Crowning glory for local hero; The whole of Tyneside was waiting for the moment Alan Shearer would break Wor Jackie's goal record United's Greatest Premier League Matches.

Byline: By LEE RYDER

WHEN ALAN Shearer first dreamed of breaking Wor Jackie Milburn's record as all-time top scorer at Newcastle United, nobody had quite expected it to arrive in a must-win clash with Portsmouth on a chilly February afternoon at St James's Park.

But when it did it sparked a mammoth reaction from Newcastle as they turned their season around after a winter of struggle.

Shearer's 201st goal put him one ahead of Milburn, but as the player openly admits, at the time the need for three points emphatically outweighed his desire to score the mother and father of scoring records.

He said: "The goal was a big bonus, but the important thing was three points because we badly needed them.

"Anything else would have been a disaster for us - we would have been in serious trouble.

"I know what Jackie means to the people. I could sleep easy after that - the pressure was gone."

Shearer's decision to stay on for an extra year for the 2005/06 campaign had fans dreaming of a glittering finale, as Michael Owen signed for United to create a proven and formidable partnership as England strikers past and present linked up in black and white.

Nobby Solano's return - to provide the bullets for the front two - also filled the Toon Army with optimism, with Graeme Souness determined to nail Newcastle's first piece of silverware since 1969.

Souness had steered United to the latter stages of the UEFA Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup in his first year, but two capitulations in a week against Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United suggested improvements had to be made.

Yet the Souness era didn't go to plan.

Owen broke his foot on the last day of 2005 to all but end his and Shearer's dream ticket, and rule him out for all but 30 minutes of the season.

And with United failing to beat the likes of Middlesbrough, Fulham, Blackburn and Man City, the Scottish hard man was sacked.

After the game Shearer described the situation as "serious," and failure to get out of the rut would turn it into "an emergency".

Newcastle had turned to Shearer and Academy boss Glenn Roeder to deal with that emergency as Pompey came to Toon.

Fans had suffered for most of the season as United failed to climb out of the bottom half of the table and many had called for the black-and-whites to go for the throats of the opposition.

And as Harry Redknapp arrived on Tyneside on February 4, they faced the brunt of a sterling attacking display from Newcastle.

Their persistence in the first period, in which Portsmouth had soaked up most of the pressure, paid off before the break.

A beautifully-weighted and perfectlytimed cross from Solano saw Shearer forcing a save out of Dean Kiely before N'Zogbia converted.

With Shearer locked on 200 goals for United and level with Milburn, his breakthrough strike for a record that may never be beaten came in game No 394 with 64 minutes on the clock.

Shay Given launched a long ball upfield to pick out Shola Ameobi who backheeled the ball into Shearer's path before a typical finish from Newcastle's greatest ever No 9 handed him the record.

Newcastle had helped to put daylight between themselves and those embroiled in the relegation dogfight beneath them, but this was Shearer's day.

And although the goal also acted as a launchpad in which Newcastle propelled themselves into a European spot in the final 15 games thanks to a hot streak, Shearer's final season in a black-and-white shirt would be remembered for the day he overtook Wor Jackie as history was made on Tyneside with Big Al joining Geordie folklore.

"Shay Given launched a long ball upfield to pick out Shola Ameobi who backheeled the ball into Shearer's path before a typical finish from Newcastle's greatest ever No 9 handed him the record."

CAPTION(S):

MAGIC MOMENT: Alan Shearer gets ahead of Andy O'Brien to break the record; OFF THE MARK: Charles N' Zogbia gave United the lead in the first half