Beardo: 'Moving In The Right Direction'

By Dan King - Newcastle United Communications Officer

After a first-half at Ashington where his Newcastle Reserve team was bold, slick and genuinely exciting, Peter Beardsley's only disappointment was that they failed to hit the same heights in the second period.

The Magpies were still good value for their 2-1 win at Woodhorn Lane, where both of their goals came in that electrifying first 45 minutes, but they did allow Craig Scott to grab a late consolation for the home side.

Brad Inman and Phil Airey were on target for United but in truth they should have scored several more before the interval, such was the quality of their approach play. However, chances were in shorter supply after the break, although Colliers keeper Karl Dryden was still called into action on several occasions.

Reflecting on the game, Beardsley told nufc.co.uk: "Willie (Donachie) and I said that if the tempo was high, they wouldn't be able to live with that and without making any excuses, it was almost too easy in that first-half and then the mentality always changes after half-time.

"When you're a manager you don't want half-time to come, because they were playing some lovely football. Mehdi (Abeid), Ryan (Donaldson), Brad (Inman) and Greg McDermott have all played some brilliant football together so the second half was just frustrating, in a sense. They became a bit casual, a bit lax."

Nonetheless, Beardsley was delighted with the performance of French teenager Abeid, while he also praised Yven Moyo's display. And he believes that they could be among several youngsters to have a big future at a club which now looks to develop talent.

"I thought Mehdi was outstanding," said the Reserve Team Coach. "He's a player. I honestly think, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he will be a player for this club. I really like his attitude, he's got good ability, he sees it early, passes it and moves and he likes having a shot.

"It was good, because Johnny Carver was here tonight and he was able to see him and a few who he hadn't seen, like Michael Riley. He hadn't seen Michael play before and he was very impressed with him.

"The great thing for us now is people like Tav (James Tavernier), people like Sammy (Ameobi), people like Dummy (Paul Dummett) are starting to make progress and to be fair to the manager, Alan Pardew, he is very positive in that respect.

"Unfortunately there are a few negative vibes around the club at the moment but I have to say the manager, the owner and the chairman are three of the most positive people I've ever met. I think they're going to take this club forward very well and I'm really looking forward to being part of it.

"I'm lucky I'm on the inside and I know the ideas they have for the club, and I'm very confident they'll move it in the right direction."