REFEREE Paul Durkin last night admitted he was wrong not to award Newcastle United a first-half penalty that could have seen the Magpies claim their first win at Old Trafford for 32 years.

A stray back pass by Gary Neville just before the half hour was seized on by Alan Shearer and, as the Newcastle United captain slipped the ball away from Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard, he had his ankles clipped by the American.

Shearer's fall, however, was slightly delayed which appeared to place some doubt in the Dorset referee's mind.

He waved away determined protestations from Shearer and his teammates, but after the game Durkin was in no doubt he got it wrong.

"I've seen the incident on TV and and Newcastle can count themselves unlucky," said Durkin.

"If I had seen it from a better angle I would have given it. On the slow motion replay it does look a penalty."

Durkin, however, was in no doubt he got it right when ruling out French defender Mikael Silvestre's second-half effort for a foul on Andy O'Brien.

The Frenchman was on the end of a Man. United corner on 66 minutes, but was adjudged to have impeded O'Brien before firing home.

Durkin said; "I'd blown long before the ball ended up in the net. Silvestre clearly had a hold of the Newcastle player."

The result of the two decisions saw Newcastle earn a point, and keep their third clean sheet in a row. The draw for the Red Devils puts them ahead of Arsenal at the top by a point.

Sir Bobby Robson, however, was in no mood to blame the referee for costing his side all three points.

He said: "I suppose it evened itself out. It was more of a case of 1-1 (in decisions) than 0-0.

"But it seemed that it should have been a penalty. The decision on the Man. United goal went in our favour so I suppose we got lucky there."

The Newcastle manager was delighted with his side's third clean sheet in a row - a run that has coincided with Jonathan Woodgate's return to first-team duty.

He said: "The defence was very good. The two centre-backs have covered well and the two full-backs have also covered well.

"I think other than at Chelsea when we lost 5-0, we've never been beaten by more than one goal this season.

"Jonathan Woodgate's back and that is a big plus for us. He's got into Van Nistelrooy and shackled him well.

"He (Woodgate) is good on the ground and in the air.

"He had a double hernia operation two month ago. He had a couple of rusty games when he came back and then he looked great before he tore a hamstring.

"He was out for three weeks and now he's back playing very well."

Robson also had praise for Andy O'Brien who came into the back four at the expense of Titus Bramble.

The former Bradford centre-back took a couple of whacks to his face in the first half, appearing to lose consciousness at one point, but was outstanding as Man. United pressed for the winner after the break,

Robson said: "Titus took a whack and had a bit of a haematoma on Wednesday.

"There was no need to risk him with Andy O'Brien available so we didn't.

"Andy's come in and took a whack in the mouth and on the nose. He was superb in the second half. Our medical team did a great job just to get him out there."

Robson also believed Man. United could overcome the loss of Rio Ferdinand, who is expected to begin his eight-month ban for failing to take a drug test later this month.

Ferdinand again impressed at the heart of the Red Devils' defence yesterday, and is yet to make a final decision on whether to appeal against the FA ban that will rule him out of the Euro 2004 finals.

Robson said: "He's a very big player and he will be a very big miss to Sir Alex.

"They can cope. One thing I do know is they're not getting Jonathan Woodgate!"

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