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There was a biting North-East wind whipping in the faces of Tyneside workers as they returned to reality this morning.

But as the sun rose above the city the Geordie public knew that this wasn’t going to be a bleak and blue Monday, because as people came to their senses today they realised that Newcastle United had indeed beaten Manchester United at St James’ Park to record their first Premier League win since the clocks went back in October.

In seeing off Jose Mourinho’s side this was the first league win in nine attempts and in achieving the victory, Rafa Benitez’s men avoided matching the awful run of Ruud Gullit’s Toon team in 1999.

Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler had once famously chimed: “On a day when Newcastle would have settled for one, here they are looking for number five”, just before Philippe Albert chipped joyfully over Peter Schmeichel in 1996 during the 5-0 victory at St James’.

Well, there’s no doubt that Toon fans would have settled for one against Man United this time around and fans grasped it gratefully with both hands - this win may not have come after a top of the table clash, but it was celebrated just as much!

Quite rightly Newcastle were still leading the national sporting agenda and the clip of Matt Ritchie’s first goal of the season was being reeled on morning news bulletins both in the UK and around the world.

For the first time in a while, the Magpies were in the headlines for the right reasons - and it felt so good for the United faithful who have watched their team stumble through certain games on their return to the Premier League this season.

Newcastle used to go toe to toe with the Red Devils and slog it out for the Premier League and the FA Cup and losing out to the side from Old Trafford used to feel genuinely disappointing.

Yet despite some of the myths about Newcastle fans expecting Champions League football and trophies - not helped by the stereotype usually being enhanced by TV pundits - the truth is the Magpies were always the underdogs in Sunday’s clash at St James’ Park.

(Image: Newcastle United)

The supporters who watch their team for the sheer love of it, not the glory, knew that fine well as the game kicked off with their side in the relegation zone.

Remember, this was a team that even struggled in some Sky Bet Championship games last season and EIGHT of the starting XI played regularly in the second flight last term.

Newcastle did win the Championship title on the final day but only just scraped over the line after the club opted against investing in the January transfer window 13 months ago.

The fact they were taking on a Man United team with some of football’s top names in it like Lukaku, Sanchez, Pogba, Martial and Mata in there, underlines why many national newspaper writers were describing the result as “an upset”.

Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness said after the game: “On paper, there are some big names but that doesn’t mean you’re a good team. I think he’ll be worried about their performance today.”

The Daily Mail’s Ian Ladyman penned: “On days like this, when St James’ Park hums and throbs so loudly they must be able to hear and feel it down by the river, there are few finer places to be.

“Yes, such days remind us all why Newcastle remain such a valued resident of the Premier League.”

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker simply tweeted: “Enormous and valiant victory for NUFC. Well played.”

Mick Quinn also chipped in with: “In the context of league position and opposition what a brilliant win for the mighty Mags!”

This was a special day for Newcastle and to be fair, the ‘Special One’ was philosophical enough in defeat afterwards.

Before the game, Mourinho had taken a moment to go out and take an empty St James’ just before the turnstiles had started clicking and in his post-match Press conference - with Sir Bobby Robson’s portrait in the club’s media room staring back - the former Real Madrid boss said: “After a few defeats Sir Bobby once told me: ‘Don’t feel so sad, think about the happiness of the other team,’”

A headline of “Bobby Dazzler” on the Daily Express summed up the magic moment for Ritchie and it’s fair to say Sir Bobby would have loved every moment of the big win against Man United.

It was a nice touch from Mourinho and then followed Rafa Benitez who then proceeded to stage manage the occasion perfectly in front of the masses of national media that had flocked to Tyneside.

When asked if this was his best win as Toon manager, he replied: “Hopefully not, hopefully, we will have better wins than this one.”

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Long after the Press had left the stadium the ground staff worked tirelessly to protect the pitch after an almighty battle from the players that had thrown their bodies on the line to net three big points.

Ritchie’s winner was a key moment in the game but there had been many others such as debutant Martin Dúbravka keeping out Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Ashley Young and Michael Carrick and those last-ditch clearances from the likes of Dwight Gayle, Paul Dummett, Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin.

As many Geordie folk scraped the ice off their car windows this morning and headed for work, they did so knowing their team had a put in one hell of a shift.

Remember that banner Newcastle fans once displayed: “We don’t demand a team that wins - we demand a club that tries.”

Well, Newcastle’s players and coaching staff tried hard and succeeded against Man United - against all the odds.

Fans headed for work with a smile on their faces this morning and rightly so!

This football-mad city craves for days like this again and Benitez was right to get the message out that his team should yearn for more like it.

With a two-week break before the next game, Newcastle fans intend to savour every single drop of this one.