Birmingham City 1 Newcastle United 1: Cavalier Keegan rescued by Owen

At half-time the obituaries were being written; at full-time the reports of Kevin Keegan's demise proved, again, to be premature. Early but, maybe not, erroneous. So miserable has been the Messiah's return to Newcastle that a desperately eked out draw away to Birmingham City felt like the victory he has failed to achieve in his nine matches so far as his team has slid remorselessly towards the relegation places.

In the end there was relief. Relief that a fifth successive defeat had been avoided, relief that Birmingham had not leap-frogged them in the league table, relief that, for once, embarrassment had been fended off. And relief that they scored. That goal, just the fourth under Keegan, owed much to Michael Owen's predatory instinct. It has appeared to desert him but the way in which the striker broke through three Birmingham defenders, who were all closer to the ball than him, to poke home Obafemi Martins' parried shot was an echo of the past in what was his 300th league start.

St Andrew's has been a happy stadium for Owen, who has now scored on each of his three visits, although whether he did enough to impress the watching England manager, Fabio Capello, with the friendly away to France looming, remains to be seen. The Italian, however, may have raised an eyebrow at one of Keegan's touchline decisions – withdrawing Martins who had been Newcastle's best player.

The Nigerian, like the fit-again Mark Viduka, making his first start under Keegan as the manager went for bust with a cavalier three-pronged attack that may just prove his salvation, appeared bewildered. He refused to shake Keegan's hand and wriggled out of his grip as the latter, clearly embarrassed by the furore, attempted to put his arm around the striker.

By then, however, Keegan had settled for a point that had appeared beyond his charges as Birmingham dominated the first half and should have gone in with more than just James McFadden's goal to their credit. But they appeared beset by nerves, as much as by Newcastle's revival, and once again avoided defeat but also victory. They have now managed just one win in 10 league games.

Whether they come to rue their wastefulness will soon become apparent even if they appear obdurate enough to survive in this league. They were gifted chances by woeful defending – Steven Taylor presenting Mikael Forssell with the ball, only for McFadden's shot to be deflected wide, and then the Finn bobbled another effort past the post before Radhi Jaidi wasted a header – but failed to take them before, eventually, McFadden did strike. From David Murphy's cross, the Scotland international easily rolled a leaden Abdoulaye Faye and calmly poked the ball into the net as goalkeeper Steven Harper desperately tried to reach him. It was his fourth goal since joining Birmingham for £6m in January.

For Newcastle the frustration grew. Nicky Butt was dumped into the dug-outs and quickly sought retribution, rashly catching Sebastian Larsson and earning a caution. It proved, however, to be a decisive moment. The Swede damaged knee ligaments and was withdrawn at half-time. One of Birmingham's most accomplished performers, his departure unsettled the home side even if McFadden again turned Faye, who was having a tortured evening, only for Taylor to rush from goal and block before he also smothered Forssell's effort.

After that, a switch appeared to be flicked. And it was Martins who provided the spark. Newcastle had fed off meagre scraps – their best opportunity came when Stephen Kelly volleyed towards his own goal – before, from a corner, the ball bounced off Forssell and landed at Owen's feet. He attempted to flick it beyond Maik Taylor but the goalkeeper spread himself and brilliantly diverted the ball off his chest.

It left the visiting fans in despair but, soon, there was jubilation as Martins won a header inside the Birmingham area and then reacted quickest to fire in a powerful shot that Taylor parried, but only for Owen to jab it home. It was his seventh goal of the season and his third under Keegan.

Martins forced Taylor into a fine low save while the Irish international's fingers were stung by a drive by José Enrique before Geremi's inswinging cross skimmed off Faye's head at the far post. But, with Martins' departure, the impetus, if not the point, was lost.

Goals: McFadden (33) 1-0; Owen (55) 1-1.

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Taylor; Kelly, Ridgewell, Jaidi, Murphy; Larsson (Parnaby, h-t), Muamba, Johnson, McSheffrey; Forssell (Jerome, 71), McFadden (Zarate, 86). Substitutes not used: Doyle (gk), Nafti.

Newcastle United (4-3-3): Harper; Beye, Taylor, Faye, Enrique; Geremi, Butt, Barton; Owen, Viduka, Martins (N'Zogbia, 80). Substitutes not used: Forster (gk), Da Silva, Smith, Carroll.

Booked: Newcastle Taylor; Birmingham Parnavy.

Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).

Man of the match: McFadden.

Attendance: 25,777.