ONLINE POLL - Hull City 1 Newcastle United 4: Pardew faces FA punishment as headbutt overshadows Hull loss

Having watched his side come away from Cardiff a week earlier with three valuable points and a growing reputation for being something of a Premier League threat, he could only stand and watch as seven days later the same team was humbled on their home turf.

Ignoring the touchline shenanigans involving Alan Pardew and David Meyler, this defeat at the hands of Newcastle was a poor one.

Pardew’s astonishing headbutt on the Tigers’ midfielder was always bound to take the headlines, but that will prove little comfort for Bruce – even if he did find time for a smile in the post-match press conference when asked about Pardew’s moment of madness.

“He’s apologised to us as a club and as far as I’m concerned the matter’s over,” he said. “I’ve never seen or witnessed anything like that.

“There’s no question that Alan’s led with his head and he’s obviously lost it. I’m sure Alan will regret it and he’ll look at himself later on and think ‘what the hell have I done?’ We’re all in a state of shock. It’s for Alan to live with and deal with the consequences.

“I would imagine Alan would be in serious trouble, serious trouble.

“To be honest, he’s lucky that he didn’t get one back. Then he would have been in serious trouble. A 25-year-old against a 50-year-old is a mismatch, isn’t it?”

Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has confirmed the organisation will investigate the 72nd-minute incident which saw Pardew sent off by referee Kevin Friend – the Magpies boss judged to be the main aggressor in an ugly tussle sparked when Meyler barged into the 52-year-old while attempting to retrieve the ball for a throw-in.

Pardew appeared to move his head towards the former Sunderland midfielder, who was later commended by Bruce for not making more of the contact.

Yet while the Republic of Ireland international midfielder’s actions perhaps warded off an even more explosive melee, Pardew admitted he had crossed a line and conceded he would be “stupid” not to expect the FA to come down hard on him in the coming days.

He has already been fined £100,000 by his club and can expect harsh treatment by the FA.

He said: “He was right on top of me and I wanted to just ease him away from me but obviously I put my head in a forward motion. I want to apologise to him, everyone at Hull and obviously my own fans as well.

“I don’t think it was a headbutt. It wasn’t a motion that was quick.

“Sometimes when you’re on the sideline like that you can get involved in a moment like that. It was an incident that just flared up all around me. I just wanted to get him away, but with the forward motion – you can’t do that.

“Of course, I’m not stupid enough to accept there’s going to be no punishment. I’ll have to accept whatever comes my way.

“I believe my behaviour over the years has not resulted in too many fines and sitting in the stands, but this one probably will.”

The incident took the gloss off a superb display by the Magpies, who had been goal-shy in recent weeks but exploded into life on Saturday thanks to Moussa Sissoko’s brace and one each for Loic Remy and Vurnon Anita.

The mood at the KC had earlier been one of confidence at kick-off, and with good cause given Hull’s record against teams from the north-east this season, with their league double over Sunderland having been supplemented by a thrilling 3-2 win over Newcastle in the first meeting in September, and victory over Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

Adding to the feel-good factor were the recalls handed to in-form strike duo Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic, the January signings having been cup-tied for the Tigers’ FA Cup win over Brighton on Monday.

Tom Huddlestone, Alex Bruce and Liam Rosenior also featured as manager Bruce reverted to the starting line-up from the previous weekend’s 4-0 win at Cardiff.

Hull’s first foray into the opponents’ half nearly ended in a goal when Huddlestone’s free-kick found Bruce at the back post but his header from point-blank range was somehow kept out by Tim Krul, who then denied the Hull defender a second time.

Hull’s frustration was doubled within 30 seconds as Newcastle broke quickly, the ball eventually coming to Mathieu Debuchy down the right whose low pull-back was met with a sweet first-time effort from Sissoko beyond the helpless Alan McGregor.

Hull had chances to equalise as Jelavic fired a free-kick against the crossbar and Ahmed Elmohamady headed wastefully wide.

They were made to pay as Maynor Figueroa under-hit a backpass which was seized upon by Remy, who rounded McGregor before slotting into an empty net.

Hull needed a speedy response at the start of the second half and that is exactly what they got as they immediately pulled one back. Huddlestone’s free-kick was delivered into a crowd of players on the edge of the six-yard box, with Davies hanging in the air and nodding beyond Krul.

Yet Hull’s hopes of a successful fightback were dashed within moments, a loose touch by Huddlestone in midfield inviting Sissoko to lead the breakaway.

His pass picked out Gouffran who drilled a low shot that was only parried by McGregor, and it was Sissoko who lapped up the rebound. Hull struggled to mount a response in what time remained before Anita added the gloss with a fourth in stoppage time.

Bruce said: “We’ve made more mistakes (on Saturday) than I’ve remembered us making in six months. Collectively and individually we’ve made just basic, bad, schoolboy errors.”

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Hull City: McGregor, Elmohamady, Davies (Chester 86), Bruce, Figueroa (Koren 62), Rosenior, Livermore (Aluko 62), Huddlestone, Meyler, Jelavic, Long. Unused substitutes: Boyd, Sagbo, Harper, Quinn.

Newcastle United: Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Dummett, Sissoko, Tiote, Anita, Gouffran, De Jong (Gosling 90), Remy. Unused substitutes: Cisse, Haidara, Marveaux, Shola Ameobi, Steven Taylor, Alnwick.

Referee: K Friend (Leicestershire)