The £23m strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson was upstaged at St James' Park as Leeds pulled off a tremendous victory.

BBC Radio 5 Live's John Murray reports on Newcastle v Leeds

Home fans have high expectations of the Shearer-Ferguson pairing and the England captain's return from injury gave them a first chance to see them in action together.

But Leeds showed their character by responding positively despite the absence of three central defenders due to injury and former Newcastle midfielder David Batty.

David O'Leary "We'll be challenging in a couple of years" (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Australian Harry Kewell gave the Yorkshire side the lead in the 37th minute and Lee Bowyer and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sealed it in the second half.

"This is a major setback, especially with the way we played. The biggest disappointment is that we've had a good spell, we've played some very good football in the last four games," said Newcastle boss Ruud Gullit.

O'Leary makes changes

Leeds gave David Wetherall only his third start of the season with centre-backs Lucas Radebe, Robert Molenaar and Martin Hiden all unavailable.

Shearer showed he is free of a hamstring injury with an early charge after Jonathan Woodgate failed to cut out Ferguson's pass but shot wide from ten yards.

Newcastle continued to press and Nikos Dabizas saw a header drift wide from a 17th minute corner, before Gary Speed missed a good chance from Stephen Glass' free-kick.

Harry Kewell gives Leeds the lead (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Leeds produced their first noteworthy effort when Kewell flashed a 30-yard strike wide of the post, but his aim was true in the 37th minute. after Hasselbaink gave him a chance from the edge of the box.

Nigel Martyn palmed a Ferguson shot away for the corner early in the second half and George Georgiadis was off target from close range following a low cross from Laurent Charvet.

Lee Bowyer puts Leeds two in front (BBC Radio 5 Live)

The Toon Army were stunned when Leeds doubled their lead on 61 minutes after Shay Given failed to hold another Kewell effort. The ball ran loose and Bowyer beat Aaron Hughes as they both slid in to poke it over the line.

Gullit, under fire earlier in the week for spending time away from the club in Holland, sent on Temuri Ketsbaia and he had a deflected shot which forced Martyn to save.

But Leeds had the final word as Dutch striker Hasselbaink netted in injury time to round off a highly impressive win, which lifts them into fourth place in the Premiership table.

"I was down to the bare minimum but I didn't want to come to Newcastle and get a draw. I always want teams that I put out to be positive and score goals, and we did that today," said O'Leary.

Newcastle: Given, Charvet, Howey, Dabizas, Barton, Georgiadis, Lee, Speed, Glass, Shearer, Ferguson. Subs: Harper, Hamann, Ketsbaia, Hughes, Solano.

Leeds: Martyn, Halle, Wetherall, Ribeiro, Woodgate, Hopkin, Bowyer, Haaland, Harte, Kewell, Hasselbaink. Subs: Robinson, Wijnhard, Granville, McPhail, Smith.