No matter which way you dress it up, Newcastle United gave the impression that they found it just too easy at times against little Scunthorpe United.
And unlike the 2-1 loss at Glanford Park it wasn't hard to work out which team was taking on Mansfield Town and Lincoln City seven years ago and which team was taking on Juventus and Barcelona.
The loss at Scunthorpe had caused deep hurt within the Toon camp last October, but order was more than restored here and Newcastle put the men in claret and blue firmly in their place.
Iron boss Nigel Adkins was a physio by trade at Glanford Park before being handed the job as top man, and there were more than a few broken hearts in the Scunny camp for him to deal with on what must have been a glum trip back to North Lincolnshire.
Scunny will talk about how they are punching above their weight, and it's true that they have done an exceptional job in reaching the second tier of English football on a shoestring budget playing in front of a few thousand fans every other week.
The black and whites, however, can only beat what is in front of them, and if losing to the Iron in October was a bitter pill to swallow, much solace can be taken from another morale-boosting win for the Mags.
It was really men against boys, lambs to the slaughter if you like - and as one United fan headed for the boozer to toast another step to promotion, his assessment that Scunthorpe were "no better than a pub team" was understandable in the most one-sided game of the season at Gallowgate this term, if a little harsh on Adkins' troops.
Newcastle could easily have clocked up eight or nine in front of an appreciative St James' and how it wasn't half a dozen before the break was only down to the linesman's flag, some sympathetic refereeing, Iron keeper Joe Murphy and the woodwork.
Had ref Phil Crossley been dealing in boxing terms the contest would have been stopped as Scunthorpe somehow staggered in punch drunk but only 2-0 down at the break.
They say there is a gulf in class between the Championship and the Premier League, but this was a demonstration that there is a chasm of quality between the top and bottom of the second tier.
Newcastle dominated from the first minute to the last and never looked in any danger of giving the Iron even a sniff in front of goal.
Revved up by the thought of revenge before the game after Scunny had gone over the top with their celebrations at the end of the corresponding fixture, Newcastle came out flying and the only question they were asking themselves after this one, was how they only managed to win by a mere three? They thought quicker, they passed it quicker and will only wonder why it wasn't more. Much more.
The visitors were torn apart and left battered and bruised by a side that will almost certainly be rubbing shoulders, or rubbing bruises, with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal again next term.
Scunthorpe - haunted by relegation to League One - had looked forward to playing at St James' Park ever since the Mags crashed out of the Premier League.
Sorry, make that BEFORE Newcastle had even been relegated on that fateful day last May, with Scunthorpe celebrating promotion via the play-offs just hours earlier. …
