IT will come as no satisfaction to Sam Allardyce but Wanderers were the victims of a revenge attack when they came off the rails at Newcastle.

Big Sam was bitterly disappointed with his team's second half performance at St James' Park on Sunday, admitting they had "forgotten what it takes to win a game", and felt they had missed a glorious opportunity to endorse his claim that a Champions League place was still achievable.

But, in a significant contribution to the inquest into the Whites' first defeat in 11 games, Lee Bowyer has revealed how the Magpies, already brimming with confidence after big wins in the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in the previous seven days, were inspired by the memory of the battering they took when they lost 2-1 at the Reebok in October.

"We had to stand up and be counted after losing down at Bolton earlier in the season," said the Geordies' midfielder.

"They outbattled us that day and it wasn't a nice feeling going home, because no one likes to lose that way.

"But this time we played some good stuff and scored two good goals."

Bowyer got the first but Newcastle only held the advantage for seven minutes before Stelios equalised no more than Wanderers deserved for an impressive first half display.

No one expected at that point that the Whites would lose their way so alarmingly.

"Bolton are never an easy team to play against," Bowyer said. "It was always going to be a battle, but we came out on top, even if the first half wasn't always pretty.

"I think we over-ran them in the second half. I cannot remember them having a shot after the break, whereas we might have scored a few more, so the 2-1 final scoreline didn't flatter us at all." It certainly irritated Allardyce, who can take defeat but cannot accept his team handing the initiative to the opposition and inviting trouble in the way they did.

Apart from Vincent Candela's solo attempt that promised much but ended with a wild shot, Wanderers had nothing to offer going forward in the second period and they allowed themselves to be pushed so far back that there was an inevitablity about Newcastle's matchwinner.

The difference was that, having made things happen in the first half, they allowed Newcastle to call the tune - not advisable at St James' Park.

Allardyce had hoped Newcastle would fade after having played two big cup ties in five days but it was Wanderers, supposedly refreshed after their training break in Tenerife, who looked the more jaded side at the end.

They missed the drive of El-Hadji Diouf, who was still suffering the effects of the ankle injury he picked up playing for Senegal, and it would have been interesting had Nicky Hunt not had to withdraw after just 14 minutes with his shoulder dislocated.

That forced the abandonment of the Candela-Gardner left wing alliance - a combination Allardyce hit on during the FA Cup tie against Fulham when he sent on the Jamaican to play in a more attacking position than he has been accustomed to in recent seasons, knowing he could also provide good defensive cover.

And the manager is not alone in thinking Gardner may be best suited to that role.

"This is his natural position," Stelios said. "He does best in this position because he is a natural attacking player.

"In my opinion, this position fits him better."