THE 51,115 crowd at St. James' Park on Saturday were aware Newcastle United needed to take all three points from struggling Ipswich Town.

And when Magpies skipper Alan Shearer had the chance to secure just that when his side were awarded a 93rd minute penalty, there will have been few betting against the former England man. And why would they?

Shearer is a man who prides himself on his performances, a man who is always among the Premiership's top-scorers and a man who rarely misses from 12 yards.

The striker has, of course, failed to convert penalties in the past but he always bounces back and never ducks stepping up and taking another.

Only five minutes before the incident Shearer had headed in Newcastle's second equaliser of the match, so the 31-year-old walked up to the spot full of confidence.

So what went wrong for the former Blackburn and Southampton man? The man himself tried to find an excuse but failed.

"It was a rubbish pen," said Shearer, who pulled his kick wide of Matteo Sereni's right-hand post.

"I might have slipped to be honest. I will have to see it again.

"It was a garbage pen. One of the worst I've ever hit."

In Ipswich manager George Burley's eyes justice was done.

The Tractor Boys had twice gone in front with two from forward Marcus Bent, only for Newcastle to pull the game back level.

And with time running out, former Sunderland defender Chris Makin was adjudged to have pushed Clarence Acuna, making his 50th appearance, to the floor inside the area.

Ipswich were stunned as referee Mike Riley pointed to the spot, while Newcastle celebrated what they thought was going to prove to be the match-winner.

Then Shearer's usual sharpness in front of goal disappeared for a moment and, as the ball rebounded off the advertising hoarding behind the goal, Mr Riley blew for the final whistle leaving everyone at St. James' in disbelief.

Newcastle boss Bobby Robson, taking on the club that he guided to UEFA Cup success back in 1981, described skipper Shearer's day as a "strange one".

A minute before half-time Shearer had a superb lob over Sereni disallowed for a foul on Ipswich defender John McGreal, as the pair competed for the ball.

And then on 71 minutes the Newcastle marksman had another effort ruled out; this time Riley blew for a push on Makin as Shearer rose to head in a Nolberto Solano cross.

All this before what happened in the final five minutes, but the £15m man disagreed with a couple of the Leeds official's decisions.

"I can understand the second one being disallowed, but for the life of me the first one I can't," said Shearer, who had not scored for five games.

"It's a contact sport. We've both come together.

"If the defender is allowing the ball to run out for a goal-kick then it's not a foul."

He added: "We didn't do enough to win the game although we could've and should've in the end.

"To be honest I don't think we deserved to win, we did not play that well.

"I had two disallowed, scored and missed a penalty - you could say it was an eventful game."

Ipswich, who had lost their last four matches, started the brighter and keeper Shay Given had to be alert to Jamie Clapham's effort after just 15 seconds.

Burley's men played some good football in the first half but it was Newcastle who created the more chances and Sereni had to save shots from both Solano and Shearer.

After the interval Ipswich again started the brighter and they took the lead when Bent latched onto a Marcus Stewart flick-on and placed a shot between the legs of Given on 50 minutes.

Newcastle replied in style ten minutes later when Laurent Robert curled an exquisite free-kick over the wall and into stranded Sereni's top-left corner.

Three minutes later the visitors regained the lead through the same man.

Bent, a £3m signing from Blackburn, pounced on a loose ball after Andy O'Brien had mis-controlled and slotted his ninth of the season home.

Newcastle, who gave ex-Ipswich midfielder Kieron Dyer his first taste of action since suffering a stress fracture of the foot on January 19 on 65 minutes, pressed and Nikos Dabizas was guilty of a dreadful miss from four yards when he placed Robert's cross wide.

But Shearer's fine header when he got in front of centre-back Mark Venus levelled matters two minutes from time.

To make matters worse victories for Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool ensured Newcastle slip further behind in the title race while Chelsea's 4-0 win over arch-rivals Sunderland means the Magpies desperately need to find some League form if they are to salvage a coveted Champions League spot.

Shearer added: "We are determined not to let it slip up but we have thrown points away.

"Champions League is in our hands.

"We've got nothing to be frightened of."

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