Reading 1 Newcastle Utd 0:Michael Owen's long-awaited return provided a chink of light at the end of Newcastle's gloomy season - but he still could not prevent a 12th away defeat in the Premiership.

Although Owen ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing against Sweden in the World Cup last June, this was his first club start since New Year's Eve 2005 when he suffered a metatarsal injury. It was an encouraging enough comeback, particularly in the first-half when he made plenty of his trademark darting runs, although he became increasingly anonymous as the game wore on.

Still, a full injury-free 90 minutes was probably beyond even Owen's expectations at the start of the night.

Instead, it was Reading's Dave Kitson - another player who has suffered an injury-ravaged season - who supplied the game's winner. Kitson was sidelined between August and January with knee problems, but clinically converted his 51st-minute chance to keep Reading on course for a European place.

South Korean Seol Ki-Hyeon's excellent cross was dummied by John Oster to allow Kitson to find space and fire a left-footed shot beyond Steve Harper. Kitson then had the chance to double the lead but he shot wide after Kevin Doyle had pounced on a sloppy pass in midfield from Dyer.

Owen did have the ball in the net six minutes later, but his run to collect Obafemi Martins' pass was premature and he was ruled offside.

READING: Hahnemann, De la Cruz, Ingimarsson, Duberry, Shorey, Ki-Hyeon, Gunnarsson (Harper 90), Oster (Bikey 90), Hunt, Doyle, Kitson (Long 89). Subs Not Used: Federici, Halford. Booked: Hunt, Kitson. Goals: Kitson 51.

NEWCASTLE: Harper, Solano, Bramble, Taylor, Carr, Milner, Emre (N'Zogbia 60), Dyer, Sibierski (Ameobi 54), Owen, Martins. Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Onyewu, Carroll.

Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).