Rovers mugged by Magpies

And there's no hiding from the facts which show Blackburn Rovers rock bottom, Newcastle making an early challenge for the championship and Alan Shearer on target against his old club.

All the compliments and sympathy from people like Kevin Keegan and Shearer don't count for a lot when you look at the table and see just one point in the bank from six games.

Results count and points have already become more important than performances.

Rovers are in the twilight zone.

The position in the table suggests crisis, the performances encourage hope - and it's a fine line between the two. But there comes a stage when you get fed up of people patting you on the back and saying how well the team played but they got nothing.

It's the old "too-good-to-go-down" syndrome.

There's no such thing and that gives real cause for concern.

The Rovers fans who provided such superb support for the team throughout the 90 minutes and applauded them off at the end must have felt like they had been "magged" - mugged by the Magpies. Or perhaps by a referee who got two crucial decisions wrong.

This was a tale of two penalties - not three as Newcastle claimed, because Tim Flowers clearly won the ball cleanly from Shearer in the second half - yet, surprise, surprise, Rovers came off worst at a ground where home support is fanatical. The speed with which referee Keith Burge pointed to the spot as a header from Les Ferdinand struck Colin Hendry was almost embarrassing. It was blatantly clear there was no intent.

But he then denied Rovers a spot kick from a similar, if not more punishable, situation.

The match official hails from Tonypandy, perhaps that should be Handypandy!

And, although Shearer revealed afterwards that Flowers had told him the night before the game that he knew which side any penalty given would go, you just don't bet on the £15 million man missing from the spot.

That goal, coming shortly before the interval, was the crucial point in this game, particularly in view of a later penalty decision. It infuriated Rovers to such an extent that manager Ray Harford had to drag the players away from the referee as they left the field.

With two players having already been booked for dissent at the time of the penalty, it was not wise to continue the argument.

As Harford said afterwards: "The hardest job at half time was to make sure no-one was sent off for dissent, because they were still steaming."

But you can understand the frustration.

It's tough enough going to places like Newcastle, then you give a decent display and silence the crowd, only for a bad decision to turn the game.

With the advantage of a one-goal lead, Newcastle could afford to relax a little. Yet,even though they doubled that, the home team still couldn't feel comfortable and the sight of Ginola hopefully hooking the ball skywards from the edge of his own penalty area in the last couple of minutes summed up just how uncomfortable they were.

Harford revealed that Rovers had worked on stopping Shearer's supply line and, by and large, it worked.

True, Shearer did score from the spot, brought two fine saves from Flowers and contributed significantly to the second goal from Ferdinand.

But I daresay few defensive partnerships will handle Newcastle's £21 million strike force as well as Colin Hendry and Chris Coleman did on Saturday.

Rovers began confidently enough, but Newcastle had some early opportunities.

After only five minutes, Flowers made a great save from a Shearer free kick, another from his big buddy's angled drive and Robert Lee might have done better with a good opening. Rovers began with what looked to be a 4-3-3 formation and the absence of a man wide left could have been a concern if either Lee or Steve Watson had posed any real threat down that side. They didn't.

There weren't many genuine chances for Rovers but they looked settled and reasonably in control, with Newcastle showing few ideas of how to break them down.

The home fans, in fact, were becoming distinctly rattled when the referee took a hand in matters, though the offence was blatantly unintentional.

There was just a minute of a decent half remaining when Shearer got the goal he wanted, although, interestingly, he still hasn't scored a goal for Newcastle from open play.

It was a stunning blow but there was still plenty of spirit in the side as they showed five minutes after the break.

The lively and tigerish Kevin Gallacher robbed Watson, tried to set up Chris Sutton then got in a shot himself. Steve Howey's hand clearly blocked the ball but, surprise, surprise no whistle this time. It was a disgraceful decision considering the penalty given earlier. Rovers' response, however, seemed to stir Newcastle into action and they had their best spell of the match.

It began on the hour when Flowers saved splendidly from Lee. From the corner, taken by Ginola, Shearer headed powerfully down and Ferdinand stabbed it in off a post, despite the presence of a defender and a despairing effort by the keeper.

You feared then that Newcastle might run riot but Rovers kept a foot in the door and, after 85 minutes, persistence saw substitute Graham Fenton shake off Faustino Asprilla and feed Sutton.

The striker advanced on the penalty area and, from some 25 yards, hit a low shot into the keeper's bottom right-hand corner. It was almost panic time in the black and white ranks but despite throwing as many men forward as they dare, Rovers couldn't salvage what would have been a deserved point.

The Press room verdict afterwards made interesting listening, as various writers concurred - Blackburn must not panic, their luck will surely turn soon.

That's a fair verdict in an ideal world, but the problem with football is that it isn't ideal. Just look at Mr Burge's key decisions.

For every loser there's a hard luck story and Rovers need to turn praise into points as quickly as possible.

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