Michael Owen came off the bench to earn Newcastle a win over a Bolton side who paid the price for a missed penalty.
The visitors had a chance to take the lead when Steven Taylor handled a cross but Kevin Nolan saw his spot-kick saved by Magpies keeper Shay Given.
Owen punished the miss when he headed in a Geremi cross at the far post.
James Milner missed a free Newcastle header from 10 yards but, despite Nolan nodding wide and having a shot blocked, the home side held on for the win.
<!-- E SF -->
The hard-fought victory continues the promising start the Tyneside club have made to the campaign after their season-opening draw at Manchester United.
The point at Old Trafford had created an air of expectation around St James' Park but that quelled early on by an attritional Bolton side.
The visitors allowed Newcastle plenty of possession as they sat back and challenged the home side to find a way through their massed ranks.
Bolton suffered a setback when striker Johan Elmander had to hobble off injured but a sign of their tactics came as defensive midfielder Gavin McCann was brought on in place of the Swede.
And, when Newcastle did catch a backtracking Bolton out with a pacy attack after clearing a corner, Joey O'Brien cynically brought down Jonas Gutierrez.
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=231 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5>
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 20 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.</TD><TD class=sib606><!-- E ILIN -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->
Newcastle briefly stirred the crowd by penning Bolton back and Nicky Butt and Milner had shots blocked but the Magpies lacked the creativity to unlock Bolton.
JLloyd Samuel curled a shot wide from edge of box for the visitors in a rare Bolton attack before the visitors were awarded a penalty the other side of the interval.
Taylor was punished for handling a cross but was reprieved when Given dived low to his left to keep out Nolan's spot-kick.
Owen then saw a six-yard header saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen, who scrambled the ball away before Fabricio Coloccini could pounce to put in the rebound.
But Owen showed his customary clinical form in front of goal shortly afterwards when he converted Geremi's cross to send the home crowd into raptures.
Milner's miss then almost came back to haunt the home side but Nolan could not make the most of his two late chances.
Linear Mode
