Webber heaps misery on Toon

Sheffield United striker Danny Webber piled the pressure on Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder as his header snatched three Barclays Premiership points at St James' Park.

Webber powered a 68th-minute Nick Montgomery cross past the helpless Steve Harper to hand the Blades their first away goal in the league and a first victory in four games and send the Magpies into 19th place in the league table.

It was scarcely more than the visitors deserved as they punished a woeful performance by Roeder's men, who have not won a league game on their own pitch since the opening day of the season.

Newcastle were second best throughout two days after their UEFA Cup heroics in Palermo and barely created a chance of any note as Charles N'Zogbia's mishit 30th-minute cross which hit the bar represented their best effort.

The crowd vented their anger on chairman Freddy Shepherd and his board as another three points were allowed to slip away and boos once again resounded around St James' on the final whistle.

If the visitors' work-rate was impressive, they lacked the cutting edge to build upon in with Stephen Carr's interception of Webber's fourth-minute cross ahead of Alan Quinn and Rob Hulse's shot on the turn eight minutes later their only real half-chances.

But Newcastle fared little better. Titus Bramble headed a 10th-minute corner well wide and Scott Parker drilled a long-range effort into Paddy Kenny's midriff two minutes before the break.

And it was perhaps significant that the closest the home side came to breaking the deadlock was when N'Zogbia's 30th-minute cross sailed over Kenny and clipped the crossbar.

But the Blades took the lead in the 68th minute when Nick Montgomery crossed from the right and Webber stooped to plant a firm header past Steve Harper to put the Yorkshiremen in front.