FORMER Cherry Matt Ritchie admitted that he probably “shouldn’t have celebrated like that” after his late equaliser for Newcastle against his former employers.

Ritchie was introduced off the bench to instant impact in the 2-2 draw at St James’ Park, taking less than a minute to restore parity in stoppage time.

Dominic Solanke’s opportunistic opener had been cancelled out by an contentious Anthony Gordon penalty, before Antoine Semenyo’s strike midway through the second period looked to have secured all three points.

However, Ritchie was on hand to capitalise upon chaos in the box to ensure the spoils were shared.

The Scottish international promptly ran off the corner flag and booted it, emotions high after a first Premier League goal since July 2020.

Speaking after the game, the 34-year-old started: “I probably shouldn't have celebrated like that! But I've been thinking about that for a long time.

“Emotion really took over. To give the lads something after watching them - and enjoying watching - from the bench for the last two years playing a bit-part role - has been an absolute pleasure.

"When you haven't played and haven't scored, you miss that feeling. There is nowhere in the world that you can replace that goalscoring feeling.

"I was just delighted to get the goal and the equaliser but frustrated that we didn't perform to the levels we know we can. But Bournemouth are a good side and they made it tough for us.

"When it's so late, it's nice to salvage a point but we've set the bar really high for ourselves and the expectation is on us. We want to perform consistently. That's what we aim for.

“If we lost, confidence would be knocked. You have to respect a point in this league. For us, a point is massive because it keeps that momentum.

“We move onto the next. It’s never going to be a straight road, there are always going to be challenges.”

Ritchie made 142 appearances for Cherries, before departing to join Newcastle in the summer of 2016 for a fee in the region of £10million.