A DEVASTATING second half of vintage Peter Beardsley left bemused Villa licking their wounds.

Newcastle's 34-year-old England maestro turned the tide with two goals of stunning quality.

And Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan raved: "There's no other player in the world could have scored a goal like his second.

"If people were asked for another £15 on top of their ticket it would have been worth it just to see that."

On any other occasion Barry Venison would have earned headlines for his first Newcastle goal but his skipper stole his thunder.

Villa caused Keegan's title hopefuls all sorts of early problems, and even Venison's 31st-minute goal couldn't calm the Newcastle jitters.

And it took Villa only 10 minutes to pull level, through an Andy Townsend volley.

Whatever Keegan said during the break worked, especially on Beardsley, who set Robert Lee clear only for his shot to be stopped on the line by Paul McGrath.

So Beardsley decided to take matters into his own hands on 55 minutes. Gillespie was again the provider, but the finish was immaculate as Beardsley planted a shot firmly into the bottom corner.

But the best was yet to come and on 67 minutes Beardsley teased McGrath and Gary Charles before picking his spot.