Newcastle United U18s 3-2 Manchester United U18s (Saturday 5th September 2015)

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• published: 08 Sep 2015
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Newcastle United U18s 3-2 Manchester United U18s Saturday 5th September 2015 Lewis McNall struck a hat-trick as Newcastle United Under-18s picked up their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Manchester United at Little Benton on Saturday. A dominant display saw the Magpies take a three-goal lead, before two late efforts made the result seem more respectable for the visitors, with Newcastle leapfrogging the Red Devils s in the Barclays Under-18s Premier League table. Manchester United struggled to test Newcastle's back five, who looked very solid for almost 90 minutes. Captain Ben Pollock and Gideon Adu-Peprah gave accomplished performances in the centre of defence and may feel hard done by not to earn a clean sheet. Dave Watson's side were ruthless at the other end of the pitch with Callum Smith proving a constant threat down the left-hand side, providing all three assists for McNall. The first came on 34 minutes as visiting goalkeeper George Dorrington failed to collect Smith's cross before McNall nodded the ball into the empty net. The Magpies were deservedly in the lead going into half-time and they managed to pick up right where they left off in the second half. Just after the restart, Smith took the ball wide before curling in a low cross that was met by the head of McNall, who doubled his side's lead. Less than three minutes later, the striker completed his hat-trick when Dan Ward cleverly played in Smith who once again whipped the ball onto McNall's head to make it 3-0. McNall could have had a fourth had it not been for Tyrell Warren's clearance off the line with 25 minutes to play. Newcastle looked to control the remainder of the game as they appeared to be heading for a comfortable win. However in the last minute of normal time, Marcus Rashford made it 3-1 when he latched onto a Charlie Scott pass and calmly guided the ball into the bottom right corner. Just over a minute later, the Red Devils grabbed their second through Zach Dearnley, setting up a tense end to the game for the home side. Despite a late scare, Newcastle held on to grab their first win of the season with an impressive performance going into back-to-back derby fixtures. Coach Dave Watson will be hoping his side can replicate today's performance when they face Middlesbrough and Sunderland over the next fortnight. Newcastle United Under-18s: Nathan Harker, Owen Bailey, Ben Kitchen, Jack Hunter, Ben Pollock, Gideon Adu-Peprah, Lewis Suddick, Dan Ward (Dan Lowther 82), Lewis McNall (Louis Johnson 67), Mackenzie Heaney, Callum Smith Subs not used: Ben Smith, Luke Charman, Owen Gallacher Manchester United Under-18s: George Dorrington, Tyler Reid, Ethan Hamilton (Tom Sang 45), Tyrell Warren, James Dunne, Charlie Scott, Callum Gribbin, Toshin Kehinde (Angel Gomes 79), Marcus Rashford, Kane Diedrick-Rosra, Zach Dearnley Subs not used: Oliver Byrne, Lewis Thompson, Indy Bowen