IT WILL go down in history as the day Alan Shearer equalled Jackie Milburn’s goalscoring record, but it might have been remembered for more dramatic reasons. Had the striker not come up with his 200th goal for Newcastle late in yesterday’s FA Cup third-round tie, his team would have been subjected to the humiliation of a replay against lowly Mansfield.

It was also Shearer’s 21st FA Cup goal for the club, which moves him to within two of Milburn’s total in the same competition. Newcastle won the trophy three times when the miner from Ashington led their attack, but there is little prospect of another such triumph this season. For long spells yesterday they were unsettled by their League Two opponents, who succumbed with only 10 minutes left.

If Newcastle’s performance was poor, the goal was everything Shearer had hoped for: at St James’ Park, in front of the Gallowgate end, with his family watching. After neat work by Nolberto Solano, Alberto Luque back-heeled into the path of his captain, who swept home a low shot. He later revealed the landmark had been reached on the eve of his mother’s 60th birthday.

“To see my name up there beside Jackie Milburn is a great honour,” said Shearer. “It ranks alongside anything I have achieved in football.”

It means that Newcastle survive, but their manager may not be so fortunate. With renewed speculation that he is to be dismissed this week, the last thing Graeme Souness needed was another hapless display. His team were lethargic for much of the first half and despite upping the tempo after the interval, created few clear chances against a side ranked 88th in the English league.

Roared on by 5,500 travelling supporters, Mansfield were strong and confident. Durham-born Adam Rundle, who spent five years with Newcastle as a schoolboy, looked particularly comfortable. His menacing breaks from midfield unsettled the home team, who could easily have been a goal down at half-time.

On one occasion, when the 21-year-old had carried the ball as far as the penalty area, the ball broke invitingly to Richie Barker. The Mansfield captain’s crisp shot was beaten away by Shay Given, who was about to find himself with more work than he was entitled to expect. Several times more, Mansfield threatened to score, a fair reflection of their possession.

Solano was the only source of encouragement for Newcastle. As well as having a goalbound effort blocked by Alex Baptiste, the midfielder’s threaded pass to Luque deserved better than the Spaniard’s shot into the side-netting.

Neither of those attempts were nearly so threatening as that which tested Given early in the second half. In a sweeping move that showed Mansfield’s confidence, Gus Uhlenbeek’s cross was dummied by Allan Russell, leaving Rundle to rattle a low shot at the bottom corner. Only Given’s instinctive parry prevented a goal.

Although Newcastle had the good grace to respond with a degree of effort, the culmination of which was a Stephen Carr volley that whistled over the bar, an apathy had long since enveloped the home crowd.

Luque’s curling free kick dipped over the bar, and when Kevin Pressman blocked a shot by substitute Michael Chopra near the end, it was a reminder of how quiet the goalkeeper had been. The 39-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday player had conceded eight the last time he visited St James’ Park, but that save, in the 75th minute, was the first he had to make yesterday. Neither he nor his teammates deserved what followed..

STAR MAN: Adam Rundle (Mansfield)

Player ratings. Newcastle: Given 7, Carr 6 (Ramage 58min, 5), Bramble 5, Boumsong 5, Babayaro 5, Brittain 5 (Chopra 64min, 5), Clark 6, N’Zogbia 5, Solano 7, Shearer 8, Luque 5 (O’Brien 86min, 4)

Mansfield: Pressman 6, Buxton 7, Day 7, Baptiste 7, Jelleyman 6, Uhlenbeek 7 (Arnold 79min, 5), Dawson 7, Coke 6, Rundle 8, Barker 7 (Birchall 72min, 5), Russell 6

Scorer: Newcastle: Shearer 80

Referee: A D’Urso

Attendance: 41,459

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