MATT RITCHIE punched the air in delight, Jamaal Lascelles dropped to the floor in sheer relief, and Rafael Benitez calmly shook the hands of his backroom staff before striding onto the St James’ Park pitch to soak up the acclaim of the St James’ Park faithful.

Almost a year after dropping out of the Premier League, Newcastle have reclaimed their place amongst the elite. The despair of relegation has been replaced by the delight of a return to the top-flight.

The joy at the final whistle was relatively restrained, and there was certainly no outpouring of emotion to match the scenes that accompanied Middlesbrough’s promotion on the final day of the last Championship season. As Benitez would have wanted it, the overriding sensation was of a job well done.

But that should not detract from the enormity of what Newcastle have achieved this season, or diminish the pride in their achievement. For only the second time in their entire history, the Magpies were able to celebrate a promotion secured on their home ground.

The 4-1 win over Preston means they are guaranteed a top-two finish, and could yet pip Brighton to the title. That was hardly a given when they were careering out of the Premier League last May in a state of considerable chaos.

This was a night that was 348 days in the making. Newcastle’s relegation was confirmed when Sunderland beat Everton in the final week of last season, and from that moment onwards, minds have been focused on one thing and one thing alone.

Promotion has been the solitary ambition, but for all that parachute payments might have changed the financial picture in the Championship, it is not easy to bounce back at the first time of asking.

In the six seasons between Newcastle’s last promotion under Chris Hughton and their relegation under Benitez, only one of the 18 clubs to drop out of the Premier League won automatic promotion in the following campaign. To the name of Burnley in 2016, you can now add that of Newcastle United 12 months later.

It hasn’t always been plain sailing, and there will be those who seek to diminish the scale of the Magpies’ achievements by pointing out the financial advantages they enjoy over the majority of their rivals. The quality of some of their football can also be questioned, particularly in the second half of the season.

Ultimately, though, none of that matters a jot. Newcastle will be playing in the top-flight next season, and Benitez has achieved the first part of the task he set himself when he agreed to remain on Tyneside despite last season’s demotion.

Much greater challenges lie ahead, and this is clearly a squad that will require significant strengthening if it is to survive in the top-flight. Seven members of last night’s starting line-up were relegated last term, and it could be argued that only Jonjo Shelvey and Matt Ritchie are of genuine Premier League class.

That is for another day though. Last night was all about celebrating a rebirth, a renaissance hewn from the wreckage of last season’s implosion, a collapse that could have proved catastrophic were it not for the astute stewardship of Benitez and the efforts of a group of players who have successfully dealt with a sky-high level of expectation.

Those players celebrated long after the final whistle, having begun the night knowing a win would guarantee a place in the top-flight. Benitez had spelled out the need for a clear head in the build-up to the game, and there was certainly no room for sentiment in the decision that saw Karl Darlow demoted to the bench after a shaky display at Ipswich, with Rob Elliot stepping up for his first appearance of the season.

Newcastle would have been craving an early goal to settle any pre-match jitters, and it duly arrived after seven minutes. Aleksandar Mitrovic won a corner with a shot that was deflected narrowly wide, and Ritchie’s in-swinging delivery led to the Magpies opening the scoring.

Jamaal Lascelles flicked on at the front post, and after Ciaran Clark prodded goalwards, Ayoze Perez deflected the ball home from close range. It was the Spaniard’s seventh league goal of the season, even if he did not know an awful lot about it.

Preston went into the game on the back of three successive defeats, so there was every reason to expect that an early concession would herald a complete collapse. Instead, Simon Grayson’s side regrouped and were level within seven minutes.

They should have equalised earlier, but after Paul Gallagher’s through ball released Daniel Johnson through the middle, Elliot came to Newcastle’s rescue as he saved the Preston midfielder’s low shot with his legs. Moments later, however, and there was to be no reprieve.

The Magpies’ defensive fragility was apparent as Tom Barkhuizen pulled into a huge pocket of space on the left, and when he crossed into the centre, Jordan Hugill, who has Northern League stints with Seaham, Consett and Marske to his name, stole ahead of Clark to flick home a volley. Newcastle being Newcastle, it was never going to be a straight-forward night.

Vurnon Anita’s struggles at right-back meant Preston’s long balls into the channels continued to pose a problem, while the hosts’ first-half attacking tended to falter because of their lack of control in the central third.

There was a point towards the end of the first half when Newcastle’s players were struggling to string three passes together, but just when nerves in the stands were beginning to fray, the hosts reclaimed the lead on the stroke of half-time.

The goal owed much to the tenacity of Isaac Hayden, who snapped into a tackle to win the ball on the halfway line before releasing Mitrovic into the right-hand side of the box. The Serb squared intelligently to Atsu, who took one touch to control before stroking the ball past Chris Maxwell.

Having reclaimed the lead, Newcastle were more dominant at the start of the second half, but Maxwell produced smart saves to deny Perez and Hayden. However, the game was effectively settled in the 64th minute.

Hayden shot towards goal after Perez’s initial shot was saved by Maxwell, and Gallagher was rightly dismissed when he palmed the ball away on the goalline. Ritchie stepped up to nonchalantly dispatch the penalty, taking his tally for the season to an impressive 16 in all competitions.

Two minutes later and Newcastle were celebrating a bizarre fourth goal, with Shelvey’s corner rebounding off the far post before cannoning into the net via a deflection off Perez.

The rest of the night was a coast to the final whistle, which was followed by a huge roar from all four sides of the ground. After a year out of the limelight, Newcastle have returned to the big time.