Peter Beardsley:
"I thought it was really good for them (Newcastle's
young team). Through no fault of anybody, we have a lot of players to get
minutes into, some hadn’t kicked a ball before now, so fair play to them, they
played some lovely football and made some good chances.
"They were a little bit rusty in front
of goal but that’s normal. Some kids were playing their first football for
three months.
"Whitley Bay played well and they were
streetwise. A lot of them have been through Academies and without being cheeky
got released so they understand the game.
"They can’t run like we can - but physically they are stronger. When you
look at their big centre back (Ross Wilkinson) he was a monster, he was a
problem in both boxes.
“It’s the start of a road for us and
they a lot of them came out with credit.
"Whitley Bay is a great football club
and it’s run by good people - that’s why we come here. We always try to help
the local teams and to be fair they always give us a test. It’s massive for
this area. They are a long way from winning the FA Vase but North-East football
is still massive. If we can help them we will.
"It’s not always possible, this was last minute, because with 36 players
we needed another game, so we got it fitted in.
"We’ll also go to Ashington next week and Steve Harmison knows it will be
a similar group.”
Pre-season pitch time:
Thomas Allen 0+0+24=24
Yannick Aziakonou 0+0+90=90
Owen Bailey 0+24+56=80
Dan Barlaser 45+66+0=111
Tyrique Bartlett 0+0+34=34
Kyle Cameron 45+33+0=78
Luke Charman 45+33+0=78
Juan Cumbrera (aka Juanito) 45+0+34=79
Yasin Ben El-Mhanni 45+66+0=111
Victor Fernandez 0+45+0=45
Stuart Findlay 45+57+0=102
Owen Gallacher 45+0+56=101
Isaac Gamblin 0+0+34=34
Macaulay Gillesphey 45+57+0=102
Curtis Good 45+45+0=90
Mace Goodridge 0+0+34=34
Nathan Harker 45+70+90=205
Mackenzie Heaney 0+0+56=56
Jack Hunter 45+66+0=111
Otto Huuhtanen 45+20+0=65
Ben Kitchen 45+0+66=111
Olly Long 0+0+34=34
Sean Longstaff 45+0+0=45
Lewis
McNall 0+24+56=80
Michael Newberry 45+33+0=78
Stefan O'Connor 45+45+0=90
Kurtis Russell 0+0+34=34
Mo Sangare 0+24+56=80
Callum Smith 45+0+56=101
Liam Smith 45+57+0=102
Elias Sorensen 0+0+24=24
Craig Spooner 0+24+66=90
Ivan Toney 45+66+0=111
Dan Ward 45+45+0=90
Kelland Watts 0+0+90=90
Callum Williams 45+57+0=102
Yosef Yarney 45+33+0=78
It finished goalless at
Hillheads on Tuesday evening, as the Northern League Seahorses more than held
their own against a youthful Magpies reserve side.
Fielding a completely different team to that which had beaten Gateshead 3-0 on
Saturday save for 'keeper Nathan Harker, Newcastle's Owen Gallacher saw a
seventh minute effort palmed away by Tom Flynn.
Harker then denied the hosts on 24 minutes after good interplay between Jack
Byerley and Tom Potter gave Peter Ravenhill the chance to shoot at goal.
The black and whites enjoyed some early pressure following the break and
almost forced home an opener on 53 minutes. However, Bay matched the visitors
for fitness and remained solid at the back - with Ross Wilkinson particularly
putting in a good shift.
United thought they'd made a breakthrough with 17 minutes remaining, after
Elias Sorensen released Tom Allen in the box. He shot against the post and
although Tyrique Bartlett forced the ball in, he strayed offside.
And with seconds left, Bay came agonisingly close to claiming victory when
substitute Noah Summers got up well to a corner but headed narrowly wide.
A more experienced U23 side will take part in a four team tournament at Whitby
Town this weekend, while what is almost a third team are in friendly action on
Tuesday at Northern League Ashington.
Biffa