West Brom 2 Newcastle 2 - Report and pictures
Albion's new boss was not at The Hawthorns tonight - but if he was he would have seen the Baggies throw away yet another lead.
It looked for all the world that Gary Megson was going to end the winless streak which has now reached 13 games in all competitions in an emotional send-off that reignited the fire for many fans.
In front of the largest Hawthorns crowd of the season Hal Robson-Kanu opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time by rounding off a superbly clinical team goal.
The lead was doubled shortly after half-time by 19-year-old Sam Field, who grabbed his first goal for the club he's supported all his life en route to a man of the match performance.
But Ciaran Clark reduced the deficit with a header straight after, before a Jonny Evans own goal seven minutes from time levelled things up to keep Albion's Tuesday night hoodoo going.
The Baggies have never won a Premier League fixture on this particular day, drawing 10 and losing 15.
Newcastle were on a rotten run of form themselves, and came to The Hawthorns off the back of four straight defeats.
But Rafa Benitez made five changes to his team, bringing Isaac Hayden and Mikel Merino back into central midfield for Jonjo Shelvey and Mo Diame
Megson only made one change to the team that ran 121.21km at Wembley - the furthest of any team in the top tier this season - dropping Jay Rodriguez to the bench for the first time this campaign in favour of goalscorer Robson-Kanu.
It proved an inspired decision, and the Welsh international started brightly, clipping a dangerous cross towards strike partner Salomon Rondon - who looked reinvigorated by his Wembley goal and nutmegged Mikel Merino early on.
'There's only one Gary Megson' was the tune of choice, and the interim head coach had promised fans a bright start.
Although Albion ferried the ball between their back three comfortably, it was Newcastle who looked more dangerous in possession in the opening stages, passing with incision and moving off the ball.
And there was a nervous moment when Ahmed Hegazi headed the ball out of Ben Foster's hands, but fortunately the Egyptian reacted quickest and calmly walked the ball away from goal with Joselu's route cut off by Nyom.
Matt Phillips was dazzling down the right, and seemed to have the beating of Chancel Mbemba. He got the crowd on their feet with a typical bursting run that ended in a dangerous cross collected by Karl Darlow.
But the Newcastle keeper was rooted moments later when Rondon clipped the crossbar with an audacious effort from 35 yards. It was a shot the rejuvenated striker wouldn't have even taken on a few weeks ago.
Matt Ritchie lashed a couple of shots wide for the visitors, and he nearly latched on to a dangerous inswinging cross from Mbemba beore Isaac Hayden had the first shot on target 35 minutes in, but it was easily held by Foster.
Megson had heaped praise on Sam Field before the match, and the youngster was living up to the hype.
Striding around midfield, his range of passing was pin-point, and even when he made a mistake and duffed a free-kick into the first man, he recovered with a sliding tackle and immediately found Rondon in space.
The striker laid the ball back to Hegazi, whose floated cross was headed on target by Robson-Kanu but held by Darlow.
The two strikers combined once more just before half-time when Rondon rolled his man from a throw-in and found Robson-Kanu at the near post, but even though he squeezed in between two defenders, he couldn't quite divert his effort on target.
He wasn't to be denied for long though. After an even opening, Albion were starting to ramp up the pressure and then on the stroke of half-time they took a deserved lead with a goal of supreme quality.
Jonny Evans pinged an inch-perfect 60 yard ball out to Kieran Gibbs, but it was the wing-back's perfect first touch which took him to the byline and away from DeAndre Yedlin.
Gibbs stood the ball up to the back post where Robson-Kanu was waiting, and he made no mistake with his powerful downwards header through Darlow's legs.
Newcastle responded after the break, and Merino seriously tested Foster with a cleanly struck volley from the edge of the box that he plucked superbly out of the sky, but Albion's keeper was alive to it and got down smartly.
Then came the moment that Field will never forget for the rest of his life. Mystic Megson said before the game the youngster needed to score more goals, and maybe that was in his mind when he drifted towards the back post while Phillips had the ball out wide.
The winger's cross was aching to be swept home but it was still a tidy finish from the 19-year-old, who guided it in at the far post before flying away to celebrate.
'Sammy Field, he's one of our own' boomed around The Hawthorns while he was given a fireman's lift from Jake Livermore, joy etched across his face.
And that really should have been that against a poor Newcastle side, but three minutes later the visitors struck back with a Ciaran Clark header from a corner.
The former Villa defender lost Evans in the box and nodded home a simple goal to keep the Magpies in the competition.
Megson sent on Claudio Yacob to shore things up while Benitez brought on Aleksander Mitrovic in search of a goal.
Robson-Kanu went down in the box under a challenge from Clark but there weren't many shouts for a penalty.
James McClean came on soon after, and it was his foul which gave away a needless free-kick on the edge of the area that Newcastle scored their 83rd minute equaliser from.
But there was a huge element of luck involved. Ritchie fired the ball into the box and it cannoned off Evans's thigh before going in.
Newcastle looked more likely after that, but neither team managed to grab the winner, and those Baggies that were on cloud nine after Field's goal, left deflated at full-time.
Alan Pardew is waiting in the wings and could be unveiled as early as tomorrow.
Based on this latest capitulation against a poor and out-of-form Newcastle team, there is plenty he needs to address, but also plenty of potential to work with.
Albion (3-5-2): Foster, Nyom, Hegazi, Evans (c), Phillips, Livermore, Barry (Yacob 67), Field (Krychowiak 84), Gibbs (McClean 80), Robson-Kanu, Rondon. Unused subs: Myhill, McAuley, Yacob, Burke, Rodriguez.
Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Darlow, Mbemba, Clark, Lejeune, Yedlin, Merino, Hayden (Shelvey 80), Ritchie, Perez, Murphy (Aarons 64), Joselu (Mitrovic 73). Unused subs: Elliot, Shelvey, Diame, Manquillo, Gayle.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Attendance: 25,534 (2,666 away)
