Newcastle United Under-21s fell to a narrow home defeat against Southampton in their opening Premier League 2 fixture.

Newcastle United academy coach Robbie Stockdale praised Lewis Hall and Seung-soo Park after they featured for the Magpies Under-21s as they suffered a narrow defeat against Southampton in their opening game of the Premier League 2 season.

The England full-back and the South Korean youngster were unused substitutes as the Magpies senior side battled to a goalless draw at Aston Villa on Saturday but earned their first competitive minutes of the season with appearances for Stockdale’s side as they fell to a narrow defeat against their Southampton counterparts. The interim Under-21s coach revealed the thinking behind the decision to hand game-time to both players and explained the role his side have to play in supporting Eddie Howe’s first team plans.

He told The Gazette: “We didn’t know what our team would look like until Saturday but we are here to supply those opportunities for the senior players and I thought they all came down and showed up really well for us and they will be better for having that game under their belts. I think there were some tired legs on the pitch towards the end but we have another game on Friday so we will see what we have to work with then.

“Lewis was pencilled in for a little while but he was on the bench for the first team yesterday and if he got on the situation might have changed. We are in good communication with the first team staff and with that in mind, we are there to bridge the gap for our players and we have no issues giving minutes to first team players. It’s the life of an Under-21 coach.”

The Magpies youngsters made a bright start to the contest with the Saints but found themselves a goal down on the quarter-hour mark as Bailey Dipepa bundled the ball in at the near post as United appeals for a foul went unheard by the officials. To their credit, Newcastle’s response was swift and they were back on level-terms within 60 seconds as Sean Neave made the most of neat approach play from Alfie Harrison with a typically clinical finish.

A drinks break midway through the half seemed to disrupt the Saints youngsters and Newcastle slowly began to take the upper hand with chances either side of the half-hour mark. Hall went close to putting the Magpies in front for the first time in the contest when he sent a low drive narrowly wide from distance and Neave and Harrison were both denied by visitors goalkeeper Josh Jeffries.

After matching their first half effort by making a bright start to the second half, United fell behind once again when they wasted possession in their own half and were suitably punished by former Magpies trialist Romeo Akachukwu. Neave came close to doubling his tally and getting his side back on level-terms as the hour-mark was passed as the striker rounded Jeffries but was unable to find the net with the angle increasingly working against him.

Frustration

Newcastle pushed hard for an equaliser inside the final 20 minutes and an additional nine minutes of injury-time but their frustrations increased as Neave was denied by an offside flag after firing home at the near post and Sanusi fired over the bar after a mazing run towards the edge of the visitors area.

The full-time whistle brought down the curtain on a frustrating 90 minutes for the Magpies and Stockdale admitted his side ‘shot themselves in the foot’ in their opening league fixture.

He said: “We created enough chances in the game to win a couple of games. We were disappointed with the goals we conceded - although I think the first one was a clear foul on Lewis and he got pushed nearly into the advertising hoardings. It’s disappointing obviously, we want to win football matches and that’s a habit we need to get into - but we shot ourselves in the foot and that means frustration is the overriding feeling.”

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