Newcastle United youngsters must learn from FA Youth Cup defeat against Crystal Palace

Newcastle United Under-18s lead coach Chris Moore has urged his side to learn lessons from their FA Youth Cup exit at the hands of Crystal Palace.

After claiming an impressive 5-2 win in their third round tie against Portsmouth last month, hopes were high the Magpies could embark on a run to the latter stages of the competition as they prepared to face an Eagles side currently sitting in second place in the Under-18s Premier League South table. However, it was the visitors that will travel to Stevenage in the fifth round after they claimed a comprehensive win on a difficult night at Whitley Park.

With strong winds and driving rain battering North Tyneside, Palace always looked the more likely of the two sides to get in front during the first half and they took a narrow lead into half-time when Daniel Angibeaud fired them in front from close range just before the half-hour mark. That advantage was doubled midway through the second half as Benjamin Casey sent an unstoppable rising shot beyond Magpies keeper Roman Dowell before Angibeaud grabbed his second goal of the night with quarter of an hour remaining. Casey also doubled his tally as the final ten minutes approached to round off a challenging night for the Magpies - but it was a night that lead coach Moore believes can benefit his players in the long-run.

He told The Gazette: “You can be disappointed or you can say we want to kick on and this is what we want to focus on now. You just want the lads to get a load of lessons every week and take the lessons on board and be better for it, develop each week. There are bumps in the road, you’re never going to get a smooth journey through a season or to develop into first-team or professional football. It’s about taking the learning. The biggest disappointment is the good nights and loads of learning in the Youth Cup and you don’t get another one this season.”

Competitive edge

Despite the obvious disappointment of their Youth Cup exit, Moore’s side are enjoying a positive league season and are currently sitting in third place in the Under-18s Premier League North table with only Manchester United and Manchester City keeping them from top spot. The young Magpies have claimed impressive wins against the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Middlesbrough throughout that time and Moore is keen to remain in close contention at the top of the table to ensure his players are exposed to more competitive fixtures during the final months of the campaign.

He said: “It’s a great competition but the season isn’t built around the Youth Cup. It’s good fixtures in your calendar but the danger of the 18s is if you aren’t near the top of the league, they’re still good games, they’re competitive and about development, but you take away that what are we playing for here. Staying near the top of the league keeps that we are playing for points, we are playing for points at the top and we need that for the lads to bridge the gap to senior football. You need that competitive edge in games so we need to try and stay close to the top of the league for as long as we can to keep that.”

Youngster makes loan move

Meanwhile, the Magpies have confirmed academy goalkeeper Tyler Jones has joined Northern Premier League neighbours Dunston UTS on what has been described as ‘a short-term loan’. The 17-year-old enjoyed a productive loan spell with Dunston’s league rivals Ashington earlier in the season as he earned senior game-time for the first time in his young career.

After the deal was concluded, the Magpies youngster told Dunston’s club website: “Jon [McDonald, Dunston manager] contacted Newcastle and my agent to enquire about having me on loan as he had watched me when I was at Ashington. As soon as I found out Dunston were interested, I was really excited for the challenge ahead and couldn’t wait to get started. I want to make the biggest impact possible and I want to try and help the club in their quest for promotion.”

Newcastle United U18s: Dowell, Morgan, Durrant, Moran, Johnson, Finneran, Ferreira, Miley, Wooster, Taylor, Mills Subs: Patterson, Mair, Tika-Lemba, Pinnington, Hutchison, Lucas, Ndiweni

Crystal Palace U18s: Mason, Judd, Benamar, Walker-Smith, Pomade, Okoli, Owoade, Danaher, Casey, Oduro, Angibeaud Subs: Greaves, Whitworth, Bernard, Frazer-Williams, Monk, Martin

Your next Newcastle United read: Newcastle United have already banked £23.8m - and could receive extra £9.55m PSR boost within 7 days