NEWCASTLE 3, Wanderers 2: Wanderers are in danger of letting the riches of the Premiership slip through their fingers.

They have the means of survival in their own hands but their chances of beating the drop are being threatened by their own carelessness.

Sam Allardyce and his players know now, if they didn't already, that they can expect no favours from anyone.

Football can be a cruel business and the Premiership is one of the most merciless and unforgiving of all leagues. And while pats on the back and hard luck stories are all well and good, the harsh reality, after another brave but ultimately fruitless performance, is that they have only themselves to blame for still being stuck in the relegation frame.

Now, unless they get back to being the well-organised defensive force they were in the early stages of the season, they know they will not beat the drop.

They had good reason to believe that referee David Elleray was influenced by the cunning Alan Shearer into awarding the free kick that stirred up so much controversy and debate and cancelled out Ricardo Gardner's shock opener four minutes earlier; they can also claim that, but for a magnificent Shay Given save, Simon Charlton would have put them 3-1 ahead in a cracking first half in which they were more than just a match for Newcastle.

And they were only 11 minutes away from claiming a precious point against all expectations.

But defenders cannot afford to "switch off" with the likes of Shearer and Craig Bellamy on the prowl and, however generous Bobby Robson was in his comments, cynics would suggest he could afford to be charitable after seeing his high-flying Magpies bank the points that lifted them into second place in the Premiership.

The Newcastle boss's suggestion that Wanderers had made life difficult and that, playing as well as this, they have "a good chance of staying in the Premiership" was acknowledged by Allardyce. But it really cut no ice.

"It's very nice," the Reebok boss said. "I appreciate it and he's got a point."

But Big Sam is not in the business of collecting platitudes and, on this occasion, not in the mood to allow kind words and a controversial refereeing decision cloud his own judgment of his team's overall performance.

Applying the letter of the law and allowing for the fact that he probably did not see Shearer blocking Jaaskelainen's attempt to boot it clear, Mr Elleray can claim he got it right when he ruled the keeper had failed to release the ball within the regulation six seconds. Only the Harrow housemaster himself will know whether he was influenced by the crafty England captain but, for their part, Wanderers have good reason to believe they were hard done by - penalised for breaking a rule no-one can recall having been enforced before.

Nevertheless, they can do nothing about it now.

What they can do is put it behind them and concentrate on getting their own house in order.

Allardyce made his feelings known during and after the game, when he said he had been "gutted" by the decision. But it was significant that the point he laboured most was not his beef with the referee but with his own players for conceding three goals when they had set out with a clear defensive strategy.

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wo goals away from home - a first of the season for Gardner and a first in a white shirt for Nicky Southall - was as much as they could have hoped for on the attacking side. But, after being stung by the free kick, they were bitten twice more. Shearer got between Gudni Bergsson and Anthony Barness to power in a header from an Aaron Hughes cross, which Gardner didn't think he could make, then decisively, with Hughes the provider again, Bellamy got in on the heading act.

"Unfortunately for us, whether the referee's right or wrong, it's not going to change our result," the manager said, accepting the futility of the argument. "As always, when you are in this position, things like that seem to go against you rather than for you. But after that it was our own fault.

"We got back to 2-1 up, should have got to 3-1 up ... but there are moments that are crucial in every game and if you don't take advantage of them, you get punished. We punished ourselves before half time by thinking the ball was going out for a goal kick and not defending what was an easy cross into the box - probably because we switched off - and Alan Shearer made it 2-2.

"Newcastle must have been relieved at half time and, of course, they then had the opportunity to be a lot more patient than if they were losing the game. We had to defend deep and we defended very well but, unfortunately, they wore us down and got the third."

Given, who did well to keep out Charlton's shot after the impressive Gardner made a lightning counter-attack when Wanderers had their tails up in the first half, showed his class again when he kept out a swerving screamer from the Jamaican on 66 minutes.

But it was asking a lot of Wanderers to keep out a rampant Newcastle attack. Bellamy's matchwinner, four minutes after Jaaskelainen had saved Laurent Robert's thundering drive, was the Mags' 78th goal in all competitions this season!

The threat should not be quite so awesome, however, from less potent strikers in the six-match run which Wanderers believe will make or break their survival ambitions.

The framework is there in the shape of the 4-1-4-1 formation that proved so effective in the first quarter of the season. And there was enough evidence to suggest that the counter-attacking approach offers their best chance of survival.

With Fredi Bobic predominantly working the right flank, Michael Ricketts ploughed a lone furrow up front for much of the game but that was no bad thing.

Gardner, who mugged Jamie McClen as craftily as the Artful Dodger to pinch his goal out of nothing, was always looking to make the breaks and Southall, who operated in the "Warhurst" role just in front of the back four, had comfortably his best game since arriving from Gillingham and showed opportunism, power and accuracy to beat Given with an unstoppable right footer.

"We only really need two wins on the trot and we're up the table," Southall said optimistically, "and it's imperative we get them in the next few games. But we must cut out the silly mistakes that have given goals away and try to keep the clean sheets we haven't been doing lately.

"We need to get back to those basics because we've shown we are going to get chances against the best teams in the country. We had chances against Manchester United and again at Newcastle ... but we've got to keep a clean sheet first.

"If we can defend first, we will progress and go from strength to strength from nil-nil."