Newcastle 3 Tottenham 1
Resurgent Newcastle laid down a marker for the second half of the season after staging a first-half blitz to see off Tottenham 3-1.
Manager Glenn Roeder insisted in the run-up to the game that his side should set their sights on European qualification after mounting a concerted fightback in recent weeks.
And after a fifth Barclays Premiership victory in six attempts, his view does not appear too bullish.
Midfielder Kieron Dyer set the tone with a superb third-minute opener, and when #10million striker Obafemi Martins headed home his ninth goal of the season four minutes later, a crowd of 52,079 - the biggest of the season at St James' Park - settled down for thrilling afternoon.
However, Spurs were not about to concede the points and dragged themselves back into the game when Danny Murphy's shot was deflected home by Steven Taylor.
But Scott Parker's 34th-minute header sealed the points with almost an hour still to play to head into the Christmas period brimming with confidence.
Already without the injured Robbie Keane, Martin Jol was dealt another blow after the warm-up when he was forced to withdraw Jermain Defoe and name midfielder Murphy in his place.
The former Liverpool man was to make his mark, but his 15th-minute strike, which was deflected past Shay Given by the helpless Taylor, proved little more than consolation for his side.
Newcastle simply exploded out of the blocks and found themselves 2-0 up with just seven minutes gone.
Dyer, released form the wide midfield role he had filled in the two previous games to play off lone striker Martins, showed once again how dangerous he can be with three minutes gone.
The Nigerian turned Nolberto Solano's clearance into the England midfielder's path and with the Spurs defence backing off, he raced towards goal before beating Paul Robinson with a deft side-footed shot.
It was 2-0 within four minutes when a rickety Tottenham rearguard was breached for the second time, Parker exchanging passes with James Milner before crossing for Martins to head home his sixth Premiership goal in five games.
To their credit, Jol's men regrouped quickly and with the passing and movement of midfield quintet Didier Zokora, Hossam Ghaly, Tom Huddlestone, Steed Malbranque and Murphy causing the Magpies all sorts of problems, they grabbed a lifeline.
Murphy's strike from a Pascal Chimbonda cross was far from clean, but Taylor's touch was and the ball flew past the wrong-footed Given.
However, it was opposite number Robinson who was left red-faced 11 minutes before the break.
He could not hold Milner's free-kick and although he atoned for the error with excellent reaction saves from first Taylor and then Martins, Parker headed the loose ball into the empty net to make it 3-1.
Newcastle returned knowing the job was only half done, and they were served with a reminder of that within three minutes.
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, who had proved a handful in the lone striking role before the break, was no less dangerous after it, and he might have reduced the deficit within three minutes of the restart.
The powerful frontman got himself between Taylor and Peter Ramage to run in on goal, but with Given advancing, he poked his right-foot shot wide of the far post.
Teenage defender Paul Huntington's mishit clearance handed defender Michael Dawson a chance to shoot from close range on 54 minutes, but he made no better contact.
Spurs were pressing and Ramage had to clear hurriedly after Malbranque had crossed towards Berbatov on 59 minutes, and each had penalty appeals rightly waved away in quick succession.
Antoine Sibierski and Mido arrived as replacements for Emre and Zokora respectively with 66 minutes gone as one side looked to consolidate and the other sought a way back into the game.
The Egyptian presented a new challenge for the home defence with makeshift right-back Solano in particular coming under pressure, but his side held firm.
Tottenham were throwing everything they had at the Magpies, but getting little change from a defence comprising three youngsters and a winger.
As the Londoners threw men forward, Newcastle looked to hit them on the break, and it took a good save from Robinson to deny Martins a second goal of the afternoon with 10 minutes remaining.
There was a change in the home goal three minutes from time when crowd favourite Pavel Srnicek, making his first appearance for the club in more than nine years at the age of 38, replaced the injured Given to cap a more than pleasant afternoon for the Toon Army.
Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder praised his players after seeing them claim a fifth victory in six Barclays Premiership games to set the stage for a new year push.
Goals from Kieron Dyer and Obafemi Martins inside the opening seven minutes left Tottenham gasping for breath.
And, although the visitors pulled a goal back when Steven Taylor deflected Danny Murphy's 15th-minute shot home, Scott Parker made sure with a third 11 minutes before the break.
Roeder said: 'I was pleased with a good result and I was pleased with the performance in parts.
'People need to understand how difficult it was to achieve that result under the circumstances we have been playing under now for the last 10 weeks or so.
'I cannot give the whole squad enough credit because 10 or 12 weeks ago, we were not in a good position and I suppose we were looking over our shoulder.
'Now, we are only looking forward and above us with an aim of reaching as far up the league as we can, come the end of the season.
'We are at the halfway mark. I was demanding that we won today to get to 25 points halfway through the season.
'Where we were at the start of the season with the injuries we have have had to contend with, it is a fantastic achievement because the players recently have had every excuse to buckle under the amount of games and the amount of injuries.
'Footballers in the past have known at times to take any excuse available not to go out and fight for their lives.
'No-one dare accuse this lot of doing that.'
There was a down side for Roeder, however, as keeper Shay Given finally succumbed to a groin injury to hand Pavel Srnicek a first appearance for the club in more than nine years and spark a hurried call to Dutch youngster Tim Krul.
Roeder said: 'We have managed to keep it quiet for a few weeks that Shay has had a slight groin problem.
'It is unbelievable that he could go five seasons without any problems whatsoever and suddenly at Upton Park earlier in the season, he had an injury that is never seen on a football field, it is only ever seen in car crashes.
'We got him back from that, and now he has picked up a groin injury that does not rule him out of the game on Boxing Day yet.
'We will be recalling Tim Krul. He was on a flight to Amsterdam at 4pm this afternoon, and he will probably now only get a chance to have breakfast with his parents tomorrow before getting on a plane back to Newcastle.'
Spurs boss Martin Jol was frustrated, particularly by the second goal, which he felt was offside, but admitted Newcastle's finishing had been the difference.
He said: 'We were 2-0 down after seven minutes and that is exactly what you do not want.
'All credit to them because they played in a very aggressive manner. They were clinical in the centre of the park especially.
'If you are clinical, that is a big advantage, but I felt they did not play better than us.
'They showed us a lot of respect and we could have taken advantage of that.
'Although the score was horrendous, we could have had a better result because we had maybe four or five moments when we could have scored a consolation goal.
'We were not clinical enough.'
The visitors were dealt a major blow before kick-off when striker Jermain Defoe injured himself in the warm-up, and the England international is a doubt for Tuesday's clash with Aston Villa.
Jol said: 'Defoe went out to warm up and he turned and tweaked his knee. We had a big decision to make whether to play him or not.
'He said he could try, but he could have gone on and maybe had to come off after a couple of minutes, and that is not what you want.'
Manager Glenn Roeder insisted in the run-up to the game that his side should set their sights on European qualification after mounting a concerted fightback in recent weeks.
And after a fifth Barclays Premiership victory in six attempts, his view does not appear too bullish.
Midfielder Kieron Dyer set the tone with a superb third-minute opener, and when #10million striker Obafemi Martins headed home his ninth goal of the season four minutes later, a crowd of 52,079 - the biggest of the season at St James' Park - settled down for thrilling afternoon.
However, Spurs were not about to concede the points and dragged themselves back into the game when Danny Murphy's shot was deflected home by Steven Taylor.
But Scott Parker's 34th-minute header sealed the points with almost an hour still to play to head into the Christmas period brimming with confidence.
Already without the injured Robbie Keane, Martin Jol was dealt another blow after the warm-up when he was forced to withdraw Jermain Defoe and name midfielder Murphy in his place.
The former Liverpool man was to make his mark, but his 15th-minute strike, which was deflected past Shay Given by the helpless Taylor, proved little more than consolation for his side.
Newcastle simply exploded out of the blocks and found themselves 2-0 up with just seven minutes gone.
Dyer, released form the wide midfield role he had filled in the two previous games to play off lone striker Martins, showed once again how dangerous he can be with three minutes gone.
The Nigerian turned Nolberto Solano's clearance into the England midfielder's path and with the Spurs defence backing off, he raced towards goal before beating Paul Robinson with a deft side-footed shot.
It was 2-0 within four minutes when a rickety Tottenham rearguard was breached for the second time, Parker exchanging passes with James Milner before crossing for Martins to head home his sixth Premiership goal in five games.
To their credit, Jol's men regrouped quickly and with the passing and movement of midfield quintet Didier Zokora, Hossam Ghaly, Tom Huddlestone, Steed Malbranque and Murphy causing the Magpies all sorts of problems, they grabbed a lifeline.
Murphy's strike from a Pascal Chimbonda cross was far from clean, but Taylor's touch was and the ball flew past the wrong-footed Given.
However, it was opposite number Robinson who was left red-faced 11 minutes before the break.
He could not hold Milner's free-kick and although he atoned for the error with excellent reaction saves from first Taylor and then Martins, Parker headed the loose ball into the empty net to make it 3-1.
Newcastle returned knowing the job was only half done, and they were served with a reminder of that within three minutes.
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, who had proved a handful in the lone striking role before the break, was no less dangerous after it, and he might have reduced the deficit within three minutes of the restart.
The powerful frontman got himself between Taylor and Peter Ramage to run in on goal, but with Given advancing, he poked his right-foot shot wide of the far post.
Teenage defender Paul Huntington's mishit clearance handed defender Michael Dawson a chance to shoot from close range on 54 minutes, but he made no better contact.
Spurs were pressing and Ramage had to clear hurriedly after Malbranque had crossed towards Berbatov on 59 minutes, and each had penalty appeals rightly waved away in quick succession.
Antoine Sibierski and Mido arrived as replacements for Emre and Zokora respectively with 66 minutes gone as one side looked to consolidate and the other sought a way back into the game.
The Egyptian presented a new challenge for the home defence with makeshift right-back Solano in particular coming under pressure, but his side held firm.
Tottenham were throwing everything they had at the Magpies, but getting little change from a defence comprising three youngsters and a winger.
As the Londoners threw men forward, Newcastle looked to hit them on the break, and it took a good save from Robinson to deny Martins a second goal of the afternoon with 10 minutes remaining.
There was a change in the home goal three minutes from time when crowd favourite Pavel Srnicek, making his first appearance for the club in more than nine years at the age of 38, replaced the injured Given to cap a more than pleasant afternoon for the Toon Army.
Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder praised his players after seeing them claim a fifth victory in six Barclays Premiership games to set the stage for a new year push.
Goals from Kieron Dyer and Obafemi Martins inside the opening seven minutes left Tottenham gasping for breath.
And, although the visitors pulled a goal back when Steven Taylor deflected Danny Murphy's 15th-minute shot home, Scott Parker made sure with a third 11 minutes before the break.
Roeder said: 'I was pleased with a good result and I was pleased with the performance in parts.
'People need to understand how difficult it was to achieve that result under the circumstances we have been playing under now for the last 10 weeks or so.
'I cannot give the whole squad enough credit because 10 or 12 weeks ago, we were not in a good position and I suppose we were looking over our shoulder.
'Now, we are only looking forward and above us with an aim of reaching as far up the league as we can, come the end of the season.
'We are at the halfway mark. I was demanding that we won today to get to 25 points halfway through the season.
'Where we were at the start of the season with the injuries we have have had to contend with, it is a fantastic achievement because the players recently have had every excuse to buckle under the amount of games and the amount of injuries.
'Footballers in the past have known at times to take any excuse available not to go out and fight for their lives.
'No-one dare accuse this lot of doing that.'
There was a down side for Roeder, however, as keeper Shay Given finally succumbed to a groin injury to hand Pavel Srnicek a first appearance for the club in more than nine years and spark a hurried call to Dutch youngster Tim Krul.
Roeder said: 'We have managed to keep it quiet for a few weeks that Shay has had a slight groin problem.
'It is unbelievable that he could go five seasons without any problems whatsoever and suddenly at Upton Park earlier in the season, he had an injury that is never seen on a football field, it is only ever seen in car crashes.
'We got him back from that, and now he has picked up a groin injury that does not rule him out of the game on Boxing Day yet.
'We will be recalling Tim Krul. He was on a flight to Amsterdam at 4pm this afternoon, and he will probably now only get a chance to have breakfast with his parents tomorrow before getting on a plane back to Newcastle.'
Spurs boss Martin Jol was frustrated, particularly by the second goal, which he felt was offside, but admitted Newcastle's finishing had been the difference.
He said: 'We were 2-0 down after seven minutes and that is exactly what you do not want.
'All credit to them because they played in a very aggressive manner. They were clinical in the centre of the park especially.
'If you are clinical, that is a big advantage, but I felt they did not play better than us.
'They showed us a lot of respect and we could have taken advantage of that.
'Although the score was horrendous, we could have had a better result because we had maybe four or five moments when we could have scored a consolation goal.
'We were not clinical enough.'
The visitors were dealt a major blow before kick-off when striker Jermain Defoe injured himself in the warm-up, and the England international is a doubt for Tuesday's clash with Aston Villa.
Jol said: 'Defoe went out to warm up and he turned and tweaked his knee. We had a big decision to make whether to play him or not.
'He said he could try, but he could have gone on and maybe had to come off after a couple of minutes, and that is not what you want.'
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