Full-time: Newcastle United 2 Hull City 2

SEVEN days after Newcastle United turned in the sort of performance that often gets a manager the sack, a spirited comeback for a beleaguered boss suggested Alan Pardew still has the majority of the dressing room fighting for him.

While strong sections of the fan-base have clearly had enough of Pardew’s approach to the job, he had every right to emerge from an afternoon of protest and surprise satisfied with a display of unity laid on by his team and that had its own impact in the stands.

This was supposed to be the day when the Newcastle boss experienced at close hand the true extent of the feelings towards him on Tyneside, with a large percentage of the support known to have lost confidence in his methods.

Instead there was hardly even a jeer at the final whistle, where the majority of supporters inside St James’ Park were actually left heartened by a display against Hull City which few could have envisaged after the St Mary’s debacle the previous weekend.

Considering Pardew was made aware of the 30,000 ‘Sack Pardew’ leaflets being distributed around the city before the game and how he had avoided some of his post-match media duties on the South Coast, his decision to front up in a dignified manner to those demanding his removal was clearly noted by many.

It is not the end of the situation by any stretch. As soon as Newcastle lose again, the calls for him to be replaced will strengthen once more and he needs to find that elusive first Premier League win of the season soon – particularly with trips to Stoke and Swansea followed by a home date with Leicester on the horizon.

But Pardew, who stood prominently in his technical area from start to finish, has bought himself time with some fans, or at least his players have. After falling two goals down with 22 minutes remaining courtesy of Nikica Jelavic’s volley and Mohammed Diame’s left-foot stunner, Hull City should have been home and dry. Instead, with the Sack Pardew brigade finding their voice, Newcastle were galvanised by the introduction of Papiss Cisse.

The Senegal striker, who has been targeted by Russian and Middle East clubs in the last nine months, was not even fit enough to play but such was Pardew’s desperation he threw him on anyway and he gave the side exactly what they have lacked – a goal poacher.

“It’s not like this was just about the manager and the fans, we are Newcastle players and if you’re on the pitch you have to try to do your best and I did,” said Cisse. “The manager said he needed me and I scored. He said as well that he thought I’d score. I just do my job.

"I know it's been very, very hard for him (Pardew). It's been hard for him this week. In the video room together, he said that we had to be disciplined and work hard together as a team. We had to forget everything else and concentrate on the pitch and play football. That was what we did.”

This was not a complete Newcastle performance, far from it. After collecting just nine points from a 15-game run dating back to March, a victory was required. Yet at least there were signs of togetherness and determination to grind out a result when it would have been easy to throw in the towel after falling two down in the second half.

It had been a decent enough display before Cisse’s introduction, but Emmanuel Riviere did not look dangerous enough in the penalty area. Remy Cabella had the best of the earlier chances, but he was wasteful and never really looked like possessing the quality to score beyond Allan McGregor.

After Jelavic had acrobatically volleyed in Ahmed Elmohamady’s centre and Diame had stroked in a brilliant second, Cisse had to deliver. The African has struggled for form over the last 18 months but, in the absence of departed competition such as Loic Remy and Demba Ba, he had a smile on his face again and Pardew will hope that remains the case at least until January.

Newcastle need the £9m man to rediscover his scoring touch more often, having shown he still knows exactly how to find dangerous positions and capitalise.

"It's not pressure for me that the side have needed goals,” said Cisse, whose last goal was in March. “I'm just happy. It's just a case of going to play football and enjoying it. It's been a long time out with injury but I have kept my smile all the time.

“In training, I have been happy all the time. I'm just a happy man. I came back from injury, and scored two goals and gained one point for the team. I think the team worked very, very hard. If you see all the game, Newcastle did well and I'm just a happy man. Last year was very, very hard.”

After pulling one back when Cisse controlled the impressive Cheik Tiote’s through pass before unleashing a low drive inside McGregor’s near post 17 minutes from time, he had the taste for another.

With just three minutes remaining, Cisse’s charge in to the six yard box was rewarded when he turned in Yoan Gouffran’s knock down after Moussa Sissoko’s deep cross from the left. Newcastle had claimed an unlikely point to spare Pardew’s blushes.

As the embattled Newcastle boss headed straight for the tunnel, the match saviour had his moment with the fans to celebrate after the final whistle. If Cisse can repeat the trick more often, he could well be the man to keep Pardew in a job.