Six-week-old Henry Taylor was in the crowd at St James' Park on Saturday to see his father smash home the stunning volley which ultimately secured three points at the expense of Everton and extended the Magpies' unbeaten start to the campaign to a club record-equalling 11 games. Taylor Junior may not have been too aware of what he was witnessing, but his dad, a childhood Liverpool fan, will make sure he sees it again when he is a little older. The 27-year-old full-back said: "It's the first goal his dad has scored and it was a special one against his dad's enemy, which is always nice. When he grows up, I will show him that one." Taylor's sumptuous dipping 29th-minute volley was his third goal of the season - his others were a famous derby winner at Sunderland and a Carling Cup strike against Scunthorpe - and will have been a source of satisfaction for manager Alan Pardew for more than one reason. The former Wigan player said: "The gaffer encourages me to shoot every week. You can get chances to shoot and today I took one of them. "I'm sure he will be delighted just as much as me because he is screaming from the sidelines to shoot whenever I get a chance, so it worked out well. "But it's not really about scoring goals when you are playing in a defence. "If we can keep it tight at the back and I can chip in with a few goals, then so be it, but the main thing for us at the back is to try to keep clean sheets and try to win games." Winning games has become something of a welcome habit for the Magpies in recent weeks, and having briefly gone second for a few hours before Manchester United replaced them after a narrow victory over Sunderland, they will return after the international break brimming with confidence. Leaders Manchester City and then United and Chelsea await them, but they will approach a desperately difficult run of fixtures believing they can get something from each of them. To do so, they will have to demonstrate at least the same amount of resilience they showed to emerge victorious from their clash with Everton. They led 2-0 through John Heitinga's 12th-minute own goal and Taylor's missile, but while they may have just shaded the first half, the visitors created chances of their own. David Moyes' men finally got their reward in injury time when Jack Rodwell powered home Royston Drenthe's corner, and they were convinced they were denied a 54th-minute penalty when former Magpie Louis Saha's shot struck Everton old boy Dan Gosling on the arm, but incurred no action from referee Andre Marriner. Newcastle, who lost Yohan Cabaye before the break and Sylvain Marveaux shortly after it to groin injuries, had to weather something of a storm during the final 45 minutes, but without keeper Tim Krul having to come to their rescue too often. Despite striker Leon Best having to limp off with groin and toe injuries 17 minutes from time, they managed to hang on to leave their fans in celebratory mood. Pardew said: "Let them dream. We will keep it realistic in the dressing room, but they can dream." Moyes was disappointed to be leaving Tyneside empty-handed, but blamed his side's defensive fragility for the defeat. He said: "We created lot of chances in the first half, but if you miss them, then... "It should still have been 0-0, but we gave them two very simple goals from our point of view, the first one especially. "The second one wasn't an awful lot better, but at least you give the boy a bit of credit for a terrific finish. "But we didn't deal with the long throw, we only half-cleared it and the boy volleyed it in. "But the first one, the own goal, was a joke." Meanwhile, Pardew will hope his injury list shortens over the next fortnight, although Best and Cabaye seem unlikely to be available to the Republic of Ireland and France respectively next week. The Newcastle boss said: "Yohan will have to go to France, so we will be keen to see what they say. We think he's got no chance of playing for them, but we will see. "Leon will have to report, but I don't think he's going to play, so it's a shame for him."
