KARL Robinson hailed a memorable day as Oxford United rose to the occasion to claim a draw at a packed St James' Park.
The 0-0 draw means both they and Newcastle United will be in the hat on Monday night for the Emirates FA Cup fifth round draw.
And the replay at the Kassam Stadium should stand a good chance of being televised, which would net another windfall for United.
Match report: Newcastle Utd 0, Oxford Utd 0
But in the short term, Robinson was just thrilled for his players and the 3,710 supporters who made the long journey.
He said: "It’s a fantastic day, one you’ll remember for a long time to come.
"I want to say a massive thank you to those wonderful supporters, who lit that dark top end of the stand with their yellow.
"I’m really proud of the players’ dedication, attention to detail, effort, team spirit."
He added: "We were nowhere near comfortable because of the quality of the opposition, but I thought we kept them in good areas and made it a very good cup tie.
"You were always on the edge of your seat, there was never a dull moment in it."
United can also be encouraged by the fact they should be able to field a stronger team by the time the replay comes around in the first week of February.
Matty Taylor, Cameron Brannagan and James Henry were all frustrated spectators on Tyneside, but could all feature in the rematch.
Robinson said: "We were the team that weren’t at full strength.
"Hopefully we can bring some players back in now over the next few weeks and make ourselves even more competitive by the next time we play them."
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