THE CURATORS OF THE Newcastle United museum, which opens this month, have just enough time to clear some space for a new exhibit. Having finally equalled Jackie Milburn’s goalscoring record, Alan Shearer will donate the shirt he wore on Saturday to the proud, battered club both men have come to symbolise. As if he had not given quite enough already.

It says much about Shearer that, after summoning his 200th goal for Newcastle, personal glory did not equate to personal vanity. He did not wish his own achievement to “overshadow” the heroic performance of Mansfield Town or blur the importance of his team’s 1-0 victory. He spoke of being “delighted that I’ve done it in front of my family, the wife and my Mam, Anne, who is 60 this weekend”.

There was eloquence when it came to Milburn’s legacy. “I was brought up being told how great Jackie was,” Shearer said. “I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I have met some of his family. What impresses me most is that he was a man of the people and that is very, very important.” And, as Milburn wrote, they are people who “cannot be kidded”.

So while St James’ Park throbbed with pleasure when Shearer reached his landmark, thrashing a shot beyond Kevin Pressman and spinning towards the Gallowgate End with his right arm raised, few supporters left the stadium delirious at the memory of the 80 difficult minutes that preceded it, of Mansfield fans chanting “olé” as their team passed the ball with confidence and purpose.

Confronted by a side who are twentieth in League Two, Newcastle’s position was invidious and, hampered by injuries, they achieved what was required, but there was a wider context, too. Assembled at a cost of £44million, their team contained seven full internationals, but they struggled for any fluency against a collection of free transfers and former trainees.

Of the two goalkeepers, Pressman had the least taxing afternoon. Allan Russell and Adam Rundle troubled Shay Given and Stephen Dawson missed an open net in comic fashion, albeit from some distance.

Yet not only is Shearer a brilliant striker, he is also a master illusionist, because his goals can change perceptions. “He’s carried this club for a number of years with his goals, his personality and everything else, and he’s done the same again,” Given said. “He ’s made a habit of getting us out of trouble. He’s a legend just like Jackie Milburn and one people will still be talking about in 30 years.”

Away to Heerenveen in the Uefa Cup last February, Shearer scored a 69th-minute goal that doused a lusty chorus of “Sack the Board” and perhaps prevented outright rebellion. At half-time against Mansfield, there were jeers of derision and nothing to deflect from the speculation regarding the future of Graeme Souness. The respite may be brief, but Shearer allowed an opportunity to revel in the past.

“He was always going to do it in dramatic style, wasn’t he?” Lee Clark, who was in his first spell at Newcastle when Shearer scored his opening goal for his home-town club, against Wimbledon in August 1996, said. “It’s typical of him. You wouldn’t have wanted it to be in a 5-0 win or a consolation goal.” The manager would probably agree.

Newcastle United (4-4-2): S Given — S Carr (sub: P Ramage, 58min), T Bramble, J-A Boumsong, C Babayaro — M Brittain (sub: M Chopra, 64), L Clark, C N’Zogbia, N Solano — A Shearer, A Luque (sub: A O’Brien, 86). Substitutes not used: R Elliott, S Harper

Mansfield Town (4-4-2): K Pressman — J Buxton, R Day, A Baptiste, G Jelleyman — G Uhlenbeek (sub: N Arnold, 79), S Dawson, G Coke, A Rundle — R Barker, A Russell (sub: A Birchall, 73). Substitutes not used: J White, F McLachlan, J O Hjelde

Referee: A D’Urso