FOR ALL the ridicule Newcastle United’s brand-new jumbo LED screen attracted on Saturday afternoon, it in fact brought one of the biggest cheers of the day at St James’ Park.

At 2pm, the screen was a wretched reflection of the Magpies current state of mind – done on the cheap. Its plastic housing swaying precarious in the North-East wind, kick-off was delayed as engineers worked hard to re-attach it to the side of the Leazes Stand.

By 4.45pm, there was laughter among the 51,000 attendance when the screen displayed the score from Sunderland’s game at Southampton, aided somewhat by the match announcer’s comic timing as he read the result of Newcastle’s closest rivals’ capitulation on the south coast.

Not even a shoddily-erected big screen could be the biggest embarrassment in North-East football at the weekend. But it was a decent attempt.

With the game delayed by an hour, Newcastle fans were made to wait even longer for their first win of the season – but it was worth it in the end, as Gabriel Obertan popped up with a 71st minute winner.

There was a strange atmosphere at the game. Strange for Newcastle, in that there were little to no protests against either Mike Ashley or Alan Pardew. Maybe the supporters’ desire for discord was blunted by the lengthy wait outside the ground until the stadium was made fit for entry.

The screen problem aside, the feeling on Gallowgate was generally positive. That seemed to feed into the players, whose workrate and industry could not be questioned.

Jack Colback, Newcastle’s dynamo at the fulcrum of the midfield, felt the mood shift within St James’ Park and was delighted that the Magpies could – finally – deliver three points.

“It is a massive relief and a huge lift for us,” said Colback. “It has been a tough start as everyone knows. The fans have their right to voice their opinions and in fairness to them they were fantastic.

“They have been good and they have stuck with us and thankfully we have been able to give a bit back to them by winning.

“The delay wasn't ideal. You come in at a certain time for a reason to prepared and get stuff done, so you are not sitting around too long.

“The delayed kick off changed all that. It was unfortunate but the same for both teams. You have to adapt. We came out strong and deserved to win. I thought we set the tone at the start.

“It would have been easy to use the delay as an excuse but we came out fast to get the fans behind us and they did that. It took a bit longer than we wanted to get the goal but we got obtained it was brilliant from Gabby.

“It took a nick. But that's the bit of luck we have not had. We are delighted to get the win. It felt like it would be one of those days when it didn't happen again.

“When we went 1-0 up and they had a few chances, at that point I thought to myself the way things are going for us they are going to equalise. We dug and showed everyone is fighting for this club.

“People were throwing themselves at the ball.

Despite the pre-match distractions, Newcastle started brightly and got about their business well, with Obertan particularly sharp. The winger’s industry allowed Moussa Sissoko to get down the flank and whip a cross in for Fabricio Coloccini to sidefoot wide on eight minutes.

Paul Dummett fired a warning shot into Kasper Schmeichel’s hands from 20 yards, before Matty James registered the Foxes’ first effort at the other end with a weak shot into Tim Krul’s hands.

Yoan Gouffran saw a chance drop wide from Colback’s free-kick after Obertan was wiped out by Liam Moore on the edge of the area, while Marc Albrighton’s free-kick hit the crossbar when Krul lost the flight of the ball in the air.

In the second half, Sissoko’s shot was deflected by Moore and went close to deceiving the backpedalling Schmeichel, but the Dane’s blushes were saved when the effort dropped the other side of the cross bar.

But Newcastle should have been 1-0 up on 52 minutes when Papiss Cisse raced on to a stray backpass, rounded Schmeichel but could only fire into the side netting from an acute angle.

Colback brought a flying save out of Schmeichel on 55 minutes when the Killingworth midfielder swung in a free-kick that the Foxes stopper had to tip over the crossbar.

Both sides set their stall out in a defensive 4-5-1 formation, but Leicester showed their hand first when they brought Jamie Vardy and David Nugent into the fray. Newcastle, moments later, followed suit by bringing Ayoze Perez on to partner Cisse.

The game opened up somewhat, with Leicester surging forward and Newcastle counter-attacking, and it was one such counter that brought the Magpies’ goal.

Sissoko swept forward after Perez cleared with a header, and the Frenchman released the ball to Obertan, who cut inside and fired home courtesy of a slight deflection.

Cisse’s downward header had to be pushed over the crossbar by Schmeichel on 86 minutes, as the Magpies sought to grind the result out.

It turned out all right in the end for Newcastle and Pardew – who was treated to a visit from Mike Ashley at full-time.

Pardew revealed: “It was a surprise. We didn't expect to see him. He spent about ten minutes congratulating everyone.

“If anyone has ever doubted his commitment you saw it there. He was as happy as any fan at the win. I teased him about the cheap telly and he took that in good spirits. We all had a bit of a laugh about it.

“That is the first time since I have been here that he has been on the dressing room straight after the game. It shows what that result meant to him."