Having conceded a Wolves winner in the fourth minute of added time at Gallowgate last December, Newcastle shipped an even later goal at Molineux on Monday to deny them a priceless three points.

Ahead when Isaac Hayden beat Rui Patricio at his near post in the 56th minute, United looked to have held on for the victory when the allotted four extra minutes passed with their lead intact.

However, referee Graham Scott rightly played on - in part due to United making a replacement after the 90th minute - and when home substitute Adama Traore looped a cross to the back post, Willy Boly headed past Martin Dubravka from point blank range.

The protests on the field were muted, but Rafa Benitez was inevitably raging after full time - and replays of the incident highlighted that debutant Miguel Almiron was impeded out by the corner flag and Boly held down the Magpies goalkeeper before leaping himself.

Questions have to be asked over the lack of a flag for the Almiron incident from the linesman who was in close proximity, while the positioning of the referee well away from play also didn't help.

Decisions - or the lack of them - do little to dispel the persecution complex of toon fans, and the double twist here was that referee Scott was only too eager to blow his whistle when we last saw him, awarding a penalty at Anfield on Boxing Day after Mo Salah brushed up against Paul Dummett.

And Wolves goalscorer Boly of course evaded censure at Gallowgate in December when rearranging Ayoze Perez's face with his elbow - journalists going on the record after that to claim that the match officials apologised to Rafa Benitez for not acting properly.

Clad in their all-blue change kit and fielding the same line-up that lost by a single goal to Spurs, the visitors cancelled out the threat of an out-of-sorts home side in the opening 45 minutes with relative ease and soon shushed the home crowd.

When Fabian Schar's forward ball reached Hayden in the Wolves box and he beat the 'keeper with , the opportunity of a third away win of the campaign looked to have presented itself - albeit with over 30 minutes of normal time left to repel a side who had been in decent goalscoring form.

There was a first sighting of record buy Almiron, who replaced Christian Atsu and took up a similar role to the Ghanaian in support of Salomon Rondon. The Paraguayan showed some neat touches and searing pace in his introduction to the Premier League, also setting up Ayoze Perez to fire over the crossbar in a rare forward raid when 1-0 up.

Countless corners were repelled by a Magpies side for whom Sean Longstaff once again put in a monumental shift that belied his age and top-flight experience. His crucial intervention was enough to deter Matt Doherty from close range and when Raul Jimenez headed wide in front of goal late on, it appeared to be our night. 

Of course this club never do anything the easy way and although we remain undefeated on this ground in the Premier League, frustrations familiar from visits to Cardiff, Old Trafford, Vicarage Road and Wembley Stadium this season were evident once again at full time.

The point took Newcastle up one place into sixteenth, level with Cardiff City but ahead of the Bluebirds thanks to a vastly better goal difference.

Rafa and his squad will now travel to Spain for a training camp, before they face Huddersfield Town and Burnley at SJP in a pivotal four day period towards the end of the month. 

They do so in exactly the same position as a year ago, with increased selection options presenting themselves as the injury list begins to clear and something approaching optimism that they're on the right track despite tonight's disappointment.

Their destiny remains firmly in their own hands, but things would be a damn sight easier if they didn't keep letting points slip through their fingers....

Biffa