Benni McCarthy's 22nd goal of the season and Jason Roberts' 73rd-minute strike were more than enough to claim the points as the Magpies imploded in their final home game of the campaign with Owen passing up both the chances which came his way.

Too often boos have rung out around St James' Park this season, and the cacophony which greeted the final whistle heaped further pressure on beleaguered manager Glenn Roeder, whose hopes of dispelling the speculation surround Sam Allardyce and his future were dashed in comprehensive style.

The Magpies, who have won just one of their last 10 Barclays Premiership games and scored only three goals, can no longer reach the Intertoto Cup and now face a bloody inquest with chairman Freddy Shepherd far from amused in his seat in the directors' box.

By contrast, Rovers head into the final week of the season dreaming of Europe after a deserved victory on Tyneside.

Owen's return - he last played at St James' on December 10, 2005 - had given the black and white faithful hope of a positive finish to a poor season, but it was the same old story for Roeder's sorry troops.

Where Tugay's creativity and the movement of McCarthy and strike partner Roberts caused the home side problems at regular intervals, the Magpies were disjointed in the middle of the park and, despite the presence of their £17million man, toothless in attack.

With Titus Bramble criminally wasteful in possession at the back and he and Oguchi Onyewu, a replacement for the injured Steven Taylor, looking painfully inadequate in their battle with Rovers' front two, it was a frustrating opening 45 minutes for the Toon Army.

It might have been very different had Kieron Dyer's fifth-minute header from a Stephen Carr cross not been turned around the post by Brad Friedel, or had any of the flurry of chances which came their way in the closing stages of the half been converted.

Ryan Nelsen got in a vital challenge to prevent Owen from firing home from Scott Parker's flick-on after 40 minutes, but the Newcastle captain should have done better seconds later when the striker returned the favour only for him to scuff his effort straight at Brad Friedel.

The American then turned away James Milner's curling free-kick, but he should have been beaten on the stroke of half-time when, after he could only punch Nolberto Solano's driven cross to Owen, the England international drilled his shot high over.

But in the meantime, the visitors had taken the lead in controversial circumstances when McCarthy got the benefit of a marginal offside decision - he looked yards offside at full speed - to thump Stephen Warnock's 14th-minute cross past Steve Harper.

Shay Given's deputy kept his side in it with a fine save from Morten Gamst Pedersen 11 minutes before the break after Bentley had skipped past Carr and Milner to cross from the right, and Rovers had a goal correctly ruled out for offside seconds later with Roeder's men in disarray at the back.

Newcastle returned in determined mood and Parker found himself in the thick of the action during the opening minutes of the half, first just failing to reach Owen's flick-on and then seeing Milner's driven cross cannon off him and drop wide of the target.

As they pushed for the equaliser, the home side left gaps at the back and they were fortunate to escape on 53 minutes when McCarthy and Bentley combined to play Roberts in, only for an offside flag to wrongly halt his progress.

Having seen too little of the ball previously, Owen turned provider, outstripping Nelsen on the left before lifting his cross high over the arriving support.

Rovers should have taken advantage after 59 minutes when the unmarked Pedersen dragged his left-footed shot across the face of goal, but with Milner making an impact once again, the Magpies were establishing a momentum.

They might have levelled after 69 minutes when Owen, who had seconds earlier had claims for a penalty for a trip by Samba waved away, rounded Friedel, but saw his shot from a tight angle headed off the line by the Congo international.

Roeder introduced Shola Ameobi and Peter Ramage for Dyer and Bramble on 70 minutes, but the game was over when Roberts was handed the simplest of tasks by Bentley to head past Harper.

The life went out of Newcastle and although Martins fired across the face of goal five minutes from time, the game - like their season - was long gone.

Under-pressure Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder remained defiant in the face of concerted protests after seeing his side capitulate in their final home game of a disastrous season.

There were chants of "Taxi for Roeder", "Shepherd out" and "Sack the Board" after the Magpies failed to score in a fifth successive league game at St James' Park for the first time since 1951 and slumped to a 2-0 defeat by Blackburn.

Roeder has spent the week trying to deal with speculation that Sam Allardyce is being lined up to replace him, and there is little doubt chairman Freddy Shepherd faces a tough decision.

However, Roeder was refusing to throw in the towel 12 months after winning the job by guiding his side into Europe.

He said: "Chants like that happen in football stadiums around the world. I understand the fans' frustration.

"When I see my team create chances and miss them, I am as disappointed as any of the fans because I know the importance of winning games when you are a manager.

"But it has not made me lose any confidence in myself. I am very much the same person who was here last year who had a fantastic finish to the season.

"I have not changed as a person. Of course I understand, 100% understand, where the fans are coming from.

"They want a winning Newcastle team and I also want a winning Newcastle team. At the moment, we have not been winning and I understand their frustration.

"To win matches, you need to score goals and we have not done that for four, five, six weeks now, and that has cost us greatly.

"I do understand their feelings."

Kieron Dyer passed up a glorious opportunity to put the home side ahead with a fifth-minute header which was turned away by Brad Friedel, but it was largely downhill from there for the Magpies.

Benni McCarthy claimed his 22nd goal of the season on 14 minutes despite looking suspiciously offside, and after Michael Owen - playing his first game at St James' since December 10, 2005 - saw a 69th-minute shot cleared off the line by Christopher Samba, Jason Roberts wrapped up a deserved victory with his fifth in as many games.

Roeder's players were initially roundly booed when they returned to the pitch to thank the fans for their support this season, and some remained to protest for more than an hour after the final whistle.

Roeder added: "My determination could not be increased anyway, it is always flat-out. I am always striving to do better, like I expect my players to."

Rovers boss Mark Hughes had sympathy for Roeder.

He said: "It is very difficult. We are all judged on results. We have to win Premier League games.

"Points at Premier League level are like gold dust. They are so valuable to everybody and when you don't gain Premier League points, then people are not happy, and that is understandable."

Hughes was delighted, but not surprised, by his side's performance.

He added: "I thought we were good value today. We created numerous chances in the first half and the only frustration at half-time was we were only one goal to the good.

"We were a little bit frustrated that we had not converted more of the chances we created.

"You expect a response from Newcastle, they always try to put you under pressure.

"But we set our stall out and we were really strong today defensively. The two centre-halves and the full-backs coped with everything and in an attacking sense, we were excellent.

"We got the second goal and, from that point onwards, we were never in any danger of losing the game."