Derby despair! Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle.

Newcastle and Sunderland played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the Wear-Tyne derby at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

I would have taken a point before kick-off to be honest, but now I feel that we were desperately unlucky not to have taken all three off the dirty tramps from down the road.

Newcastle arguably deserved the win, but lady luck was to have one final say in proceedings when Asamoah Gyan equalised deep into stoppage time. Harper saved a Bardsley shot but could only parry it against Gyan who ricocheted the ball into the back of the net. It doesn't matter how they are scored, but that goal is one of them freak things that happen from time to time. Newcastle had the chances to win the game, but it wasn't to be and a point a piece it is.

It also gives Newcastle the bragging rights. Heading into the game we heard stories of how the Sunderland players, fans, and even their pantomime dame manager, were all looking for revenge following on from the 5-1 spanking we dished out back in October, but it didn't materialise and Newcastle can feel justifiably aggrieved that they didn't take more from the game.

It's fair to say that Newcastle were missing some of their key players in the shape of Cheik Tiote and Andy Carroll, but it didn't matter in the end as several other players stepped up to the mark. Fabricio Coloccini was oustanding, as was Jose Enrique and Mike Williamson. In fact our whole defence was solid, played well and limited Sunderland to just a handful of opportunities. Shola Ameobi won the aerial battle with the Sunderland defence and Kevin Nolan did what he does best and found the back of the net again, which no doubt won't be enough to avoid criticism from some quarters.

The pace of the game was frenetic as both sides started off all guns blazing amidst a cauldron of noise, but it was Newcastle who had the first chance through Shola Ameobi who rolled the ball inches wide of the goal after being set up from a superb Joey Barton pass over the top of the Sunderland defence. Shola should have done better to be fair.

Darren Bent forced a fine save from Steve Harper at the other end before Fabricio Coloccini had an effort from a corner cleared off the line by Kieron Richardson. Jordan Henderson then tested Harper from long range, but the Easington lad got down to his right and pushed the ball out of play for a corner.

The game started to settle down after that, although there were some very heated moments sprinkled through the game. Alan Smith was forced off on 36 minutes after beig caught by the trailing foot of Kieron Richardson which meant that Danny Guthrie was introduced for a bit of Wear-Tyne derby action.

Newcastle had the final chance of the half when Joey Barton wasted a free-kick from a promising area as he blazed the ball high and wide. To be honest, it wasn't very handsome! That free-kick signalled the end of a first-half in which the visitors just about shaded the game.

The visitors got the reward for shading the first-half when they opened the scoring early in the second. Joey Barton swung in a corner which Shola Ameobi headed goalwards only for the ball to be deflected into the path of Kevin Nolan who improvised superbly and backheeled the ball into the back of the Mackem net and send the 3,000 travelling fans into raptures.

Sunderland tried to get back in the game, but their attempts fizzled out and Newcastle continued to call the shots. In fact they could have extended the lead through Leon Best, Jonas Gutierrez or Jose Enrique, who shot instead of squaring the ball for an unmarked Leon Best.

Newcastle were to pay for that profligacy deep into the five minutes of added on time when Gyan just happened to be at the right place at the right time to equalise and send the home fans and manager into celebrations that equal those that we see when a team wins an FA Cup or something.

I guess we'll never know what Steve Bruce's song was eh?

Sunderland: Craig Gordon, Phil Bardsley, Anton Ferdinand, Titus Bramble, Nedum Onouha, Ahmed Elmohamady, Jordan Henderson, Steed Malbranque, Kieron Richardson, Darren Bent, Asamoah Gyan.

Subs: Simon Mignolet, Marcus Angeleri, Paulo da Silva, Cristian Riveros, Bolo Zenden, Andy Reid, Jack Colback.

Newcastle: Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Leon Best.

Subs: Tim Krul, James Perch, Danny Guthrie, Dan Gosling, Wayne Routledge, Peter Lovenkrands, Nile Ranger.

Referee: Howard Webb.

Attendance: 47,864.