Newcastle humbled by Stevenage in FA Cup

Stevenage -- in the fourth tier of English football and ranked 73 places below the Magpies -- advanced to the next round courtesy of a second half Mike Williamson own goal, a long-range Michael Bostwick effort and an injury time strike from Peter Winn.

Stevenage boss Graham Westley said his team were worthy winners.

"It was fantastic. They deserved what they got for putting in a performance like that against a Premiership side," he told EPSN.

"We played the game on the front foot and played the better football over 90 minutes and it was good to see the goals go in."

The Hertfordshire club were only promoted to the Football League this season, 34 years after being founded.

The two sides had also met in the fourth round in 1998, with Stevenage securing a famous 1-1 draw at home before losing a replay 2-1 at St James Park.

Stevenage took a deserved lead on 50 minutes, when Stacy Long cut in from the left and fired a shot goalwards only for his shot to take a huge deflection off Williamson to wrongfoot Magpies keeper Tim Krul.

Five minutes later and Stevenage were in dreamland, Bostwick picking up the ball on the edge of the area and lashing a ferocious shot in off the post from 20 yards to spark delirium at Broadhall Way.

Newcastle's hopes of staging a fightback unravelled in the closing minutes when second half substitute Cheik Tiote was sent off for a two-footed tackle.

Joey Barton threw Newcastle a lifeline with an injury time screamer but Stevenage responded immediately with Winn's strike.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew admitted Stevenage had shown more hunger for the tie.

"The Premier League is all well and good but a few young boys got caught out tonight by the passion and the physical side of Stevenage," he said.

The result was comfortably the biggest upset on a day when the Wembley dreams of three other Premier League teams -- Sunderland, West Brom and Blackpool -- bit the dust.

In a match that saw former Manchester United team-mates Steve Bruce and Paul Ince come up against each other at the Stadium of Light, Ince's Notts County scored a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Craig Westcarr and Lee Hughes.

The Black Cats pulled a goal back with a Darren Bent penalty to ensure a nervous finale but their League One opponents held on for a famous win.

Southampton accounted for an under-strength Blackpool in a 2-0 win at St Mary's with goals from Lee Barnard and Guly Do Prado.

Championship side Reading meanwhile secured their 1-0 victory over the visiting Baggies thanks to a Shane Long goal.

Arsenal survived a scare against Leeds before snatching a last gasp 1-1 draw against the Championship side at the Emirates.

Cesc Fabregas scored a last-minute penalty to keep the Gunners in the competition after Robert Snodgrass had given Leeds the lead, also from the penalty spot, early in the second half.

Elsewhere, Bolton needed two goals in the last 10 minutes from Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander to squeeze a 2-0 win over non-league York at the Reebok Stadium.

Wolves meanwhile were held to a 2-2 draw at Championship side Doncaster.

Premier League Stoke were also held by Championship opposition, Tuncay Sanli giving them a 1-1 draw against promotion-chasing Cardiff who had taken the lead at the Britannia Stadium with a Michael Chopra goal on eight minutes.

There were no such problems for Fulham who ran riot at Craven Cottage to swat aside Peterborough 6-2 while Everton also had a comfortable victory at Scunthorpe, cruising past their Championship opponents 5-1.

Aston Villa relieved the pressure on manager Gerard Houllier with a 3-1 victory at Sheffield United.

West Ham manager Avram Grant also breathed a sigh of relief after his side bounced back from a 5-0 thrashing by Newcastle in midweek to record a 2-0 win over Barnsley.

Blackburn meanwhile squeezed past Championship leaders QPR 1-0 at Ewood Park in a match that saw Rangers striker Jamie Mackie suffer a broken leg.

QPR boss Neil Warnock branded Rovers forward El Hadji-Diouf a "disgrace" after the Senegalese international appeared to taunt Mackie as he lay injured.

The pick of the third round matches takes place on Sunday, when Manchester United face Liverpool, who will be hoping that caretaker manager Kenny Dalglish can inspire them to victory following the dismissal earlier Saturday of Roy Hodgson.