It was the 66th minute and Robbie Keane - at that stage on for 11 minutes - supplied what was to be his one telling pass of the afternoon to Gary Kelly, who was overlapping at speed.

Kelly reached the Newcastle United bye-line, sent in a cross and Lee Bowyer met it on the volley. Bowyer's shot beat Steve Harper, but it thudded against the post, ran across the goalline and was then ferried to safety. With it went Leeds United's hopes of staging a comeback yesterday.

Keane was on, David Batty was soon to be introduced and Leeds had started at full strength. They had even gone ahead courtesy of Olivier Dacourt's referee-assisted ninth-minute free-kick, but once that Bowyer effort hit wood there was a lamentable lack of evidence that Leeds could recover the situation.

They are now six points above the relegation zone and, just at the moment when it was all meant to come together physically for David O'Leary, Leeds's self-belief appears to have deserted them. Their current record is one win in the last five Premiership outings and an equally embarrassing statistic is that Rio Ferdinand, the world's most expensive defender, has played on the winning side only once since his u £18 million transfer from West Ham United.

Ferdinand looked anything but an u £18 million player yesterday and a fact as uncomfortable as his display is Leeds's away form this season: Played nine, won one. That sole victory came at Middlesbrough in August. O'Leary had little option but to be frank in his assessment here.

"Before today's game our league form has been a big worry to me," he said. "Our away form in particular has been a concern. We have had some poor defeats and they don't get any poorer than that. We looked very dodgy at the back, didn't perform in midfield and never got going up front."

O'Leary's honesty could not be faulted, but when asked the crucial question as to why this was so, he was at a loss to answer. At least in public. Now Leeds go to Everton on Saturday and then entertain Middlesbrough next Monday. Suddenly those fixtures do not appear as straightforward as they did - even Barnsley at Elland Road in the FA Cup is taking on a different visage.

The vast Leeds outlay has to justify itself sometime and its profile was heightened by the relative poverty of Newcastle. Bobby Robson has inherited an economic situation that would worry a banana republic. Newcastle lost u £19 million in the last tax year and in 2001 they begin repaying the u £42 million loan from Barclays Bank with which they re-built St James' Park.

At 10 o'clock this morning Alan Shearer's right knee goes under the knife and Robson said he does not expect Shearer to play again this season. Carl Cort, bought for u £7 million from Wimbledon, is out for another five weeks.

With no money to spend, in their place Robson was reduced to giving a 19-yearold reserve by the name of Shola Ameobi his first senior start. He was joined in attack by midfielder Kieron Dyer. It was this unlikely combination that unhinged Ferdinand and Jonathan Woodgate.

Yet, when Dacourt curled in his early free-kick, it seemed implausible that Leeds would draw, never mind lose. For the home fans that feeling was enhanced by referee Andy D'Urso's interpretation of the laws.

After Newcastle's Argentinean midfielder Christian Bassedas had encroached at a Leeds free-kick five yards outside the penalty area, D'Urso moved the ball forward 10 yards as punishment. St James' roared its disapproval, but as Newcastle re-arranged the wall, Dacourt drove the ball low around it into the bottom corner.

From there, with Dacourt prominent in the middle, Leeds should have rammed home their superiority. But, as O'Leary said: "If there was a ball there, they got to it first."

Bassedas, Clarence Acuna and Nolberto Solano may constitute a South American trio, but they played with English endeavour for Newcastle. At the back Cookstown's Aaron Hughes showed the solidity missing from Woodgate and Ferdinand, the weakness the gangling Ameobi was starting to exploit.

Three minutes after Dacourt's goal, Ameobi set up Bassedas, only for Bassedas to miss the ball completely; Bassedas then wasted a simple headed chance; Eirik Bakke then made a great tackle on Ameobi when the young striker was clear. A certain pattern was emerging.

In the 33rd minute, Dyer then clipped the Leeds crossbar and the increasingly uncertain Leeds defence finally gave way to a 30-yard Solano free-kick that hit the underside of Paul Robinson's woodwork three minutes before half-time. Once breached, Leeds caved in again two minutes later, a total absence of marking at another Solano free-kick allowing Acuna to score his first Newcastle goal with an unchallenged header. What Lucas Radebe, sitting on the bench, thought of it all would make interesting listening.

Radebe did not get on, but 10 minutes into the second half O'Leary called upon Keane to replace the lacklustre Harry Kewell. Keane had some nice touches, but it was Newcastle still winning possession. Then Bowyer had his moment and Leeds had lost again.

They have christened Robson "Bob The Re-builder" on Tyneside recently. It is a title O'Leary will need to have earned by the end of January.

Newcastle: Harper, Barton, Marcelino, Griffin, Bassedas, Hughes, Speed, Dyer, Solano, Acuna, Ameobi. Subs Not Used: Cordone, Glass, Lua-Lua, Karelse, Gary Caldwell. Booked: Bassedas, Barton, Acuna, Speed. Goals: Solano 41, Acuna 44.

Leeds: Robinson, Kelly, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Matteo, Bowyer, Bakke (Batty 74), Dacourt, Kewell (Keane 55), Viduka, Smith. Subs Not Used: Martyn, Radebe, Mills. Booked: Dacourt, Smith. Goals: Dacourt 10.

Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).