Nicolas Anelka (cough, clear throat, spit) had put us ahead inside the first 15 minutes of the game that day but, in spite of the fact that we remained in total control of the game almost entirely from that moment onward, Didi Hamann (yes, I kid you not, Didi Hamann) salvaged a point for the Toon Army that afternoon with a very good individual effort late on.
True, it may have been a defeat to Leeds at Elland Road that ultimately cost us what would have been back to back titles that season. But that game at St James's Park has always stuck in my mind because I really believe, to this very day, that it was the draw we got that afternoon at St James's Park and the manner in which it came about, combined with the defeat we suffered at Leeds, which proved to be particularly pivotal in determining that we finished second in the league that season as opposed to first in the end.
The best part of nine years have passed since that oh so painful day of course, but last Saturday week, the Arsenal came up against Didi Hamann once again this time with him sporting the colours of Manchester City. Thankfully, Hamann wasn't able to influence the game at Eastlands in the way he did all those years ago.
In saying that, the game at Eastlands was very similar to that one at St James's back in 1999, I thought. This time though, Arsenal not only managed to get their noses in front early on thanks to the currently irrepressible Adebayor but then Eduardo, in spite of being suspiciously offside in the build up, added an excellent second having been assisted by Mr Irrepresible with the game barely 25 minutes old.
At that stage, the game almost looked too comfortable for us to be true and there was a part of me that was wary of us getting over-confident and gifting City a way back into the game. Bang on cue, Clichy, of all people, was caught in possession whilst dawdling, Corluka robbed him by the by line and he coolly laid the ball off to Fernandes who scored from close range.
It was at that very moment that my mind flashed back to that game at Newcastle in 1999 and from that moment on, I was never able to sit still. But in the end, despite fluffing at least two or three chances to kill the game off, up popped Mr Irrepresible once again in the closing stages to settle things after good work from Hleb and Fabregas.
With a third of the season still ahead of us, it is perhaps a little early to start eulogising. But there are times when you simply have to give credit where it is due and as an Arsenal fan, that is the least that I can do right now.
Never mind the fact that are top of league, if there is just one single stat that puts what we have done so far this season into perspective for me, it's the fact that we are currently, with 13 games to go, just eight points short of our total points tally for the whole of the last two seasons.
Now, even if we allow for the fact that the Arsenal squad is supposed to be grossly inferior to those belonging to Liverpool, ManUre, the PRF and even that of the Spuds, even if we allow for the fact that Arsenal's squad is far more cosmopolitan than virtually everyone else's and even, if we allow for the fact that we are not allowed to forget it by the Little Englanders in this country, the fact is our progress so far this season has been exceptional - in anyone's bloody language.
I could go on and on pulling out all sorts of other favourable facts and stats out but for now, I will stop just here. Because, even if I was to believe right now that we deserve to win the league (not least because we have been at the top of it for a vast majority of the season to date) I know, from experience, that you don't always get what you deserve just by saying things. And I also know that just because we may deserve to win this league, it doesn't mean that people are going to hand it to us on a plate.
What is beyond doubt, whether the massed legions within the anti-Arsenal brigade like it or not, the fact is, as I have said many times over the last few weeks, the Arsenal do have a base from which to have a real tilt at the title.
And, whilst it's true that we still have to go to Stamford Bridge to play the PRF and Old Trafford to play ManUre amongst others in the league, the fact, as things stand, is that we are the ones who have the biggest say over how things pan out for us, certainly in the league this season and not them.
The biggest question I have going through my mind is not whether we will crack in the manner that people outside of the club have been expecting all season long. The question I am asking myself instead is whether we can finish what we have started.
I know what I would like the answer to be. But all the same it's gratifying to know that right now, it is in the hands of the players who play for my team to make my ideals come true - and nobody else. I'm more than happy to settle for that right now.
Now it's time to look forward to Monday's league game against Blackburn at The Grove.
Looking in from the outside I would say that Rovers have had a bit of a topsy-turvy kind of season overall. Despite what was generally a steady tart to the season, Rovers had a disappointing UEFA Cup campaign for me.
Larissa were the team that put Rovers out of that tournament and considering that I thought that they would make it through to the last 32 at least, maybe even the last 16, to go out of the competition as early as October, was a real surprise.
Things picked up for Rovers on the domestic front for a while but a tip to Old Trafford heralded the start of run in which they won just one of their next eight games. Then, early into the New Year, they were knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Coventry who thumped them 4-1.
Having gone out of the cup, Blackburn have since gone unbeaten in their last four games though last time out they were particularly lucky to end up with a share of the spoils against Everton.
In spite of the fact that they have had the odd hiccup here and there, Rovers will come to The Grove in 8th place and just five points behind Everton who are currently in fourth. So whilst the season has brought them a fairly mixed bag of results in the main, they will feel that they have an each way chance of nicking a Champions League place and a solid chance of at least getting into UEFA Cup via the league.
And, to be fair to them, they do have one or two players that wouldn't look out of place in the European arena. Roque Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy are two men that fall into that category for starters.
Yet, whilst both of those guys have plenty of European experience I get the feeling that David Bentley will go on to gain a similar level of experience at European level either for club, country if not both.
Bentley is widely being touted as the one that got away from Arsenal so to speak but as a Gooner, I don't see it that way. It's true that the boy has done well for himself since he went to Ewood Park but I'm not shedding any tears over the fact that he left us.
If you look at how many English players have left Arsenal over the years, Bentley is just about the only one that is genuinely threatening to become a fully fledged England regular in spite of it.
If Bentley goes on to become a regular for England, then good luck to him. The fact is, Arsenal have not exactly been none the worse off for the fact that he, as an Englishman no less, left the club and as an Arsenal fan, that is all that counts as far as I am concerned.
I'll give Bentley this much though - he has rounded into a pretty decent player. But in the potentially enforced absence on Monday night of Matt Derbyshire, I feel the man who Arsenal will really need to be watch potentially is Jason Roberts.
Derbyshire is a young lad who I really like the look of as a striker but with his partner due to give birth to a baby anytime soon, he may be out of commission for Monday's game.
So, fitness permitting, I think that Jason Roberts is the man that takes Derbyshire's mantle as the joker in the Rovers pack. He has been problematic for Arsenal sides more than once in the past. The fact that he is a fan of our poorer relations up the road may have something to do with that.
But make no mistake; Roberts may have been largely out of favour for quite a while now but he is still definitely presents Mark Hughes with a live wild card option on the bench especially if the game is still close with, say 20-25 minutes to go.
The results on Sunday may have gone for us in that the PRF were held at home by Liverpool and Manchester City, fresh from seeing their home unbeaten record in the league disappear, only responded by ending ManUre's own home unbeaten record in the league, I think this game will be a tricky one for Arsenal.
The fact that Flamini may or may not miss the game due to an apparent thigh injury wont help our cause particularly and some people will argue that the appearance of Lehmann between the posts won't help us much either given what happened the last time he was our custodian when Arsenal played Blackburn at Ewood Park earlier on this season.
The other thing is there are question marks over whether Kolo will get back from Africa in time to play in place of Senderos, who is injured, particularly as the Ivorian has been struck down by injury himself during the African Cup of Nations. I wouldn't particularly fancy the idea of Gilberto or Hoyte filling in at the back for us against dangerous customers such as McCarthy and Santa Cruz, that's for sure.
Overall however, the Arsenal have to go into the game remembering that in spite of what happened elsewhere over the course of this weekend the objective of Monday's game has not changed one iota.
Blackburn are a side that have had their moments in our own back yard down the years and have got themselves a fair few creditable results from visits to Arsenal in the past. The Arsenal may be able to celebrate the fact that we go into this game in the same position we were when the African Cup of Nations began but we are entering a period now when we are going to find out whether this Arsenal side are really as hungry as Arsene has said they are.
The test of that hunger and desire starts at The Grove on Monday night.