ALAN SHEARER shook off the rust of five months' inactivity on the day his Newcastle side denied bitter rivals Sunderland an historic derby treble at St. James' Park.

With 2-1 victories here in the last two seasons, the Black Cats were purring at the prospect of their first hat-trick of successes on Tyneside in 100 years.

The omens were encouraging for Peter Reid's team in the 121st League meeting between the sides when striker Kevin Phillips headed a 34th-minute opener with his second goal of the season.

But two minutes before the break, Craig Bellamy's second goal since his £6m summer move from Coventry brought United level and gave them the impetus for a strirring second-half show which featured the return of skipper Shearer, to a rapturous ovation, in the 75th minute.

The former England captain, who underwent a make-or-break operation in May in a bid to cure tendinitis in his left knee, looked sharp as he coaxed and cajoled his teammates, and almost helped to set up a last-ditch winner.

Driven by the conviction that they were the victims of rough justice in this fixture last season, when Shearer saw his late penalty saved by Thomas Sorensen, the Magpies dominated the second half and ultimately should have exacted revenge.

With the game in injury time, Nolberto Solano was the villain of the piece. Shearer figured in the build-up as first the Peruvian winger shot tamely at Sorensen with only the keeper to beat.

Then Solano saw Sunderland centre-back Emerson Thome hack away his effort after Nikos Dabizas' 25-yard shot had been beaten out by Sorensen.

It was one of three gilt-edged opportunities to come Solano's way; he missed a headed opening in the 62nd minute when he failed to meet Aaron Hughes' left-wing centre.

As anticipated, Shearer had done enough in training to convince manager Bobby Robson he was ready to take his place on the substitutes' bench.

It was two years and a day since Shearer had been humiliatingly dropped to the bench by former boss Ruud Gullit on the night Sunderland inflicted the the first of the 2-1 defeats.

The only change to the Newcastle side which started the dramatic 4-4 Intertoto Cup final away-goal defeat by Troyes six days ago, saw the return of £10m French winger Laurent Robert, who had been ineligible. Wayne Quinn made way for Robert, in what was the former Paris St. Germain star's home League debut.

Stung by the 2-0 midweek defeat at Fulham, Sunderland boss Reid recalled veteran striker Niall Quinn in place of £3.5m French new boy Lilian Laslandes, and welcomed back fit-again Brazilian Thome in place of 20-year-old Ulsterman George McCartney.

In a frenzied opening characteristic of these occasions, referee Mike Riley was forced to step in and restore order inside the first minute following an altercation between Sunderland's Geordie midfielder Don Hutchison and Newcastle centre-back Dabizas.

Yet it wasn't until the seventh minute that there was an attempt on goal, and even then it was a rather speculative 30-yard drive from Newcastle left-back Robbie Elliott which drifted well wide of the far post.

The predictably niggly nature of the game produced two bookings inside the first quarter hour, one for either side. Robert was cautioned in the tenth minute for foolishly throwing a dead ball away, then Sunderland right-back Bernt Haas followed him into the referee's notebook for kicking out at the Frenchman.

Newcastle appealed in vain for a penalty three minutes later when Robert's left-wing cross struck Thome on the hand, but Mr Riley ruled it unintentional.

Stefan Schwarz was then spoken to by the official for an over-zealous challenge on midfield rival Robert Lee.

The break-neck pace of the match also resulted in an accidental clash of heads involving Elliott and Haas in the 28th minute, which forced the Sunderland man to leave the field for five minutes to receive attention.

Sorensen, who gifted Fulham a goal with a loose clearance, almost committed another costly gaffe when he made a hash of things under pressure from Bellamy, and only an offside flag spared the panic-stricken Dane's blushes after Solano had lifted the ball back into the middle.

Haas, with his head bandaged, returned to the fray and within two minutes had started the move for the opening goal.

The Swiss defender's throw-in was whipped into the middle by Schwarz and Phillips rose to beat keeper Shay Given with an angled header into the near corner of the net.

Sunderland should have doubled their lead six minutes later when Quinn, who scored in both games here in the last two seasons, spurned a great chance as he met Hutchison's right-wing free-kick but nodded straight into the arms of the grateful Given.

Newcastle's misery was compounded when they had to make a double substitution shortly before half-time, with Andy O'Brien taking over from a concussed Elliott and Clarence Acuna replacing Gary Speed, who had suffered a recurrence of hamstring trouble.

But one adroit swing of the boot from Robert was all that was needed to set up Bellamy for the equaliser.

The Welsh international raced on to the through-ball and outpaced Thome to home in on goal and beat Sorensen with an angled right-foot finish.

But Sunderland were close to regaining the lead in the final minute of the half when Given had to claw away Hutchison's near-post strike. Newcastle fan Hutchison then baited the home supporters when he planted a kiss on his red-and-white shirt as he went over to take the resultant corner.

The combative Gavin McCann became the third player booked seven minutes into the second period for a late lunge on Robert, who required treatment.

But the French international refused to be fazed and was soon back on the offensive, crossing for Bellamy to flick the ball just over, before setting off on a left-wing solo run which ended with a weak finish and a comfortable save by Sorensen.

In between, a huge roar reverberated around the porticoes of St. James' when Shearer emerged from the dug-out to warm-up.

But more than ten minutes before he entered the action, Newcastle were denied what looked a blatant penalty when Thome clattered into Acuna from behind.

Mr Riley wasn't impressed, but the home fans certainly were when Shearer was introduced at the expense of Shola Ameobi.

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