Beardsley: 'We Did Our Homework'

By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor

A spot of homework helped Newcastle's youngsters beat the Northumbria University-affiliated Team Northumbria on Tuesday night.

They started out as Northumbria University FC before taking up their current name in 2003 and are top of the Northern League second division.

But they were beaten 7-0 by Peter Beardsley's Magpies at Whitley Park in the quarter-finals of the Techflow Group Northumberland FA Senior Cup, with Alex Gilliead, Greg Olley, Sean Longstaff (3), Dan Ward and Stefan Broccoli on target.

"We knew they'd scored 55 goals and only conceded 21 out of 22 games," Beardsley told nufc.co.uk.

"We'd done our homework on them so it's pleasing when it comes off.

"To be fair to them, maybe 7-0 flattered us a little bit - they gave it a go and there were a couple of lads who had played for us in David Luke, Louis Storey and Mark Bertram so it's good for our kids to see what level they're at.

"And for three of the really young ones to score five goals between them is a massive plus."

Longstaff's treble came on his first competitive appearance for the Magpies' under-21 side, having scored nine Barclays Under-18 Premier League goals in his first season as a scholar.

He came from the bench after Callum Roberts suffered an injury and Beardsley said: "He's been doing well for the Academy.

"It's a policy throughout the Club now - we try to promote kids and give them a chance and he's taken the chance.

"We got an injury early on, which is a shame for Callum Roberts but hopefully it's not too bad.

"Then Lubo (Satka) got injured which gave Dan Ward a chance. It was his first competitive game too so it's a good experience for them whatever happens.

"Dan Barlaser has played more minutes than anybody (this season) so we tried to give him a rest at the end and Stefan Broccoli came on and scored too."

Haris Vuckic and Gael Bigirimana brought their senior experience to the side and Beardsley added: "I thought Haris, in terms of effort and workrate, was outstanding and everybody who came in - Alex and Greg hadn't played for a while and both scored a goal - did well.

"You earn your luck but everything they're doing at the moment seems to be working.

"We stressed to them before the game that, with all due respect to Team North, we knew we had more ability but they would work their socks off and we had to match them.

"Once we did that, I think the bonus was getting two goals quite early which gave us a breathing space that we made the most of."