Peter Crouch became an instant hero with the Holte End as he scored a stunning goal to earn Aston Villa a deserved share of the spoils in a pulsating Premiership encounter with Newcastle.

The six feet, seven inches tall striker has had to put up with comparisons with a former Villa 'giant' in Ian Ormondroyd who struggled to make an impact during his spell at the club.

But Graham Taylor's £4.5million capture showed the kind of deadly finishing which brought him 19 goals for Portsmouth this season to cap a man-of-the-match display.

He received a standing ovation when he was substituted with 15 minutes to go.

Newcastle were the better side in the opening 20 minutes and Alan Shearer's 22nd goal of the campaign - and 199th in the Premiership - gave them the perfect start as they looked full of purpose and confidence.

But after that Villa dominated proceedings and it was Bobby Robson's side who were relieved to escape with a point.

Crouch showed that he has the ability to step up from the First Division to the Premiership as he troubled the Newcastle defence.

With full-backs Mark Delaney and Gareth Barry both having excellent games and over-lapping to good effect, Newcastle found themselves having to deal with a succession of dangerous crosses.

But some excellent goalkeeping by Shay Given helped Newcastle to hang on in the torrential rain to claim a precious point.

That was enough to keep them on course for a Champions League spot and they are now three points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea and have a game in hand.

Shearer got Newcastle off to that flying start by putting them ahead after only three minutes with his 199th Premiership goal.

Kieron Dyer's right-wing cross was headed out by Villa centre-back Steve Staunton but only found Laurent Robert some 20 yards out.

His low cross-shot beat the dive of Peter Schmeichel and struck a post but ace poacher Shearer was on hand to turn home his 22nd goal of the campaign.

Villa retaliated and Given turned a low drive from midfielder George Boateng around the post for a corner.

But Newcastle had a chance to double their lead when a chip from Nolberto Solano picked out Dyer who had made a run into the Villa penalty area.

The England midfielder was at full stretch but he should have still hit the target with his volley which flew wide.

Crouch showed some neat early touches and he sent a header just wide from a cross by Thomas Hitzlsperger.

But after 25 minutes he produced a superb finish to put Villa back on level terms.

Barry supplied one of several dangerous crosses from the left flank and Crouch got in front of Nikos Dabizas to send a powerful header across Given into the corner of the net.

Villa now seized the initiative and Juan Pablo Angel should have done better with a header from another Barry cross as he failed to make clean contact.

Dabizas and Given then combined to keep out a shot from Ian Taylor and Angel was inches wide with a low drive across goal.

Given excelled himself to tip over a rising shot from Boateng and he also beat out a fierce drive from Delaney as Villa ended the opening 45 minutes in the driving seat.

The opening phase of the second period was scrappy with both sides guilty of a series of misplaced passes and now clearcut chances were at a premium.

Schmeichel mopped up a Villa mix-up racing 20 yards out of his goal to clear from Solano while at the other end Taylor sent a header wide from a Hitzlsperger corner.

But it was 25 minutes into the second half before either keeper was tested when Schmeichel pushed a swerving shot from Laurent Robert around the post.

The Villa keeper then rescued Steve Staunton after his backpass was intercepted by Solano as he reacted quickly to block the shot from the Newcastle midfielder.

Graham Taylor then brought on Darius Vassell and Bosko Balaban for Mustapha Hadji and Crouch with 15 minutes left in a bid to force victory.

Given again did well to deny a deflected effort from Hitzlsperger but in the last minute Dyer almost snatched an undeserved victory for Newcastle when he headed over the impressive Solano's cross from close range.

Teams:

Aston Villa: Schmeichel, Delaney, Mellberg, Staunton, Barry, Hadji (Vassell 76), Taylor, Boateng (Stone 90), Hitzlsperger, Crouch (Balaban 76), Angel.

Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Samuel.

Goals: Crouch 26.

Newcastle: Given, Hughes, O'Brien, Dabizas, Distin, Solano, Jenas, Dyer, Robert (Bernard 83), Shearer, Cort (Acuna 83).

Subs Not Used: Elliott, Harper, Lua-Lua.

Goals: Shearer 3.

Att: 36,597

Ref: S Dunn (Bristol).