Colchester United fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat in their latest Premier League Cup game.
The match saw Kurtis Guthrie grab forty-five valuable minutes in his comeback from injury, as the U's ran their Premier League opponents close.
The U's started the game the brighter, before Newcastle had the ball in the net three times in the opening half - although the officials denied them on each occasion to retain parity until late in the opening forty-five minutes.
Charley Edge struck the bar with a fine free kick four minutes before the interval and, from the restart of play, the visitors took the lead.
A long pass into the box found Lee Charman and he made no mistake as he expertly finished past Dillon Barnes to make it 1-0.
Newcastle's lead was to last three minutes into the second half, as Louis Dunne got to the byline and crossed for Tariq Issa to finish past Nathan Harker to level things up.
The Magpies regained their lead midway through the half as a swift counter attack ended with the ball at the feet of Charman, and he made no mistake with another clinical finish.
The U's pressed in the remainder of the game to get level for a second time, with efforts from Eoin McKeown and Courtney Senior going just wide of the upright.
Two minutes before the end, Newcastle substitute Mackenzie Heaney clipped the outside of the post before McKeown again went agonisingly close at the death.
Newcastle took the points, but there was plenty to be positive about for Wayne Brown's side.