Newcastle United: Kevin Keegan Finally Has Something to Build On

After four successive defeats and an alarming slide towards the Premier League drop zone Kevin Keegan last night saw Newcastle earn a much needed point with a battling performance at St Andrews.

With Birmingham only two points behind, this realy was a game Newcastle could not afford to lose. Thanks to Michael Owen's second half equaliser and an all round improved second half performance the Toon boss at last has something to build on with fellow strugglers Fulham due to visit St James park this saturday.

The return to fitness of Mark Viduka saw Keegan opt for an attacking 4,3,3 formation with Owen and Martins feeding off Viduka and a combative midfield trio of Geremi, Butt, and Barton. Shay Given's persistent groin injury meant Harper retained his place in goal with Taylor,Faye,Beye and Enrique making up the Toon defence.

Birmingham manager Alex Mcleish adopted an orthodox 4,4,2 with in-form Forssell and James Mcfadden leading the attack for the Blues. Birmingham started the better side and were looking to test the visitors shaky defence early on. Steven Taylor's poor clearance fell straight to Mcfadden but the Scotland striker's shot was deflected wide, this gave Birmingham encouragement and Forssell shot wide from the edge of the area shortly after. The opening goal came courtesy of poor defending by Faye when he allowed McFadden to get the wrong side of him and stab the ball past Harper. Recently when Newcastle have conceded one or two goals, they have gone on to concede three, four, and five in quick succession, but they held firm this time and hung on until half time.

Whatever Keegan said to his team at half time had the desired effect as Newcastle were a far better outfit after the break. They were dominating posession and Martin's in particular was creating problems for the home defence. Fabio Capello was in the stand casting an eye over Michael Owen, and the England striker went oh-so close to an equaliser on 50 mins when he forced a great save from Taylor.

Five minutes later, Owen got his goal, showing great desire in beating three defenders to Martin's rebounded effort. Martin then went close to giving Newcastle the lead with a smart turn and shot which forced a fingertip save from Taylor. With ten minutes remaining Keegan brought on N'zogbia and reverted back to 4,4,2 realising this was a must not lose game, much to the displeasure of Martin's, who publicly displayed his disappointment by trudging off reluctantly.

Newcastle were second best in the first half, but by far the better side in the second so a draw was a fair result and Keegan will be hoping his team carry that momentum into another massive and vitally important game against Fulham at St James park this coming Saturday. 

In the post match interview the old sparkle was back in Keegan's eyes and the lovable enthusiasm in his voice. It seems Kevin knows that, in stopping the rot this could turn out to be a pivotal point in Newcastle's fight for survival.