THE Entertainers? You bet. On a crazy night at St James’ Park, there was even the fabled 4-3 scoreline to prove it.

This was like the Newcastle of old, irresistible in attack, sporadically slipshod in defence, but driven by an indefatigable attitude that enabled them to dig themselves out of a hole that had looked impossible to escape from.

One-nil up, three-one down, eventually triumphant four-three. These are the nights that go down in footballing folklore, and while the Championship season is only ten games old, last night’s drama could well prove a pivotal moment in Newcastle’s campaign.

You need a fair amount of backbone to shrug off the disappointment of conceding three goals in the space of 25 minutes in order to come out fighting and pluck three unlikely points out of the fire.

With the clock ticking past 90 minutes, Newcastle were still trailing despite having dominated for most of the night. Dwight Gayle’s opener was a long-forgotten memory with Graham Dorrans, Cameron Jerome and Jacob Murphy having scored for Norwich, and even when Gayle hauled a goal back, a winning comeback still looked extremely unlikely.

The roof just about lifted off the Leazes End when Yoan Gouffran glanced home what looked like being an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but Newcastle’s players were not about to stop there.

The ball found its way to Gayle’s feet in the 96th minute, and swivelling adeptly, the striker drilled in a low strike to complete a hat-trick he will never forget. Newcastle’s substitutes and coaching staff poured onto the field, the crowd went delirious and a remarkable night was done. That the victory enabled the Magpies to reclaim third position and move within a point of their opponents was just one of many notable sub-plots.

There was Gayle, claiming the match ball even though he missed three glorious chances in the opening 20 minutes. There was Rafael Benitez, celebrating a comeback every bit as unlikely as the one he so famously engineered in Istanbul. And there was Norwich boss Alex Neil, slumped on the sidelines in complete disbelief.

After the travails of last season, Newcastle have proved they have spirit and an attacking threat. The challenge now is to add a clinical streak and some robust defending.

They now boast the Championship’s top scorer in Gayle, although the former Crystal Palace striker must have feared he was in for a frustrating night when he spurned three fine early openings.

In fairness to him, the first miss was hardly his fault, with DeAndre Yedlin firing a vicious volleyed cross across the area after Jonjo Shelvey’s long-range pass had released him down the right. Gayle barely had time to size up the trajectory of Yedlin’s delivery, but he fashioned a smart first-time volley that was saved by Norwich goalkeeper Michael McGovern.

McGovern was the star of Northern Ireland’s successful summer at Euro 2016, and the shot-stopper was at it again shortly after, producing a superb point-blank save after Gayle rose powerfully to meet Matt Ritchie’s corner.

In between times, Gayle pulled a low shot wide of the target after controlling Ciaran Clark’s long ball, and with Newcastle completely dominating the opening stages, the hugely impressive Matt Ritchie headed Dummett’s centre against the crossbar.

The breakthrough was proving elusive, but it arrived three minutes later. Yedlin released Ritchie down the right-hand side, the Scotsman delivered a low cross into the area, and an onrushing Gayle charged towards the edge of the six-yard box before prodding past McGovern. Given his early misses, it was a creditable strike.

Gayle went close again shortly after, latching onto Shelvey’s through ball and firing in a shot that McGovern turned around the post, and while the 25-year-old can sometimes find it difficult to break down packed defences, he is a hard man to contain when he is able to find space behind an opposition back four. His threat is accentuated when he has Shelvey delivering the sling shots for him to race on to.

The main weakness in his game is his tendency to spurn chances though, and as was the case at Villa Park last weekend, Newcastle were made to pay a high price for his profligacy.

Norwich had barely been in the Magpies’ penalty area in the opening 42 minutes, but a one-goal lead is never a comfortable one, and the Canaries levelled when Gouffran’s panicked pull handed them an opportunity from the penalty spot.

Gouffran found himself on the wrong side of Dorrans as the Scotsman surged into the area, and his rash attempt to regain his position resulted in him tugging his opponent to the floor. It was a blatant penalty, and Dorrans stepped up to calmly slot past Darlow.

Newcastle’s players would have felt aggrieved not to be leading at the interval, and their mood will have darkened further seven minutes after the break.

Norwich began the second half with much more intensity than they had displayed in the first, and when Newcastle’s defenders failed to clear Murphy’s cross from the right, Jerome picked up the ball on the left of the box.

There appeared little on when he stepped inside Yedlin, but he curled in a spectacular strike that arced over Darlow and nestled in the top right-hand corner of the net.

Newcastle’s second-half attacking was much more frantic than their efforts in the opening 45 minutes, and as they poured forward, they left themselves open at the back.

Norwich’s pace on the break was always going to present a danger, and the visitors scored their third goal in the 69th minute. Murphy received the ball back from Dorrans, and his shot took a huge deflection off a helpless Jamaal Lascelles as it looped into the net.

The 3-1 scoreline was scarcely credible given Newcastle’s earlier dominance, but it lasted less than a minute. Shelvey’s long pass released Gayle into the area, and displaying a degree of composure that had eluded him earlier, the striker cushioned the ball before slotting a crisp finish past McGovern.

Gayle came close to a hat-trick when he fired in a volley that McGovern tipped around the post, and substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic headed over from a corner.

At that stage, a defeat looked on the cards, but Gouffran changed the prevailing mood when he glanced home Yedlin’s stoppage-time cross.

Was that the end of it? Not quite. Gayle had the final say as he shuffled the ball onto his right foot and fired home from 22 yards. The comeback to end all comebacks was well and truly complete.