SOME of football's biggest names beat a team of celebrities in an incident-packed game at St James' Park last night.

They met in front of a sell-out 52,000 crowd for The Match programme, which was screened live on Sky One and hosted by Newcastle United.

Last year, the Legends won a narrow victory, this time it was a more comprehensive 2-0 win.

The Celebrities, managed by former England boss Graham Taylor, included Big Brother winner Anthony Hutton, from the North-East, international sprinter Darren Campbell and Casualty actor Will Mellor.

Against them was a Legends team managed by former Newcastle United boss Sir Bobby Robson and including a number of former North-East stars.

Among those appearing were several former Magpies, including John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, and ex-Sunderland manager Peter Reid.

Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn gave the Legends the lead with a first half goal and Ally McCoist doubled the margin in the second half.

Darren Campbell had a penalty saved with a minute of normal time left.

The event raised thousands of pounds for children's charities.