Before Monday night, Stoke had only lost one league game in the whole of 2011 but Demba Ba's hat-trick gave Newcastle a 3-1 win at the Britannia Stadium and took them to third in the table.

The Magpies' defence withstood the Potters' pressure, with Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor - wearing a mask to protect his broken nose - superb once again at the heart of the backline.

And Gabriel Obertan and Jonas Gutierrez were fantastic up and down the flanks, supplying the ammunition for Leon Best and hat-trick hero Ba.

It was the Senegal striker's second treble of the season and Newcastle United Club Photographer Ian Horrocks was there to bring nufc.co.uk another exclusive gallery.