Toon had to win it the hard way against Stevenage last time...

Newcastle United and Stevenage last met in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1998. Stevenage Borough, as they were then, were 15th in the VauxhallConference but took Kenny Dalglish's Newcastle to a replay afterGiuliano Grazioli cancelled out Alan Shearer's goal at Broadhall Way. Toon torment: Stevenage's Gary Crawshaw scores in their 1998 meeting The run up to the tie was shrouded in controversy as Newcastle made an official objection to playing at the non-league club. They sent a safety officer to the ground and declared it 'totally unsuitable.' Borough chairman Victor Green responded by accusing Newcastle of 'Big Brother' tactics, but the capacity was temporarily increased and the tie took place on January 25. Newcastle won the replay 10 days later at St James' Park thanks to two goals from Shearer, but Borough pulled one back through Gary Crawshaw. Replays later showed Shearer's first goal had not crossed the line. Paul Fairclough, Stevenage Borough manager: 'At first I was quite happy about possible moving the tie to St James' Park, but the manner in which things were done changed all that. It was shocking, the way they turned up without notice. Fight club: Alan Shearer and Mark Smith go toe to toe in the clashat Stevenage 13 years ago'By the time it came to the game we were very, very positive. 'I had gone from believing we were going to get beaten 10-0 to thinking we were going to win. 'In the replay, I had signed a player (Paul Thompson) 18 months earlier who was a Newcastle fanatic. He wasn't really fit but I named him on the bench.'I put him on with 10 minutes to go and he was frothing at the mouth. 'The first thing he did was flatten Stuart Pearce!' Former Newcastle midfielder John Barnes, who will be part of ESPN's commentary team for the FA Cup third round this weekend, said: 'When you are a Premier League side and you're playing against non-league opposition, you do take it easy. 'We didn't expect Stevenage to be that good. The majority of Stevenage's players were English and they understood what the FA Cup was about. It was another tight game up at St James' but, by then, we did take it seriously.' Mark Smith, Stevenage Borough centre-half, added: 'When I first saw the draw it was a mixture of fear and excitement.'We went to play Gateshead the week before the replay and the manager took us to St James' Park. It was far less scary when it was full than when we saw it empty. 'It looked so intimidating. To lose 2-1 was so gutting. I've kept Alan Shearer's shirt and my own shirt from that game, plus the programmes and, of course, plenty of happy memories.' Blackburn and Newcastle in fight for Uruguay defender Mauricio VictorinoNewcastle ring the changes as Alan Pardew sends trio out on loanNEWCASTLE UNITED FC: All the latest news from across the web  Explore more:People: Kenny Dalglish, Paul Fairclough, Stuart Pearce, John Barnes, Alan Shearer Places: Newcastle

Source: Daily_Mail