United's 2007 reserve fixtures got underway with a well-deserved point against more experienced opponents at Wigan's Robin Park on Wednesday evening.

Trailing to a first half header from Swedish midfielder Andreas Johansson, Newcastle got back on to level terms thanks to debutant striker Jonny Godsmark after the break.

The 17 year-old who netted for our Academy side on Saturday took only seven minutes to mark his reserve team debut, coming off the bench to shoot past Aussie 'keeper John Filan - who is almost 20 years his senior.  

This was our second-ever appearance at the Latic's reserve venue (in the shadow of the JJB) following a 1-1 draw there in October 2005 when Michael Chopra was on target.

There was no place in the Magpies squad on Wednesday for either Albert Luque or Titus Bramble, as was claimed in several papers. 

However hip injury victim Olivier Bernard made his first Toon appearance since our home reserve game against Blackburn last October.

First team calls meant that debuts were handed to youth team defenders Alex Francis and Darren Lough, plus 15 year-old forward Ryan Donaldson. 

Jonny Godsmark and Ross Cowan then became the fourth and fifth new faces for us at this level when appearing as second half subs.

PS - If Ryan Donaldson was in need of some advice before his reserve bow, then he need have looked no further than to one of his travelling companions on the bus to Wigan.

It was back in September 1988 that Lee Clark debuted as a substitute for our Central League side - over a month before his 16th birthday.

The occasion was a 2-2 draw at SJP against Aston Villa, with the midfielder scoring his first goal at reserve team level just three weeks later in a 2-2 home draw with Manchester City.

Nineteen years on and Clarky is now in his first full season of coaching Newcastle reserves.