Magpies show character as Ameobi earns point

Newcastle battled back from falling behind twice to secure a point against Tottenham yesterday to maintain their best start to a season since 1994.

During Newcastle's charge to fourth in the top-flight, it could be argued they have not faced a team with Champions League aspirations since the opening day draw against Arsenal.

European club football's premier competition, however, is exactly what Spurs have in mind and in the end the Magpies could have actually won for the third match in a row.

It might have been a string of mistakes that ended with Rafael van der Vaart firing the North Londoners ahead from the spot late in the first half.

There might have also been a bit of quality about Jermain Defoe's sweet strike 22 minutes from time. But Newcastle had their moments, plenty of them, and warranted a share of the points.

That was exactly what they achieved. Senegalese striker Demba Ba struck first, in between Tottenham's two goals, while Shola Ameobi emerged from the bench to strike the sweetest of equalisers with four minutes remaining of the 90.

Even then Newcastle, with the visitors looking disjointed and in a state of disarray at the back, could have nicked a winner. Even without a third goal, the point that was secured further highlighted the quality that exists within Alan Pardew's squad.

In the mission statement issued in the match-day programme by managing director Derek Llambias, he spoke about the conscious decision that has been made to steer away from targeting star names in the transfer market.

"We have a strict spending policy and we will not take a reckless approach which permits spending beyond our means," it read. "For us as a club, rash, short-term spending is not the answer and the days of Newcastle United acquiring ‘trophy' signings who command huge salaries for past successes on the pitch are over."

And in Ba, a free signing from West Ham, and Ameobi, an experienced front-man from the club's academy, Newcastle had two goalscorers that epitomised the club's more sensible financial approach.

Newcastle, who had won their last two against Wolves and Blackburn, might have been unable to claim a third consecutive victory, but they had contained Tottenham effectively for long periods.

Even faced with an attacking team boasting some of the world's most gifted talents like van der Vaart, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Emmanuel Adebayor, there was just as much threat in the opposite direction yesterday.

Admittedly, in the opening half, that amounted to very little, with neither goalkeeper seriously tested until van der Vaart's penalty.

That was more down to the efficiency of Newcastle's defensive unit rather than Tottenham's lack of creativity - until Yohan Cabaye was dispossessed seconds before the spot-kick was conceded.

Tottenham started the brighter, but Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor's presence of mind, coupled with the tenacity of Cheik Tiote in the middle, ensured things soon evened out.

While there was plenty of probing, there was no cutting edge and most advances tended to end in corners, of which there were six before half-time.

And the only occasion Friedel was tested was when Ba headed a Fabricio Coloccini centre towards goal or Cabaye's floated free-kick dropped kindly for him. Both dropped in to the American's arms.

It was the same at the other end. Ledley King, whose fifth consecutive appearance ended prematurely when he hobbled off, was the only player to find the target. He dropped a header straight at Krul.

But then, with Newcastle looking comfortable, Spurs were handed the initiative. Despite complaints from Newcastle players, referee Lee Probert pointed to the spot five minutes before half-time.

It stemmed from a poor Ryan Taylor pass which was followed up by an uncharacteristic error from Cabaye. The Frenchman dallied, young midfielder Jake Livermore capitalised and played in Adebayor.

There was still work to be done, but when the striker nicked the ball away from Steven Taylor, the defender tripped the African inside the area. Van der Vaart made no mistake with a clinically struck penalty.

But whatever levels of frustration were taken in to the dressing room came out in the shape of intention and Newcastle soon levelled things up.

Gutierrez was the architect. The Argentine cleverly exploited the gap in front of him by beating both Modric and Kyle Walker before chipping to the back post.

Then Ba, charging from the edge of the box unmarked, timed his run to perfection to meet the cross on the bounce with a first time shot that Friedel could not prevent from going over the line.

But with the likes of Defoe on the bench, Tottenham still had the goalscoring prowess in their ranks to regain the lead - and that was what they did.

Adebayor had already missed the target from a decent position before Defoe replaced van der Vaart, but it took the England striker less than four minutes to make his mark.

Modric's crossfield run and pass to Scott Parker opened things up. The former Newcastle captain rolled in to Defoe, who took two touches to turn Ryan Taylor before unleashing a low shot from 20 yards in to Krul's bottom left corner.

The Newcastle full-back went close to making amends with a trademark free-kick that was parried away by Friedel. All that did, though, was set the stage for the local hero.

With four minutes remaining, and on as a replacement for Leon Best, Ameobi powered in a finish of the highest quality.

Tottenham's failure to clear their lines from a routine ball in to the box ended with Ryan Taylor rolling to Ameobi. The striker still had plenty to do, but he made the finish look easy to find the inside of Friedel's far corner.

There was still time for Krul to make an exceptional save to deny Defoe and Coloccini turned a shot wide from inside six yards that would have capped things off for Newcastle.

In the end, the roar from the Gallowgate and the celebrations on the pitch suggested that a point, on this occasion, was enough on another afternoon when new-look Newcastle showed their character.