It’s over to you Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.

When it comes to matching the excitement of Albion’s latest outing, we wish you luck. Baggies fans will gather around televisions for part two of the weekend’s drama at 7.45pm today.

By then they might just have recovered from the thrills of Saturday’s opening instalment.

A pulsating, engrossing clash at the Madejski Stadium reached a fittingly heart-stopping climax as Gabriel Tamas’s thunderous volley secured Albion a draw.

Now attention turns to Tyneside, where this evening’s events could propel Tamas and Co to within sniffing distance of another shot at the Premier League.

By 9.45pm tonight Roberto Di Matteo and his players will know precisely how useful a point they wrestled from the Royals. For now, they simply know it felt pretty damned good at 4.50pm on Saturday.

When Albion and Reading collide this season special things seem to happen.

So the 3,016 who boarded cars, trains and a fleet of free coaches to Berkshire at the weekend would have expected and hoped for another classic episode of this growing rivalry. They were not disappointed.

It had a high-octane start and a rousing finish and, between Gylfi Sigurdsson’s sixth-minute goal and Tamas’s 86th-minute equaliser, there were chances galore, penalty appeals, goalline clearances and frayed tempers.

There was a fabulous display from captain Scott Carson that Albion fans will hope can kick-start a new phase of the keeper’s Hawthorns career, which has been mired in criticism and nervousness since his big-money arrival almost two years ago.

It was Carson’s string of strong, brave blocks that kept his side in touch with their in-form hosts as Reading enjoyed the better of the chances during a fine end-to-end spectacle.

The defending from both sides would undoubtedly have left the coaches scrolling through their iPods in search of soothing music. But the disorganisation at either end just added to the tension and excitement that surrounded the game.

For 80 minutes of action the travelling Baggies army feared a fruitless afternoon without ever fully giving up on a goal, such was the open nature of the game. For a few optimistic moments after Tamas’s emphatic strike, they even dared to dream of a dramatic victory rescued from the jaws of defeat.

Ultimately the point they celebrated at full-time was a fair reward from an afternoon evenly-matched in terms of possession and invention, although the Royals might point to Carson’s showreel as evidence that they had their pockets picked.

Brian McDermott’s side, on a run of five wins from their previous six Championship games, certainly showed no fear of the Baggies, who had won their last five.

The hosts flew out the blocks with the same purpose that had bumped the Baggies out of the FA Cup, but having netted just nine seconds into the cup-tie, they took a relative age to score on Saturday.

Fully six minutes had elapsed and both sides had threatened when Albion won a corner yet found themselves a goal behind from their own set-piece.

They were sucker-punched as Reading raced away through Jobi McAnuff, who watched as his shot was saved by Carson, Jimmy Kebe’s follow-up was bundled off the line by Tamas but Sigurdsson pounced to score at the third attempt.

The pacy break that brought that goal was a warning of things to come as Albion’s back-four, often left exposed by the men in front of them, found themselves unable to deal with McAnuff, Kebe and Shane Long as the Royals’ attacking trio hit them repeatedly on the break.

Thankfully, Carson was on top form to deny McAnuff and Brian Howard with fearless blocks at their feet and, when he was beaten by the spin after stopping a Howard effort, Joe Mattock was on hand to block Sigurdsson’s follow-up on the line.

But Albion looked threatening in attack, too, with Tamas and Ben Watson heading fractionally off-target from corners, James Morrison drawing a smart save from Adam Federici and surprise starter Chris Wood bending a shot just wide. All this before half-time.

After the break Carson excelled again with a fine charge-down on Kebe and substitute Simon Church fired wastefully wide after being put clear by Howard’s chip.

But it was Albion who cranked up the pressure as they hunted a goal and, as they pinned their hosts back, the Baggies twice screamed for a penalty.

The first shout, for a handball by Matthew Mills as Dorrans darted into the box, drew most support from the players but the second, when Watson fell under Zurab Khizanishvili’s tackle, looked more compelling from the stands.

They had seemingly pulled out all the stops and failed to find a breakthrough and, as the clock ticked past 85 minutes, the stripe-clad hoards behind Federici’s goal finally began to doubt.

Then, substitute Giles Barnes made a determined burst down the right and won a corner that brought the moment of success.

Dorrans’ flag-kick was headed against the crossbar by Jonas Olsson and the travelling fans had barely finished gasping in frustration when Tamas powered the rebound into the roof of the net. There was still time for chances at both ends and Albion should have led directly from the restart.

The Scotland international incisive through-ball released substitute Ishmael Miller who raced clear, but his touch let him down at a crucial moment and Ryan Bertrand got back to block.

Then Kebe burst through the middle and got the better of Joe Mattock but, once again, Carson was equal to the task with another fine block.

In the final minute Dorrans’ persistence took him away from two defenders and gave him a run at goal, which was halted crudely by Sigurdsson 30 yards out.

By rights, the Reading goalscorer should have seen red for his professional foul but with no time left in the game a dismissal would have given scant help to Albion, who were left to reflect on another point towards their target and on their most enthralling game since they slugged it out with Newcastle in January at St James’ Park.

Which is precisely where all eyes turn tonight as the Magpies face the toughest test of their unbeaten home record since Albion came calling.

If the record is intact by the evening’s end, Albion will be halfway to dreamland. If the match lives up to the standards set on Saturday, the viewing nation will share in the Baggies’ delight.

By Steve Madeley