Any fears of end-of-season relegation roulette for Newcastle look to have been eradicated when this spin of the wheel at last brought three points. Anything less and they would have been dragged back to the edge of the drop zone with a testing run-in to come.
The victory, Newcastle’s first at home in a Premier League game with a 3pm Saturday kick-off since January 2008, also ends Wolves’ recent resurgence. They went into the match with one loss in six games but will have to show more resistance and spirit than was on display here if they are to survive. Newcastle, without getting into top gear, were two-up by the interval and eventually sealed it with a goal in the final seconds. Aftewards their manager, Alan Pardew, said: “It has been a great day for us and a great day for the fans.”
'Never mind the quality, it is only the score that counts' was the epitaph to a tense opening half as both teams struggled to secure momentum. Too often eagerness beat composure.
Newcastle did their best to ease the tension with two early chances. Headers from Mike Williamson and then Kevin Nolan both called for alert reactions from Wayne Hennessey in the Wolves goal.
After much ado about nothing we had the breakthrough. Shola Ameobi headed the ball on to the drifting Nolan, who ghosted past a static back line and slotted home after 22 minutes.
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Yet it was Newcastle who remained shackled and allowed Wolves to be a little more adventurous. That nearly culminated in parity before the hosts were gifted a second and security. From a set-piece Sylvan Ebanks-Blake forced a first save from Steve Harper. Almost immediately the action switched to the other end and shambolic defending allowed Peter Lovenkrands to tee-up Ameobi at the far post to score.
With Wolves wilting in the opening minutes of the second half, Barton shot straight at Hennessey and then Lovenkrands scraped the outside of the post. The Danish striker did hit the target seconds later after fast footwork from Fabricio Coloccini fed Barton, who slid the ball across to Lovenkrands on the six-yard line.
Newcastle were given a wake-up call midway through the second period when Matthew Jarvis supplied Ebanks-Blake for the easiest of tap-ins. The visitors nearly scored a second when substitute Stephen Fletcher flicked a chance just wide and Newcastle replacement James Perch blocked an Ebanks-Blake header on the line. Not until almost the last kick of the afternoon was the win sealed. Substitute Steven Taylor broke away to supply Jonas Gutierrez. He rampaged upfield to fire a shot of power and precision, well out of reach of Henessey. It was game over.
Newcastle: Harper 6, Simpson 6, Williamson 6, Coloccini 7, Ferguson 7 (Perch 58min, 6), Barton 8 (Taylor 89min), Nolan 7, Guthrie 6, Gutierrez 7, Lovenkrands 7 (Ranger 67min), Ameobi 7
Wolves: Henessey 6, Foley 5, Stearman 5, Berra 5, Elokobi 6 (Ward 80min), Hammill 6 (Kightly 53min, 6), Henry 6, Milijas 6 (Fletcher 29min, 6), O’Hara 6, Jarvis 6, Ebanks-Blake 6