'Leon McKenzie was supposed to have handballed it. He didn't have time to take his arm out of the way. It's a cruel game.'
The ground was packed half-an-hour before the start, but unfortunately for the home supporters, the visitors scored first. Nolberto Solano's right-wing corner was knocked into the six-yard box by Sylvain Distin and O'Brien swivelled and half-hit a shot through a crowd of players.
After Solano cleared a McKenzie shot off the line and Tom Williams sent a 30-yard left-foot drive screaming just wide, the game looked over two minutes before the interval when Jamie McClen strode through to slip the ball past the excellent Mark Tyler.
But first Joseph swung over a 49th-minute cross that O'Brien inexplicably headed past Shay Given and then Farrell received Andy Clarke's pass on the right, making up 50 yards before firing in a left-foot shot from the edge of the area.
Astonishingly, only Given's outstretched hand stopped Neale Fenn from grabbing a dramatic winner after Farrell put him clean through with 15 minutes left.
The tie was still in the balance until Barry's late decision as Newcastle manager Robson admitted afterwards. 'Midway through the second half, I just wanted to get them back to Newcastle,' he said.
'Given made the save of the match to keep us in it and if we hadn't got the character in the side that we do have, it could have easily gone the other way.'
Alan Shearer added: 'We saw the empty stands at Middlesbrough yesterday but I still believe this competition is the greatest in the world.
'I think our fans would rather we won this competition than the Premiership.'
