Watson Dissects Derby Defeat

By Dominic Scurr

Under-18s coach Dave Watson was "disappointed" with the way his Newcastle United side suffered a 1-0 Tyne-Wear derby defeat at Sunderland on Tuesday.

Some resilient defending and an inspired performance from Magpies goalkeeper Ben Smith almost saw Watson's youngsters nick a point at the Academy of Light but Andrew Nelson's header ten minutes from time confirmed a deserved victory for the hosts.

Despite the defeat, Watson was still pleased with the level of performance demonstrated by his side.

"It was obviously a very disappointing result for us," he told nufc.co.uk.

"But I thought we did well to stay in the game and put in a decent performance against a strong side. There was a good shape and discipline to the way we played and Sunderland found it hard to break us down.

"Our keeper made some very good saves and we defended very well all game. We also created a couple of half chances but couldn't put them away and it was just frustrating to see us lose to a set-piece at the end.

"We were anticipating a difficult game because on Saturday we had some of our players back from the under-21s, but we didn't have that today so that made it more difficult for us.

"We had a few under-16s playing so I thought we played quite well, considering. I was pleased with the young players (Matthew Longstaff, Kelland Watts and Thomas Allan) who have came in, they all looked fit in well and looked good on the ball.

"At the end of the day, it's about brining new players into the squad and helping them progress and we saw some really good signs of that today.

"I've seen a lot of good things from this group and we would have liked to have come away with a point but we just let it get away from us at the end."

The Barclays Under-18s Premier League will now be split up into three eight-team play-off leagues and Watson is hoping for a strong finish to an otherwise indifferent season for his United side.

"We've got another seven games left and between now and the end of the season," he continued.

"In that period we hope to see more players coming in and getting better and better so they can continue to make the step up and prepare them for the start of next season."