GENTLE giant Martin Taylor risked a family feud by daring to upstage Alan Shearer on his big day as Newcastle were made to suffer at the hands of an exiled Geordie.

Taylor was born and bred in the North East, barely a goal-kick away from St James's Park, and many of those closest to him are fervent Newcastle followers who regard Shearer as a God-like figure.

But that failed to stop the 22-year-old from stealing the legendary striker's thunder with a goalscoring milestone of his own as Rovers romped to their biggest victory of the season.

All the talk in the build-up to this contest had focused on the fact that Shearer needed just one more goal to take him past the 300 barrier and, in true style, he duly obliged with two typical pieces of opportunism to haul United back from the brink.

But Taylor then put family loyalty to one side and responded with a timely double-salvo of his own after Rovers had threatened to push the self-destruct button once again.

It was the first time the England Under 21 international had scored twice in a professional game but the fact it came against the Magpies left him with some explaining to do when he got home.

"I'm sure I'll come in for some stick but I'm not bothered about that because it was important we got the three points," quipped Taylor.

"All the lads were delighted in the dressing room after the game.

"We've got some tough games coming up in the next few weeks so to get a good home win under our belts should help to raise everyone's confidence."

Once again, it was classic Rovers - wonderful one minute then woeful the next.

After Nikos Dabizas saw red in the fourth minute for a deliberate handball, some of Rovers' attacking play going forward was a joy to behold as they tore the Magpies to shreds in the opening half hour.

David Dunn ran the show in midfield, the movement between Egil Ostenstad and Dwight Yorke up front caused United all kinds of problems, and David Thompson and Keith Gillespie provided plenty of thrust from the flanks as they cruised into a seemingly unassailable lead.

But this Rovers team is never more vulnerable than when it's 2-0 up against a team reduced to 10 men.

Suddenly the nerves set in, passes went astray, all semblance of a team shape disappeared, and Shearer didn't need a second invitation to score the goals to drag United back from the point of no return.

At that point, only one team looked capable of winning it, but then Rovers somehow pulled themselves together as Taylor led the fightback.

United's afternoon could hardly have got off to a worse possible start as Dabizas saw red when he handled a shot from Yorke on the goal-line before he'd had time to work up a bead of sweat.

From then on, they were always facing a mountain to climb.

Dabizas's faux pas allowed Dunn to fire Rovers in front from the penalty spot and the England midfielder then doubled the lead five minutes later when he drilled a low shot under Shay Given following clever work by Gillespie.

Shearer - who else? - grabbed the Geordies a lifeline in the 35th minute when he scored his 300th goal of a remarkable career from the penalty spot after referee Alan Wiley had spotted an unnecessary push by Lucas Neill.

And United's revival then gathered pace after the break when Shearer exposed Rovers' defensive frailties again by claiming his second with a brilliant header from a Laurent Robert corner.

However, just as the home side looked set to cave in, they suddenly awoke from their slumber and effectively killed the game off with two goals in the space of nine minutes.

First, Taylor stole in at the far post to grab the third on 55 minutes after United's defence failed to deal with a Thompson corner.

Then, Shay Given - who endured a torrid time on his return to Ewood - fumbled a Gillespie header and the ball struck Andy O'Brien before trickling over the line.

With the points now safely in the bag, Souness took the opportunity to introduce Matt Jansen from the bench for what was his first taste of Premiership action since he suffered a serious head injury in a motorbike accident during the summer.

He got a thunderous reception to underline just how badly he has been missed.

It's clearly going to take him a while to regain the kind of sharpness which carried him to the verge of the England squad but the fact he is simply playing football again is a major achievement in itself.

He very nearly capped his comeback with a goal but for two saves from Given.

As it was, it was left to the ever dependable Taylor to put the icing on the cake when he added a fifth in the 74th minute with a towering header from another Thompson corner.

It was an emphatic ending to an enthralling drama.

Rovers 5 Newcastle 2

Dunn 4 (p), 9 Taylor 55, 74 O'Brien (og) 64; Shearer 35 (p), 48