The largest crowd to watch a home reserve game in over six years left SJP on Thursday night having seen Newcastle fall to an extra time sucker punch.

3,700 fans took advantage of free admission to witness Sol Campbell's first outing at Gallowgate in a black and white shirt and a rare second string fixture against a London side (which was made possible due to a restructured league).

A good number of those present were still queueing to gain access to the East Stand when Ryan Donaldson got Newcastle off to a great start, driving home a fierce shot from the edge of the area at the Leazes End with barely two minutes on the clock.

The home side continued their bright opening with Paddy McLaughlin testing visiting 'keeper Jan Sebek five minutes later, while Nile Ranger had the ball in the net on the quarter hour only for an offside flag to deny him.

Faroe Islander Joan Edmundsson then tried his luck and was denied by a fingertip save, before Ranger headed narrowly over from Donaldson's corner.

Chelsea though grew stronger as the first half progressed, with Slovakian striker Milan Lalkovic looking dangerous as he played on the shoulder of the last defender and was twice denied by marginal offside calls. And that pressure paid off on 35 minutes when Campbell failed to cut out a through ball and Lalkovic dashed into the box before shooting expertly beyond Tim Krul.

United attempted to rally with Ranger and winger Shane Ferguson both coming close, only for the Blues to snatch a second goal two minutes before the interval. That man Lalkovic netted again after neat play down the Chelsea left from Aziz Dean-Conteh and Jacopo Sala that opened United up and left Conor Newton floundering.

Doubtless boosted by some words of encouragement from coach Peter Beardsley, the reinvigorated Magpies went in search of a leveller from the restart and started to make some inroads down each flank. Appearing at left back, Tamas Kadar won a free kick deep in the Chelsea half that Shane Ferguson swung over - only for Ranger to again clear the crossbar with his header.

After a quiet first half, Slovenian Haris Vuckic came more to the fore and marked his first reserve outing of the season by getting on the scoresheet after 70 minutes. Breaking upfield over halfway, Edmundsson managed to get the ball forward to Ranger and he battled into the Chelsea area before squaring the ball for Vuckic to net.

With the visitors conceding ground, United pushed on in search of a winner and almost got an immediate reward, Edmundsson coming close to forcing the ball home from close range after fine link-up play down the right from Donaldson and substitute Greg McDermott.

Striker Phil Airey appeared from the bench with quarter of an hour remaining and tested Sebek with his first touch, before coming even closer soon after - Vuckic also shooting narrowly wide as United kept up the pressure.

Into the last five minutes and McDermott almost conjured up memories of his father Terry, volleying a corner just wide from the corner of the box. Into three minutes of additional time and the home side were still looking for a winner, when a United free kick  was played across the field rather than dropped into the Chelsea area.

That led to a passage of scrappy midfield play and with Newcastle seemingly losing concentration, Chelsea were quick to take advantage. Substitute Adam Philip burst into the area and was upended by the advancing Krul. Referee Joyce rightly gave a penalty and yellow-carded the United 'keeper, before Philip coolly dispatched his spot kick to win the game - the final whistle sounding almost immediately after the restart.

Whether the two changes made in defence late on made a difference is a moot point, with Tamas Kadar moving in to the middle to partner Matty Grieve and Paul Dummett appearing at left back but looking slightly off the pace.

A tough lesson to learn then for Newcastle, but an entertaining evening for those who attended. A third reserve workout for Sol Campbell saw him get in some timely interceptions and a couple of decent blocks, but doubts remain over his ability to cope with first team football at this precise point in time.  

PS: Chelsea included England U17 international Nathaniel Chalobah, who doesn't turn 16 until December 2010. In the week that he was born, Sol Campbell helped Spurs keep a clean sheet in the Premier League v Everton....   

Biffa

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