That Newcastle United tumbled out of the Worthington Cup at St Andrews to a last-minute goal last night s gut-wrenching enough for the Geordie fans.

But more disheartening was the manner of the defeat.

Jamaican international Michael Johnson side-footed home a scrambled left-foot effort to send the home crowd wild with delight as yet another dream of silverware vanished for Newcastle.

It was no more than the home side deserved after a performance which contained everything that has come to be expected from Bobby Robson's men.

The determination which has carried the Magpies upwards since the last time the two sides met - almost a year ago in the same competition - was sadly lacking.

They had the benefit of a 14th-minute Kieron Dyer strike to build on, but even that did not prove enough as the battling Division One side fought their way back into it to run out deserved winners.

If one glaring statistic reveals the domination which Birmingham enjoyed it was that the visitors failed to make home keeper Ian Bennett pull off one save of note during the second half.

The game started with Warren Barton making his long-awaited return from injury and Robson using Dyer alongside Alan Shearer up front.

Only six minutes had elapsed when Shearer, desperate to atone for last season's penalty miss on the same ground, fired in a low 30-yard free kick which Bennett did well to hold.

But either side of that both Geoff Horsfield and Darren Purse had wasted glorious chances which set the tone for an action-packed evening.

Dyer's goal owed much to Barton's solitary worthwhile contribution of the evening.

A free kick was only half cleared by Purse and the ball fell to the left back, who smashed the ball across the face of goal where the same Birmingham defender could only clear to England youngster Dyer and his volley put the Magpies into the lead.

But from then on Birmingham's transfer-listed striker Dele Adebola bullied Newcastle into submission as he wrestled the initiative away from the Premiership outfit.

The Nigerian was at the heart of almost every threatening Birmingham move and after a couple of narrow escapes he took advantage of Steve Harper's indecision following a 31st-minute Martin Grainger corner to outjump the Newcastle keeper and draw Trevor Francis' side level.

Before the break Harper had almost contributed to a second by playing footsie - and Horsfield was only inches away from capitalising on that - before he redeemed himself with a smart save from the same player just before the break.

The game could have turned on its head just nine minutes after the restart when Shearer was involved in the night's most controversial incident.

He latched on to a Martin O'Connor back-pass and although he was running away from goal, Birmingham keeper Bennett was adjudged to have tripped him over.

The keeper made his point by racing back to the fallen former England skipper and protesting his innocence and referee Steve Bennett took pity on the home keeper, letting him off with just a yellow card.

Harper saved twice from Jerry Gill and Stan Lazaridis as Birmingham scented another famous victory over the North-East giants.

And with extra time looming, it duly happened when another corner was only half cleared and Purse looped the ball into the air where the waiting Johnson gleefully slotted home.

l Louis Saha set Fulham up for a mouthwatering quarter-final tie at Liverpool by scoring a last-gasp winner to settle a cracking tie.

Derby had taken the lead on 12 minutes at Craven Cottage through Malcolm Christie but the home side levelled through Saha on 27 minutes and Eddie Lewis put them deservedly in front on 38 minutes.

Darryl Powell's intended cross turned into a pretty effective shot on the tricky breeze as Fulham goalkeeper Maik Taylor completely misjudged the swirling effort to put the Premiership strugglers in level at half-time.

But just as extra-time beckoned Saha rose highest to send a looping header over Mart Poom from Bjarne Goldbaek's free-kick for his second of the night and 20th goal of the season.

It was difficult to tell at the start just which was the Premiership team and which the lower league opposition as Jean Tigana demonstrated both the confidence in his squad and where his priorities lie by leaving out first-team regulars Lee Clark, Chris Coleman and Steve Finnan. And with Fulham nine points clear at the top of the First Division and Derby next to bottom in the Premiership, there was only Bradford separating the two teams in the league ladder.

Fulham were also convinced they should have had a penalty to make their victory even more convincing when Saha tangled with Taribo West in the area