“We were very fortunate against Fulham the other week and you earn your luck. Our defending in the first half wasn’t good enough, especially in the opening 20 minutes. It was a terrible own goal to concede.” DAVID MOYES was honest about his side’s shortcomings.

“What we want to do is make sure we keep our momentum and confidence through those three games and when you’re coming up against the teams we’re coming up against it’s easy to get that knocked.” ALAN PARDEW dwells on the approach of the sort of tough run Everton have just endured.

STOP me if you’ve heard this one before – Everton undid themselves with sloppy defending, sorely lacked any creative edge and had a controversial refereeing decision go against them.

Not much of a gag, granted, but then there’s very little to laugh about for those of a blue persuasion lately.

The all-too familiar tale of woe that has dogged the Blues so far this season continued on Tyneside, where there was no place to hide for the visitors in the all-amber strip.

The fiercest blaze Everton’s players will have seen on bonfire night was the look in their manager’s eyes at half-time, after a 30-minute first half spell that probably represented their worst football this season. No longer just a blip in form, this fifth defeat in six games is close to becoming a decline which could seriously undermine any ambitions of a memorable season for David Moyes’ men.

With the best part of two months remaining until reinforcements even become a possibility, it’s time the Toffees became difficult to score against, and tough to beat again.

You could hardly say they made it difficult for a buoyant Newcastle to take the lead, even if Alan Pardew’s men were without influential performers Cheik Tiote and Gabriel Obertan.

Quite how a defence containing two England internationals, a Dutch World Cup finalist, and the US goalkeeper conspired to concede this game’s opening goal is baffling.

Newcastle advanced a fairly routine attack, and right-back Danny Simpson’s low cross into the area should have been dealt with comfortably.

Instead John Heitinga either didn’t hear, or didn’t receive, the shout from Tim Howard, and prodded the ball into his own net as Demba Ba lurked nearby.

By comparison there was precious little Everton could do about Newcastle’s second, apart maybe from clearing their lines more emphatically. Former Tranmere Rovers defender Ryan Taylor seized on a loose ball outside the visitor’s area and unleashed an unstoppable dipping strike that gave Howard no chance.

In celebration, the Liverpool supporter evoked Bebeto’s popular cradle-swing gesture to mark his baby son’s arrival.

But worryingly for Everton, Newcastle aren’t quite Brazil.

It’s not that the Magpies don’t deserve their lofty position in the Premier League table – their big-club status is underlined with regular 50,000 plus crowds and their current idols are well-drilled, dangerous in attack and spirited.

But even though they have flourished on a bedrock of defensive resilience this term, thanks to inspirational captain Fabricio Coloccini, they seemed vulnerable when Everton attacked.

More’s the pity then that Moyes’ troops couldn’t really test Tim Krul. Royston Drenthe, who had already switched flanks with Seamus Coleman, whipped a dangerous cross into the area that Jack Rodwell headed straight at the Newcastle keeper. Seconds later Everton went close again, this time an otherwise subdued Leon Osman flashed a shot directly into the Dutchman’s arms.

Indeed, not long after Taylor’s stunner the Toffees should have scored. Coleman burst down the left and cut the ball across for Phil Neville to shoot at goal. The skipper’s strike was intercepted by Saha who tried his own luck and hit the angle of post, and Drenthe lashed the rebound into the side netting.

A goal did arrive eventually. Just before the interval, Rodwell continued his own impressive run of form with a bullet header from Drenthe’s corner.

Only Everton had won on Tyneside this calendar year, a run of 14 games, and Pardew had hinted before the game that a point would not be deemed a failure.

But Everton’s fine victory at St James’ Park in March was largely thanks to an inspired performance by Mikel Arteta, and a lot has changed in the ensuing months.

There’s no Arteta any more for starters, and even though the second period saw Newcastle’s Sylvain Marveaux join first-half casualty Yohan Cabaye in an early exit, Everton couldn’t capitalise.

With Apostolos Vellios injured in the warm-up, Moyes’ striking options were limited further, and the pressure remains on Saha to convert more of his opportunities.

The Frenchman is rarely far off-target, but appeared increasingly isolated in the second half.

Everton had lost skipper Phil Neville to injury, and his replacement Sylvain Distin lent some previously lacking cohesion to their defensive efforts – but the arrival of Tim Cahill in the 55th minute added some even more sorely lacking attacking edge.

Much to their manager’s bemusement – and quiet derision afterwards – Everton were denied a late chance to grab a point by referee Andre Marriner, who failed to spot sub Dan Gosling handle Saha’s goal-bound strike in the area.

But, for all their ensuing bluster, it was the only gilt-edged chance Everton had as the quality of their attacks withered.

From being frustrated at the start of October after losing two consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years, the Blues have lost with alarming regularity since.

Their confidence may well be wounded, but losing simply cannot be allowed to become a habit.

NEWCASTLE UNITED: (4-4-2) Krul, Simpson, Taylor, Coloccini, Taylor, Guthrie, Cabaye (Gosling, 37) Gutierrez, Marveaux (Ameobi, 53) Best (Ben Arfa, 72), Ba. Subs not used: Elliot, Santon, Lovenkrands, Perch.

EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert (McFadden 82), Jagielka, Heitinga (Cahill, 55), Baines, Rodwell, Neville (Distin, 40) Coleman, Drenthe, Osman, Saha. Subs not used: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi, Barkley. Bookings: Heitinga, Baines, Drenthe.

GOALS: Heitinga og 12, R Taylor 29; Rodwell 45+2.

GOALS: Heitinga og 12, R Taylor 29; Rodwell 45+2.

CARDS: Booked – R Taylor; Heitinga, Baines, Drenthe.

REFEREE: Andre Marriner.

ATTENDANCE: 50, 671.