Fortunately for Everton, Wright’s charge was timed to divert the attempt away for a corner.Yesterday belonged to McBride. Fittingly, when he does team up with Rooney, Everton’s strike force will be old, new, borrowed and blue.. A week of frustration for Leeds and Terry Venables ended in an appropriate manner as a resilient Albion denied them the opportunity to make full amends for last weekend’s momentum-killing defeat at Manchester City. Indeed, in the end it was only a stunning save by goalkeeper Paul Robinson from a shot by substitute Ronnie Wallwork that denied Gary Megson’s side a first away win since 11 September and a first anywhere in the Premiership since 30 November.But in a match that cried out for a single player to provide a decisive piece of finishing, none stepped forward. In the circumstances, Leeds fans were entitled to ask why Robbie Fowler – whose goalscoring prowess persuaded Manchester City to commit £7 million before last week’s projected transfer broke down – was again denied a starting role. His entrance 12 minutes from time came too late to have an influence.It was the ninth time in 11 games since his latest comeback from injury that Fowler has started on the bench.

If he is still hungry to prove himself at Elland Road – the reason he put forward for rejecting City – he has yet to convince Venables, despite the manager professing a desire for him to stay. In any case, subscribers to the theory that a power struggle at Maine Road set off the “bad vibes” to which Fowler alluded have their own ideas about why the forward really chose to stay.Venables believes that Fowler still lacks sharpness, and said he was reluctant to give him longer on the field because he had not trained all week. “He has been here, there and everywhere with medicals and everything else and he is a player who needs his sharpness to cash in on chances,” the Leeds manager said. “He is not far away but he is not ready yet.”Leeds did make some changes, among them Lucas Radebe recalled in place of the injured Jonathan Woodgate, whose loss for up to six weeks with a torn thigh muscle has merely added to Venables’ woes. Albion made four changes to the side beaten at home by Manchester United last weekend, but there was no starting place for Ifeanyi Udeze, the Nigerian wing-back who has arrived on loan from PAOK Salonika.Scott Dobie and Darren Moore missed chances as Albion showed their first attacking intentions after 15 minutes, but then Leeds stepped up a gear.

Viduka let fly after a neat one-two with Harry Kewell and then Alan Smith, one of three up front for Leeds, hit a splendid left-foot shot from 20 yards that appeared destined for the top corner. On each occasion, only the brilliance of Albion’s keeper, Russell Hoult, pushing each effort out for a corner, kept the scoresheet blank.Megson urged the England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, to recognise Hoult’s talents by naming him in the squad for the forthcoming friendly against Australia. “If he was called up he would let no one down,” Megson said.The second half soon settled into a pattern that was as frustrating for the spectator as it was for the Leeds players. Pulling eight or nine outfield players behind the ball, Albion seemed content to adopt smothering tactics in the hope of hanging on to a point. It was an unambitious outlook but, after five defeats in six before this match, they are ready to accept small rewards.Late in the game, the odds theoretically tipped in the home side’s favour when Albion’s Johnson was sent off after receiving two yellow cards within four minutes, the first for a foul on Viduka, the second for dissent after the referee awarded a free-kick to Leeds for a foul on Radebe – Albion were left claiming a penalty for hands by the South African defender.But even with Fowler at last on the field, Leeds lacked the drive or invention to find a way through and were relieved when Robinson saved Wallwork’s scorching drive from 25 yards with five minutes remaining.. If Kevin Keegan’s striking judgement was still in question when he took his seat in the visitors’ dug-out at St James’ Park yesterday, it did not remain so for very long.

His chairman, David Bernstein, might not have agreed with his £7 million valuation of Robbie Fowler, but the £15m investment Keegan made in Alan Shearer seven years ago is still paying dividends for Newcastle United. With just 10.5 seconds on the clock, the Newcastle captain charged down goalkeeper Carlo Nash’s nervy kick and left Keegan’s City side fighting a losing cause. It was the joint-fastest goal in the 11 seasons of the Premiership, matching Ledley King’s lightning strike for Spurs against Bradford three years ago.It was also the fastest-ever goal in official competition by a Newcastle player (although Malcolm Macdonald did score after four seconds in a pre-season friendly at St Johnstone 30 years ago). It was Shearer’s 137th goal for Newcastle and, at the age of 32, a blinding flash of an illustration of his enduring goal-poaching class.”He’s the best,” Keegan said later, when asked where he placed the most expensive acquisition of his managerial career – the man he made England captain – among the signings he has made. “We paid £15m in one hit for Shearer and people questioned it at the time But you might see it as the bargain of a lifetime. It’s not just because he’s outrageously skilful and because he has tremendous flair, but because you know every single week, when you play against him, that he’s going to give you the toughest of times. He’s Newcastle’s leader, and most teams would die for leadership like that.”The lead Shearer gained set Newcastle on the way to their 10th successive Premiership win at St James’ Park, and their 11th League win out of 12 on home soil.