Newcastle were booed from the pitch after being forced to fight for dear life to claim a point against Charlton.

Graeme Souness' side dominated for long periods but lacked a cutting edge against the well-organised Addicks, who wasted three gilt-edged opportunities to win it inside the final 20 minutes as they tore their opponents apart on the counter-attack.

The Magpies, who took the lead through Kieron Dyer shortly into the second half but were pegged back by Dennis Rommedahl's brilliant equaliser, were desperately short of guile and for all their possession, did not work keeper Dean Kiely anywhere near enough to pile the pressure on a manager who has still to win over large sections of the home support.

For their part, the visitors defended sturdily and disrupted the hosts in midfield and will feel they were well worth their point, if not more.

Thirteen years ago to the day, Kevin Keegan was handed the task of reviving the fortunes of Newcastle United, and he did it to such effect over a glittering five-year rein that he established the Magpies as one of the most exciting teams in the country and one which perhaps should have lifted the league title for the first time since 1927.

That was a challenge taken up, after unsuccessful attempts by Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit, by Sir Bobby Robson back in 1999, and he too served up a brand of football which won admirers all over Europe.

How times have changed. Souness has made it his mission to ally the undoubted flair within the squad he inherited from Robson with a defensive resilience which has eluded his most recent predecessors, and on the evidence of this showing, it is yet to bear fruit.

Craig Bellamy's departure in disgrace to Celtic and the continued exile of Frenchman Laurent Robert to the substitutes' bench have robbed Newcastle of both pace and flair.

Both actions are based on solid reasoning, but the result is that the Magpies are too predictable, lacking invention and, quite frankly, dull to watch - a charge which could not have been levelled under either Keegan or Robson.

They were booed off the pitch at half-time having dominated the opening period without testing Kiely, and the chants of Robert's name and 'Attack, attack, attack!' from the stands as the whistle approached will have done little to improve Souness' mood.

Indeed, Republic of Ireland international Kiely was almost the architect of his own downfall when he allowed defender Andy O'Brien's 40-yard shot to slip from his grasp and graze the crossbar with 14 minutes gone.

Other than that, he had to deal with a powerful Alan Shearer header and Lee Bowyer's left-footed shot from distance, neither of which caused him any great concern.

Charlton had spells of possession as the hosts - with most recent signing Amdy Faye particularly culpable - seemingly incapable of holding on to the ball. But they rarely looked threatening despite the efforts of Rommedahl and Paul Konchesky from wide positions, although it was they who left the pitch by far the happier at the break.

Souness sent the same 11 men out for the second half and the early signs were good as they started to punch holes in the Charlton rearguard.

Shola Ameobi got in twice within seconds, lifting a shot over the bar after exchanging passes with Dyer and then firing wide following a Shearer flick-on.

The deadlock was finally broken on 52 minutes when, after Shearer had climbed well to head Titus Bramble's long ball back across goal, Dyer span and sent a shot past Kiely off Talal El Karkouri's heel to open the scoring.

St James' Park heaved a huge sigh of relief, but it was replaced within seconds by a collective groan of dismay when the Magpies surrendered their lead.

O'Brien's control deserted him on the edge of his own box and Rommedahl nipped in and set himself to curl a superb right-footed shot past Shay Given and in off the post.

Konchesky whistled a 58th-minute shot just wide, but Newcastle felt they should have had a penalty four minutes later after Dyer was upended by El Karkouri.

Souness finally appeased the home fans by replacing Lee Bowyer with Robert and Ameobi with Patrick Kluivert with 21 minutes remaining, and the Frenchman almost had an immediate impact.

His first act was to curl a free-kick to the far post, where Bramble climbed high to meet the ball, but could not force it past Kiely.

Rommedahl might have collected his second of the game with 15 minutes remaining when he skipped through the home defence and drew Given, only to lift his shot wide of the post.

The Dane was in again on 77 minutes after being put clear by Shaun Bartlett's flick, but this time Given saved well with his legs.

Newcastle were visibly falling apart and both Matt Holland and Luke Young squandered golden opportunities within seconds with the path to goal opening up before them.

Shearer fired wide on the turn after being set up by Jermaine Jenas eight minutes from time and saw a late effort blocked by El Karkouri, but a point was all his side deserved.

Teams:

Newcastle: Given, Carr, Bramble, Andrew O'Brien, Babayaro, Jenas, Faye, Dyer, Bowyer (Robert 70), Ameobi (Kluivert 69), Shearer.

Subs Not Used: Butt, Harper, Hughes.

Booked: Faye.

Goals: Dyer 52.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Perry, El Karkouri, Hreidarsson, Rommedahl (Lisbie 84), Holland, Murphy (Euell 90), Kishishev, Konchesky, Bartlett.

Subs Not Used: Andersen, Johansson, Sam.

Booked: Konchesky.

Goals: Rommedahl 53.

Att: 51,114

Ref: M Halsey (Lancashire).