Archive
Watson's Praise For Teen Heaney
Written by Newcastle Utd
Dave Watson praised the impact of 15-year-old Mackenzie Heaney after he starred for the Magpies' under-18 side
By Tom Easterby
Dave Watson praised the impact of 15-year-old Mackenzie Heaney after he starred for the Magpies' under-18 side at the weekend.
Heaney impressed for Watson's young team in Saturday's 5-1 defeat to Liverpool, getting on the scoresheet in the first half of the Barclays Under-18 Premier League clash at Little Benton.
And Newcastle United's under-18 coach Watson believes the experience of testing himself against a physically imposing Reds backline will benefit the teenage forward.
"He's played up front there and he's playing against big lads, so it's a great learning curve for him," said the former England defender.
"He's given a good account of himself, scored a good goal and he's put a couple of good crosses in. He was effective in the game, so there were positives to come out of the game as well.
"It's fantastic experience for him. He might have played in the under-16s and scored four or five but he wouldn't really have been tested. He was tested on Saturday and he dealt with it really well.
"He had composure when he got one-on-one with the keeper, he finished well - he was playing like a veteran, so we're delighted with his performance.
"He's had one or two knocks, one or two physical, strong challenges but that's what he's going to come up against so he's going to learn a lot."
With recent Academy graduate Adam Armstrong impressing alongside fellow homegrown players Steven Taylor, Paul Dummett and Sammy Ameobi in the first team's 3-2 Capital One Cup win at Crystal Palace last Wednesday, Watson says his players can be encouraged by the progress made by the likes of West Denton-born frontman Armstrong.
"That's what it's about - it gives everyone a bit of hope," he said.
"If we see someone go through to the first team, magnificent, and the rest of the Academy kids look up to that and say 'hey, one day that could be us', and that's what we're going for. That's our job - to get people to get into the first team.
"I think the other night, there was Arma, Rolando (Aarons) has had a taste of it, Sammy played the other night, Steven Taylor - who was before my time at the Academy - but that's great to see and players are getting through.
"We'll keep on battling on and make sure the kids keep learning and moving on."