A wintry weather forecast dictated that the roads and pavements surrounding St James' Park were heavily gritted last night but, once inside the stadium, the atmosphere proved far less frosty than expected.
The conditions may have swiftly turned surprisingly treacherous for Edwin van der Sar but, for those of a black and white persuasion, 'Planet Toon' suddenly seemed to have assumed an unusually balmy micro climate all of its own. Accordingly, by the ninth minute we were treated to the sight of a coatless Mike Ashley, clad only in an open necked white shirt and light trousers, jumping for joy while a grinning Derek Llambias issued thumbs up signs to all and sundry.
Considering that relegation threatened Newcastle's still deeply unpopular owner and managing director have spent most recent games slunk deep in their seats with woolly scarves pulled tight around their throats this was quite a departure. But then it is not every night that an apparently washed up winger recently shown the door by Germany's FC Schalke, proves that Van der Sar is mortal after all.
After 14 Premier League games without conceding a goal Manchester United's keeper's hitherto seemingly impregnable defences were, quite startlingly, ripped asunder when, after an untypical fumble of Jonas Gutierrez's shot, Peter Lovenkrands directed the rebound beyond his suddenly flailing grasp. Some 1311 minutes since last conceding at Arsenal back in November the Dutchman had been undone by a Dane.
Lovenkrands is only at Newcastle on a short-term deal until May but, with one swipe of a boot he had, temporarily at least, dispersed the heavy cloud of uncertainty hanging over a club whose short -term manager Joe Kinnear is currently convalescing from major heart surgery.
As black and white striped shirts surged forward on the counterattack it was possible, albeit briefly, to forget that this was team patched together by the unsung and widely scorned caretaker manager Chris Hughton. Significantly Kinnear's erstwhile assistant had to cope without Michael Owen, Nicky Butt and Mark Viduka but, initially at least, Newcastle were anything but cowed by the Champions elect.
Not that the locals were getting overly carried away. There have been too many false dawns, too many cruel chimeras down the decades on Tyneside for that and memories of 13 years ago when Kevin Keegan's entertainers blew their infamous 12-point lead over Sir Alex Ferguson's men remain fresh.
Self-destruction looms large in the Geordie footballing psyche and, sure enough, after Wayne Rooney's equaliser, Steven Taylor flirted with a red card. Not quite as enthralled by Cristiano Ronaldo's step over routines as the rest of us, Taylor ended the first half by dispatching him into the advertising hoardings before turning his aggression on Michael Carrick.
As Ferguson pointed out to the Newcastle bench before being steered out of the home technical area by the fourth official, the right-back was extremely lucky to be merely booked by Steve Bennett.
A fine defender one minute but a liability the next, Taylor serves as a microcosm of Newcastle's contradictions. Too often ruled by his heart rather than his head the defender's erraticism is shared by several team-mates, most notably Obafemi Martins.
Boasting the pace and creativity lacking elsewhere in this side the Nigerian striker at times petrified Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand but his parallel inability to sometimes execute the simplest of passes or dispatch the simplest of chances also undermined his side.
So too had the man on the public address system's fate tempting, and cringe making, decision to crow long and loudly about the shattering of Van der Sar's record at half-time. When Dimitar Berbatov finally gave United the lead confirmation arrived that such celebratory chat had been premature in the extreme. Still Newcastle can at least derive some pride from a spirited and, sporadically, skilful performance.
As Michael Owen reflected in last night's programme: "We're in the middle of the relegation scrap but myself and the lads have no doubt that we have enough quality to pull clear. However this is now the time to stand up and be counted and Hull is shaping up to be our Cup final."
How are the mighty fallen.
