VILLA briefly threatened to wreck Newcastle's party night at St James's Park but ended up slinking away like unwelcome gatecrashers.

Ron Atkinson's men were well and truly put in their place by a Magpies outfit who look destined to join them in Europe next season.

There have been some disappointing results for Villa in the wake of their Coca-Cola League Cup triumph but nothing quite as devastating as this.

With the exception of the opening quarter of an hour they were totally outclassed by Kevin Keegan's side, whose power and precision suggests they will be serious title contenders in 1994-95.

Andy Cole wrote himself into Tyneside folklore with a record-breaking 40th goal of the season while Peter Beardsley, so often Cole's provider, was on target twice on the 600th appearance of his career.

Poor Villa were left battered and bemused. The harsh reality is that the margin of defeat could have been much wider as Newcastle carved chance after chance in a one-sided second half.

All Villa had to show for the heaviest defeat of Atkinson's three-year reign was a superb 20-yard drive from German youngster Stefan Beinlich but there were few other redeeming features.

Rarely can a team have been lulled into such a false sense of security as Villa were in the opening 15 minutes.

Confidence oozed out at every corner of the impressive St James's arena as Kevin Richardson and Andy Townsend took a firm grip in midfield and Fenton created all sorts of headaches for the home defence.

Beinlich claimed his first senior goal for the club with his stunning 10th minute right-footer and, when Dave Farrell was denied only by goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek's agility four minutes later, there was every prospect of a surprise outcome.

But Keegan left his seat in the directors box and his arrival at pitchside made all the difference to a previously lethargic Magpies outfit.

Once Paul Bracewell had drilled the equaliser past Nigel Spink there was never much question about the outcome. Beardsley made it 2-1 from the penalty spot after Steve Staunton had sent him sprawling and by half-time the issue was effectively settled as Cole timed his run to perfection to accept Scott Sellars' through ball, sidestep Nigel Spink and became a record-breaker.

Any hopes of a revival were ended within a couple of minutes of the re-start when Teale was carried off with an ankle injury after Cole's tackle from behind.

Villa's long casualty list meant they didn't have a defender on the bench, so Earl Barrett switched to the centre and Tony Daley assumed an uncharacteristic role as wing back.

But it was purely a cosmetic job as Atkinson's men battled in vain to stem the tide. Beardsley drove in the fourth, Sellars made it five, and there were numerous other close calls.