Newcastle United coach delivers verdict as Magpies 'ruffle a few feathers’ v Sunderland

Newcastle United Under-21’s bounced back from a 7-1 hammering against Chelsea last time out in the league with the perfect response, defeating local rivals Sunderland 3-2 at the Academy of Light. Ben Dawson’s side took an early lead and despite being pegged back thanks to a stunning Corry Evans strike, they pressed home their advantage and ran out 3-2 winners.

It was a very good win for the young Magpies in a traditionally difficult fixture to play in and Dawson was proud of the way his side were able to manage both the game and occasion. Speaking to the Gazette, he said: “Really pleased with the performance. It’s always a difficult occasion to manage, not just the football itself but the emotions that come with the game. 

“I thought the group handled that very well and we obviously got off to a great start which helps as it settles everybody and I thought from that point on we managed periods of the game where we were under pressure well, scored three great goals which was enough to win the game.”

As mentioned, United lined-up against a fairly experienced Sunderland side that included six first-team players. The aforementioned Evans lasted 45 minutes on his recovery from an ACL injury whilst Bradley Dack who has amassed over 350 appearances in the EFL during his career and Pierre Ekwah, who played during the Wear-Tyne FA Cup match back in January, also featured for the Black Cats.

Newcastle, meanwhile, had injury and international issues to deal with and had just two players, namely Amadou Diallo and Ben Parkinson, with any first-team exposure in their ranks - although they have played a combined 25 minutes of game time for the senior side. Despite this, the Magpies were able to seal a deserved victory and Dawson revealed he was happy to see his side impose themselves on their opponents.

“It’s a game of football, it’s eleven against eleven, you saw that at the weekend with Wolves and Coventry. Anything is possible.

“There are pros and cons of the senior lads playing but the expectation heading into the game is that they should win because they’re dropping all these senior lads in and sometimes that is difficult to cope with. It gave us an opportunity as an underdog to come in, ruffle a few feathers and stamp our game on the opposition.

“The lads didn’t need any extra motivation or anything like that. It was just about sticking to the pre-match plans and sticking to what we’ve been practising and being game smart.”

Dawson’s side have just a few days to recover before they face another local rival in Middlesbrough on Friday evening. Victory over Sunderland moved Dawson’s side off the bottom of the table and above Leeds United and Manchester City ahead of their clash against Boro at Heritage Park.

Newcastle have games in hand on most of the teams around them and will be keen to end the season on a high after a tough campaign to date.