Bobby smiling after Sunderland sink

Bobby Robson overcame his little local difficulty to keep Manchester United in his sights and earn Newcastle's first win at the Stadium of Light. Greece defender Nikos Dabizas headed home the visitors' winning goal in the 65th minute but Robson's real hero of the day was goalkeeper Shay Given, the man who played such an integral part in Sunderland's promotion to the Premiership during his time at Roker Park.

The Irishman made three outstanding saves to keep the home side at bay, the best being a one-handed stop seven minutes from time to prevent Kevin Phillips claiming a deserved equaliser with a curling right-foot effort from the edge of the area.

But the Republic of Ireland international said: 'Forget my saves and remember that we have claimed three points to keep us in touch with Manchester United. That was first and foremost in my mind - though I can't deny it went very well personally.' Before the break Given had made two routine but crucial saves to keep out Phillips and Kevin Kilbane, the Irish winger who, like his manager Peter Reid, had hoped for something special in a derby game to get the fans off his back.

Instead, Reid was forced to concede:'Shay was Man of the Match and that tells the story. I must admit when Kevin hit it I shouted "Goal!" - but it was a fantastic save. I have always had a sneaking admiration for the lad - he's a terrific shotstopper, and is very strong. He's improving and he's only young, and I've always thought he was top quality. I just wish he hadn't proved it here.' The Sunderland manager introduced new signing Patrick Mboma as a replacement for the jaded Niall Quinn after the break, but the Cameroon international's most telling contribution was a needless lunge at Aaron Hughes which brought his first Premiership booking - and, more significantly, Dabizas' winner. Mboma was handed the task of marking the Greek from Laurent Robert's free-kick but he allowed Dabizas to beat him to Alan Shearer's flick.

Referee Graham Barber made a few strange choices, the worst of which was his decision to rule out a perfectly good goal from Craig Bellamy after 16 minutes, albeit with the assistance of an over-excited linesman. Sunderland midfielder Jason McAteer was later sceptical of Newcastle's title ambitions. 'They're good, but I don't think they're that good,' he said. 'I don't think they are title material - Manchester United are better than them and I think they will win the title this season.' That is the kind of fighting talk which will be remembered in these parts next season, but it did nothing to dampen the celebrations in the Newcastle camp last night. Robson, savouring the moment, said: 'This was a massive hurdle, a big victory in terms of staying in there and hanging on.' And he joked: 'Tonight I'm going down the Quayside with Bellamy and Dyer.'