Owen goal saves Newcastle

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United drew a scrappy Premier League relegation clash 1-1 at Birmingham City on Monday leaving coach Kevin Keegan still without a win in eight league matches since returning to the club.

James McFadden put Birmingham ahead with a well taken goal after muscling Abdoulaye Faye out of his way to latch on to a long David Murphy cross before striking from close range after 33 minutes.

Michael Owen, denied by a great save from Maik Taylor after 50 minutes, equalised for Newcastle six minutes later when he darted between two defenders to stab home the rebound after Taylor had saved from Obafemi Martins.

"Overall I was pleased with the performance but we weren't really good enough in the first half," Keegan told Setanta Sports.

"It was much better in the second half though and we probably just edged this match over the 90 minutes."

The draw lifted Newcastle one spot to 14th with 29 points from 30 matches, while Birmingham rose from 17th to 16th taking their tally to 27 points from 30 games.

Bolton Wanderers (25 points), Fulham (23) and Derby County (10) occupy the bottom three slots.

Birmingham dominated much of the first half against a Newcastle side looking devoid of confidence after four successive defeats and 12 league matches without a win since beating Fulham in mid-December.