Under-21s recover to win season opener at Newcastle

After taking a while to get into our stride and having fallen behind inside eight minutes to Vakhtang Salia’s low shot-on-the-turn, we gradually began to establish control and equalised nine minutes before half-time when Elliott-Parris side-footed home after a good exchange of passes with Ellis Lehane.

We upped our game further after the break and took the lead mid-way through the second period via Dorrington’s deflected back-post shot, with the impressive Hall deservedly getting himself on the scoresheet four minutes later to round off a well-earned 3-1 win in the north east.

Newcastle put the pressure on from the first whistle, having much the better of the opening exchanges and could have more than the one goal they ended up with. Sean Neave went through with barely 45 seconds played but saw his shot diverted over by goalkeeper Sam Archer on what was only his second-ever Premier League 2 start before Trevan Sanusi played in to the feet of centre-forward Salia, who turned in a congested spot and managed to pick out the far bottom corner with bodies around him on the 18-yard line, breaking the deadlock after only eight minutes. Neave then guided a shot over the bar from point-blank range in another let-off with only a quarter-of-an-hour gone.

Hall soon began to show his class and was at the centre of a lot of our good work as we began to find gaps in the Newcastle defence, the Jamaica international a whisker away with an angled attempt before Byrne – playing as a number six – produced a good save from Newcastle goalkeeper George Mair down to his right with his curling shot from distance possibly creeping inside the post.

We equalised on 36 minutes after winning the ball in midfield, Elliott-Parris finding Lehane in space in the box on the left before receiving his return pass and placing a shot across Mair on his right foot. That proved to be a key blow to the hosts and we only increased the intensity from there to take the game away from them, Damola Ajayi lifting an effort over the bar just prior to half-time while we drew a handful of fouls in the second period which further frustrated the opposition.

Our control of the game paid off on 67 minutes when the ball was worked across the box from the left and Dorrington’s back-post shot went in off Newcastle defender Henry Johnson before Hall capped off an excellent individual performance by making it 3-1 just four minutes later, collecting Byrne’s pass in the box on the left, turning inside onto his right foot and clipping deftly into the top corner. We saw out the game relatively routinely after that, although Newcastle did threaten a couple of times right at the end, Afner Ca well dispossessed by Elisha Sowunmi and Park Seung-Soo lashing a left-footed shot wide of the near post.

‘We took up some excellent positions’

Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett felt we were worthy winners, reflecting: “We played some very good football after the first 15 or 20 minutes. We didn’t start particularly well but after that we were in control of the game and I thought we deserved to win. Some of our play was very good, we took up some excellent positions, we probably didn’t threaten the goal as much in the first half but certainly in the second half we had chances and overall it’s pleasing, coming away to Newcastle and producing a good performance and a good result.

“We spoke beforehand about focus and concentration, we spoke about being ready and it took us a while to get up to speed. They pressed us really aggressively in the first 15 or 20 minutes and we couldn’t get into any rhythm at all, but we made a couple of changes in terms of our structure and once we did that, I thought it helped us to take control of the game.”

Line-ups

Newcastle United: Mair, M Miley, Charlton, Pivas (Craggs 46), Johnson, Bailey, Ferreira, Finneran (c) (Harper 85), Salia (Ca 68), Neave (Mills 46), Sanusi (Seung-Soo 24). Substitutes (not used): Jones, Durrant.

Spurs: Archer, Rowswell (c) (Furnell-Gill 68), Feeney (Moncur 87), Hardy, Dorrington, Byrne, Adewole, Tyrese Hall, Elliott-Parris (McFadden 68), Ajayi, Lehane (Sowunmi 81). Substitutes (not used): Thompson, Adedeji.

Match data

Goals: Newcastle – Salia 8; Spurs – Elliott-Parris 36, Dorrington 67, Tyrese Hall 71.

Yellow cards: Newcastle – Neave 45+2, Bailey 90+2.

Referee: James Westgate.

Venue: Whitley Park, Newcastle.

Weather: Sunny, gentle breeze, 17 degrees.

Attendance: 439.