force an error, Tiote collecting the ball in a central area and picking out Perez as he found space outside the Gallowgate End box.

Although quickly closed down by a trio of opponents, the Spaniard kept his composure and drove a grass cutter from 18 yards into the corner of the net - neatly threading the ball through the legs of Coleman. 

2-1 then became 3-1 on 68 minutes as Newcastle looked to have put the game beyond the visitors. 
Janmaat, Moussa Sissoko and Perez were all involved in the buildup down the United right before the full back pushed infield and to pick out Colback's run. 

Ross Barkley looked to have beaten him to it, only for the Everton substitute to then turn the ball into the path of Colback, allowing him to run on and poke it left-footed under Robles from the edge of the six yards box.    

In typical fashion, United were unable to retain that two goal cushion though and conceded when a through ball from Leighton Baines allowed Kevin Mirallas to gallop on between Janmaat and Coloccini and clip home as Alnwick raced to the edge of his area.

Handed an unexpected route back into the game in a mirror image of our last visit to Goodison, in truth the Toffees didn't really look like wiping the collective smile from Tyneside faces.

That was despite the lunacy of Tiote though, seemingly intent on completing a hat trick of assists by handing Everton a goal - one hare-brained attempt at dribbling out of defence followed up by ludicrously surrendering possession in the middle of the park.   

Coming forward on the counter attack, a cameo role for substitute Remy Cabella saw him cause confusion and Perez shoot against the base of the post - although Emmanuel Riviere was in an offside position when the rebound hit the French forward right in front of goal.  

The win was enough to put Newcastle back into the top half of the table, sitting tenth with 26 points collected at the halfway point in the season and leaving them on track to complete their allotted task his season: The club’s minimum target this season is to finish in the top 10 of the Premier League" (Fan Forum Sep 2014).

Within hours though, off-field events had overshadowed this result after it became clear that Alan Pardew had pushed through his desire to quit the club in favour of Crystal Palace.

Biffa