U18 Premier League North
Newcastle United U18 3 (O’Donovan 24’ 63’; Callaghan 46’)
Leeds United U18 2 (Alker 27’, Pickles 89’)
Newcastle: Holland (GK), Johnson (C), Gilligan, Epia, Yeutembip (Old 45’), Taylor (Kouossu 77’), Callaghan, Ghanem, Wooster (Hutchison 72’), O’Donovan, Ferreira (Seldon 72’). Subs not used: Flack (GK).
Leeds: Wood (GK), Hamilton (Dudley 58’), Philpott, Whitehead, Matykiewicz (C), Simo, Njinko, Alker, Ibrovic-Fletcher, Mills, Mensah (Pickles 68’). Subs not used: Baird (GK).
Referee: Samuel Ross
Booked: Hamilton (Leeds)
Venue: Newcastle United Academy
Leeds United Under-18s fell to a 3-2 defeat to Newcastle United Under-18s despite goals either side of the break from Sam Alker and Ollie Pickles.
Despite starting the better of the two sides, the Whites found themselves trailing after 25 minutes when Matheos Ferreira did very well to get a cross in from the byline just left of the box.
This found Alex O’Donovan, who rose to power a header with pinpoint precision into the bottom right corner of the goal.
However, the celebrations were short-lived as Rob Etherington’s side hit back with an excellent goal of their own after 27 minutes. Elton Simo beat a press from the Magpies’ attackers before turning and sending a ball forward to Callum Mills.
He spotted Carrick Njinko in space on the right and found him with a through ball. The forward then used his pace to get into the box and fire a ball across goal that was directed into the left corner of the net with a first-time finish from Alker, bringing Leeds level.
This was the scoreline at which the first half ended but the Whites did have the ball in the net twice in the opening period.
The first time came after a quarter of an hour when a smart Leeds move led to Kenneth Mensah stealing the ball off the Newcastle ‘keeper, Oliver Holland, and prodding home. However, Holland was deemed to have had control of the ball and so the scoreline remained all-square at the time.
HALF TIME: Newcastle United U18 1-1 Leeds United U18
The second half then started in challenging fashion for Leeds, conceding less than a minute after the restart. The Whites, playing in blue, gave the ball away to Jack Callaghan who raced away and placed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal from the edge of the box, restoring the hosts’ lead.
United struggled to get a foothold in the game following this early setback, not finding the fluency of play that they had managed in the first half.
The home team made it 3-1 shortly after the hour mark when O’Donovan got his second of the match. He received a low ball from the right wing and fired a shot from in line with the penalty spot beyond Oliver Wood.
The keeper had made some sharp saves throughout the match, most notably one in the 69th-minute when the ball was played across the Leeds box to a Newcastle attacker whose shot was going in the other direction to which Wood had dived. However, he managed to react and make the save with his legs!
The game then settled down and Leeds finally found a bit of fluidity with the ball, scoring in the closing stages to give the hosts a nervy few minutes during injury time.
The two-goal deficit was cut in half when Njinko and Edward Ibrovic-Fletcher both had shots blocked before substitute Pickles poked home the second rebound into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Then from what seemed a done match five minutes prior, Leeds had chance to equalise with what was the last kick of the game. Njinko was again involved, playing another substitute Louie Dudley through into the right of the opposition box. He just could not sort out his feet, though, and his shot sailed wide of the goal.
Etherington’s side round off their U18 Premier League North campaign at the weekend with a trip over the Pennines to face Burnley.
FULL TIME: Newcastle United U18 3-2 Leeds United U18
