Boksic brace stuns Magpies

Boksic nods in the opener

Newcastle 1-2 Middlesbrough

A first-half double from Alen Boksic was enough to hand Middlesbrough all three points at the expense of Newcastle at St James Park.

The Croatian powered in a close-range header which was followed up by stunning free-kick to silence the home support.

Boro midfielder Phil Stamp was sent off for a second bookable offence just before the break.

The second half was a thrilling affair which saw Carl Cort mark his comeback from injury with a superb volley to put Newcastle back in the reckoning.

The Magpies had the chance to equalise late in the match when Cort won a penalty, but Nolberto Solano missed the resulting kick to sum up a poor day for the home team but a great one for Middlesbrough.

  Match incidents

28 min: Boksic heads home from close range

33: Boksic fires home the second

44: Stamp is sent off

60: Cort gives Newcastle hope with his volley

78: Speed misses from close range

87: Solano strikes his penalty against the crossbar

The Boro pair of Boksic and Christian Karembeu impressed throughout the match and got their reward when the Croatian, impeded by Aaron Hughes on the right-hand edge of the penalty area, headed home the resulting Karembeu free-kick.

Bobby Robson's men must have felt aggrieved, because minutes earlier Magpies midfielder Clarence Acuna had an effort ruled out for offside after following up from Solano's free kick.

Karembeu battles for possession with Lee

Newcastle, with a relatively inexperienced back line, including new signing Wayne Quinn and youngster Stephen Caldwell, began to crumble as Terry Venables' men surged forward sensing that they may have a chance of avenging the 3-1 defeat at the Riverside.

Former England star Paul Ince, like Karembeu, took the game by the scruff off the neck.

I've been fortunate enough to work with a lot of good front players, and Boksic is top drawer

  Terry Venables
Middlesbrough manager

His surge and run saw him brought down at the edge of the 18-yard box.

Boksic once again silenced the St James Park crowd by firing an unstoppable 25-yard free kick into Shay Given's top corner.

Middlesbrough's silver lining did have a cloud when Stamp dived in late on Robert Lee just before the interval to pick up his second yellow, after earlier being booked for dissent.

The sending off proved to be costly as a rampant Newcastle found two extra gears to pile the pressure on Boro in the second half.

We played well enough to walk off with something

  Bobby Robson
Newcastle manager

With Boksic the solitary man leading the line, Boro seemed intent on defending their lead.

But Cort had other ideas when he struck a superb volley past Mark Schwarzer to mark an impressive comeback.

Newcastle continued to harrass Venables' defence and won a penalty with three minutes remaining after Cort was brought down inside the 18-yard box.

Peruvian Solano stepped up, in the absence of the injured Alan Shearer, but fired his spot-kick against the crossbar, much to the relief of Venables and his Boro team.

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Newcastle: Given, Barton, Quinn, Stephen Caldwell, Hughes, Solano, Lee, Acuna, Speed, Ameobi, Cort. Subs: Bassedas, Griffin, Harper, Cordone, Gallacher.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Festa, Fleming, Vickers, Cooper, Ince, Karembeu, Stamp, Okon, Whelan, Boksic. Subs: Crossley, Gavin, Marinelli, Mustoe, Ricard. Referee: G Barber (Tring)