BOLTON...1 NEWCASTLE...0: A match of no little entertainment, if precious little football, ended with Bolton's Premiership status all but confirmed for another season.
But Newcastle's Champions League ambitions are close to foundering on wretched away form and are fortunate that Liverpool are almost as slack as themselves on the road.
This was only Bolton's fourth home win since August, and buried a run of four straight league defeats. Those losses were preceded by two draws and Sam Allardyce's side began the day only four points above Portsmouth. One more defeat would have meant another shiver on the Pennines.
But one win changes so much and it was greeted like a warm blanket. "We really froze them out," said Allardyce. Well wrapped, Bolton rose above Everton and are now eight points behind Newcastle, or eight points off Europe.
The win was earned by a second-half Bolton display that overwhelmed tame, unimaginative visitors - "High levels of energy gave us an advantage against a pretty tired Newcastle," said Allardyce - even if the goal that ultimately separated the teams came in the fourth minute.
Newcastle had some response to that in the remainder of the first half but after the interval Bobby Robson's black and whites faded to grey.
Newcastle have won only two games away from home this season - the same as Leeds - and Shay Given was again their outstanding individual.
"If we don't win our home matches then we've got no chance of finishing fourth," said Robson, who, like Allardyce, attributed Newcastle's lack of zip to playing at Real Mallorca on Thursday night and arriving home at 4 a.m. on Friday.
"In the second half we just fizzled out, we lacked energy. Europe is great but it is tiring."
Henrik Pedersen gave Bolton the lead with a goal Allardyce said "had a bit of luck about it" and Robson described as a "fluke".
Robson also thought Pedersen pushed Steven Taylor, an 18 year-old centre-half making his full debut at right-back.
Contact appeared minimal, though, Taylor made a misjudgement.
Pedersen took possession close to the Newcastle byline and 15 yards to the right of Given's upright. Pedersen lofted the ball goalward - neither a cross nor a shot, really - and as it fell the horror dawned on the scrambling Given that the ball was swerving into the corner. It did so and Newcastle were chasing a game.
That chase was forlorn after the interval as Jay-Jay Okocha raised his play. Ivan Campo missed the bar by inches in the 55th minute and Given made saves from Ian Nolan and the diligent Stelios Giannikopoulos.
