KEVIN Keegan and Sir John Hall were re-united at St James' Park yesterday so, at the final whistle, it was inevitable things would finish 4-3.

The one scoreline that encapsulates so much of what happened when the duo first combined to steer Newcastle to within a whisker of the Premiership title came back to haunt Keegan as he returned to Tyneside in his current role as Manchester City boss.

But the result no doubt cheered Hall as his face appeared on thousands of pamphlets distributed to campaign for a regional assembly.

Last week's Northern Echo poll showed that most of Tyneside is ambivalent to the issue of North-East governance - if providing kamikaze football like this was part of the assembly's remit, Hall's 'yes' camp would win by a landslide.

Keegan's five years as Newcastle boss will always be remembered for the 4-3 reverse at Liverpool that played such a pivotal role in the Magpies squandering a 12-point advantage over Manchester United in 1996.

And, after suffering in the Anfield dug-out eight years ago, Keegan bore the same haunted look on the St James' Park sidelines as Craig Bellamy adopted the role of Stan Collymore to snatch a dramatic 89th-minute winner that left the former England boss pointless.

The game had everything you could ever want from a Keegan production - dazzling goals, dizzying defending, debatable penalty decisions and a dramatic finale.

Even Robbie Elliott ended his four-year goalscoring drought to accompany Alan Shearer - the only other United player to have played under the current City boss - onto the scoresheet.

Elliott's 69th-minute header earned Newcastle a 3-2 lead after defensive errors, for so long United's Achilles heel under Keegan, had seen a two-goal advantage frittered away in less than ten minutes.

Shearer's spot-kick had followed Laurent Robert's opener but, after City equalised through the spellbinding Shaun Wright-Phillips and substitute Robbie Fowler, Elliott's glancing header looked to have made things safe.

Of course things are never safe where Newcastle are concerned, and Wright-Phillips enhanced his England prospects even further to level things again with 13 minutes left.

That was the cue for the most incredible of climaxes and, after the week he has just had, there was a certain inevitability about Bellamy claiming the winner.

The Wales international let his mouth do the talking in a training ground altercation with Graeme Souness on Tuesday, but his football said more than he could ever do yesterday as he cushioned Olivier Bernard's pass on his instep before directing a cool finish past David James.

Collymore's finish had broken United hearts under Keegan, but Bellamy's strike earned a standing ovation from Newcastle fans used to taking the rough with the smooth.

Incredibly, all seven goals came in a sensational second half that looked unlikely in the extreme after a subdued opening period.

With Steve McManaman performing a passable impression of a defensive midfield player, Newcastle's only first-half chance of note came when Robert's first gallop down the left flank ended with the ball dropping to Lee Bowyer after Shearer had tussled with Richard Dunne.

The former Leeds midfielder looked odds on to score from 12 yards out but, with time on his side, he sidefooted against Paul Bosvelt's heel. If the roles had been reversed, it is tempting to think that Shearer would have underlined the merits of power over precision to rather better effect.

Robert's influence had been sporadic to that point but, while the enigmatic wide man is always something of a luxury in the Premiership, his ability to conjure something out of nothing makes him as asset that cannot be spurned lightly.

Souness was sufficiently impressed with Robert's contribution in Athens to hand him the first domestic start of his reign and, three minutes after the break, the Frenchman repaid the compliment.

Bosvelt tripped Nicky Butt on the edge of the box and, while Robert's slip meant he finished up on the floor as he curled a left-footed free-kick over the wall, James remained resolutely erect as the ball flew into the top corner.

With City's defensive barrier finally breached, it took United just nine minutes to double their advantage.

Stephen Carr evaded opposite number Ben Thatcher for the first time in the game and, after McManaman narrowly failed in his attempt to bring him down, James sent the full-back sprawling as he arced away from goal.

The direction of Carr's run saved the keeper from an early dismissal, but the former England number one was powerless to prevent his side going two behind as Shearer stroked the spot-kick into the opposite corner to the one he found against Panionios last week.

A 2-0 lead under Keegan meant next to nothing and, while Souness places more of a premium on defensive matters, it seems that some things never change.

First, Wright-Phillips turned Elliott inside out before drilling a fierce low strike across Shay Given and into the same Leazes End net that he found for England in their St James' Park win over Ukraine.

Then, just three minutes later, Butt tripped Fowler after he had evaded Andy O'Brien, allowing the former Liverpool striker to end his lengthy goalscoring drought from the spot.

With the conservatism of the first half replaced by a return to Keeganesque laissez-faire, things remained level for less than 120 seconds before United regained the lead thanks to the unlikeliest of sources.

Elliott's last goal had come in a similarly crazy 4-3 win over Leeds so, on a day when just about anything was possible, it was somehow apt that his chicken dance celebration got an unexpected airing.

The 30-year-old glanced Robert's hanging free-kick onto the post, only for the ball to spin back over the line beyond Dunne's desperate goalline lunge.

Game over?

Not a bit of it, with Wright-Phillips scoring his second of the game with 13 minutes left.

Again Newcastle's defenders were their own worst enemies, with no-one dealing with Danny Mills' long throw into the box before Wright-Phillips drove through a crowd of bodies from 12 yards.

Substitute Willo Flood almost won it for City before, at the other end, Bellamy swooped. There might have been no flood but, on Keegan's return, the goals certainly rained.

Newcastle United 4 Manchester City 3.

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