The Magpies fielded two trialists from the bench:

Geneiro Maragh, (pictured above) a left-sided defender formerly with West Ham and Cambridge United.

Francis Mampolo a left-sided attacker currently at Westfield FC, who play in the Southern Counties East Football League First Division (equivalent to Northern League Division Two).

Maragh played alongside Alex Mansaray for Cambridge U18s in the 2020/21 season; Mansaray arriving at Newcastle on trial alongside Isaac Westendorf earlier this season but failing to play a game. Westendorf by contrast impressed in his four U23 outings and has now signed a permanent deal.
 

Newcastle U23s leapfrogged Villa into fourth spot in PL2 Division Two after victory in their rearranged game at Whitley Park on Monday night.

Atrocious weather conditions forced the abandonment of the original game after 28 minutes back in December; with the Villans 1-0 up at the time.

The visitors looked in the mood to take up where they'd left off that night; Bradley Young forcing United goalkeeper into a good stop on the quarter hour - the first of four good chances the striker squandered in the first half.

Villa threatened again three minutes later, Finley Munroe's low effort cannoned off the base of the post before Kahrel Reddin skied the rebound.

United's first chance came in the 27th minute when the returning Dylan Stephenson dashed into the box from the right but saw his effort saved - Isaac Westendorf was unable to get sufficient contact on the rebound.

It was the home side's turn to strike the goal frame two minutes before the interval; top scorer Stephenson making an identical run into the Villa area and letting fly, only to see his shot hit the near post and deflect away.

The Magpies took the lead in the 63rd minute when a strong run from Westendorf took him past the Villa defence, with space to finish across the goalkeeper - marking his first U23 start with his third goal for the club.

It was 2-0 seven minutes later when a quickly taken free-kick down the left channel was centred by Wilson for newly-arrived substitute Cameron Ferguson to tuck the ball home from close range with virtually his first touch. He's now netted three times in his last five league and cup outings.

Lucas de Bolle came close to adding a third in the 90th minute after a solo run into the box but his shot was turned round the post by Oliwier Zych.

Loan departures meant that regular quartet Matty Bondswell, Jack Young, Joe White and Elliot Anderson were all missing - Villa also forced to make several changes for similar reasons.

That shouldn't detract from a hard-won three points for the Magpies though, riding their luck in the opening 45 minutes but sticking to their task and taking the chances when they came along.

Reaching 26 points from 16 games means that Elliott Dickman's side have now exceeded last season's total from a full season: this their eighth PL2 victory to date compared to just seven in the entire 2020/21 campaign.

Currently sitting fourth, victory in their game in hand would leave them joint second in the table. And although it's a little early to start thinking of taking one of the four promotion playoff spots with ten games left, the upturn in fortunes since Dickman's arrival is evident.

Sadly though, just one of the remaining four scheduled home games is at Gallowgate.

Biffa