Phew that wasn’t close.  Well, it wasn’t was it.  Newcastle should have been one up in two minutes, but Leon Best’s goalden touch has deserted, and he saw Bunn push his early effort away.

And that kind of lit a fuse of fear in the home crowd. The longer it went on and the more Newcastle pressed that nagging doubt took hold. Cabaye missed what looked like a sitter, Jonas curled one just wide and added to that nagging fear!

Maybe I’m the only one who gets that “if we’re not careful, they’ll sneak one at a free kick, or a corner, or on the break.” I think not.

I admit, Blackburn scoring looked about as likely as Sunderland finishing above us this season, but on 35 minutes David Goodwillie (who suffers little verbal abuse for one with such a targetable name) pounced on Krul’s palmed save and bundled the ball in.

Across the world, Geordies groaned and inside St James Park (for that’s where Newcastle United play!!) .

And it got worse after the interval. For all Newcastle’s pressure, and pushing forward, the side looked like a blunt knife trying to cut through undercooked steak.

I’ve asked before, and I will again: what DOES Pardew see in Obertan? The Frenchman was anonymous for his 56 minutes on the pitch, and while Shola Ameobi’s appearance to replace him may not have caused a riot, it did make sense. More sense would have been made by omitting Obertan from the starting line up.

The change allowed Ben Arfa to become creator rather than would-be scorer and that, ironically, led to the mercurial Frenchman scoring.

Pardew likes players who show effort even if they don’t produce results. (Obertan) Therefore, players who appear NOT to show effort have less chance with him.

Ben Arfa IS that player. And surely, his goal on 70 minutes justified the many minutes he appeared to be making no effort. The same could NOT be said of Obertan.

Ben Arfa picked the ball up on the right. Now – I saw him round 6 players. The BBC say it was four, others say it was seven.

Put simply, his run reminded me of Peter Beardsley at his best as he jinked and twisted through the penalty area before hammering his shot into the roof of the net.

The crowd erupted and so did the team. Ryan Taylor’s corners saw Coloccini go close and Mike Williamson crash his header against the bar.

But the final touch – the match winner – came from Jonas in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

A quick one-two with Best on the left and the Argentinian cut inside and then chipped Blackburn keeper Bunn.

His Spiderman celebrations are rare as are his goals.

But if anyone doubted that this squad has spirit, look at today’s result. Still trying in injury time and grabbing a deserved win.

If anyone doubts we’ll be able to score goals without Ba – look at the way Jonas and Ben Arfa chipped in.

And if anyone thinks our midfield will be a pushover without Cheick Tiote, look at the way young Abeid slipped into the side (ahead of Dan Gosling) and the way Yohan Cabaye continued to show his mastery.

A good result? Yes. But do we want a cup run? I’m unsure. Give us YOUR thoughts!