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Beardsley Says York Was "Stiffest Test" Of Pre-Season
Written by Newcastle Utd
Peter Beardsley believes Newcastle United Under-23s faced their "stiffest test"of pre-season so far when they drew 1-1 at York City
By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter
Football development manager Peter Beardsley believes Newcastle United Under-23s faced their "stiffest test"of pre-season so far when they drew 1-1 at York City on Saturday.
Aidan Connolly put Jackie McNamara's men ahead after just seven minutes at Bootham Crescent as they hosts were quickest out of the traps.
But Beardsley's side grew in stature as they game went on and, after Stuart Findlay's deflection-assisted equaliser just after the restart, the Magpies were somewhat unfortunate not to have earned the victory that would have preserved their 100 per cent winning record during preparations for the 2016/17 campaign.
"To be fair to (York), they started off really well and put us under pressure. At 1-0 at half time, they were definitely the better team, without a shadow of a doubt," he told nufc.co.uk.
"But I think for most of the second half we were camped out in their half. Having got the goal early in the second half, you're hoping that you're going to go on and win."
The game was a hard-fought affair, with both sides battling hard to get the upper hand in what was a fairly open contest.
And Magpies legend Beardsley reckons the experience of facing strong National League opposition - who were only relegated from the Football League in May - will stand his young players in good stead going forward.
"I think a few of our lads were getting a bit frustrated. There were a few tackles flying in, but that's men's football," he said. "With all due respect to York - Jackie's a good man, Simon (Donnelly, assistant manager)'s a good man - it is going to be physcial for them, and they have to do that sometimes. Fair play to York - they played some good football at times, and from their point of view, it was a good goal.
"They were men, and with all due respect they're fighting for their lives in terms of playing in the National League and then hopefully back in the league, so we always knew it would be our toughest test.
"So in that sense it's worked out perfectly. We've had four good games leading up to this, but this was definitely the stiffest test.
"I think overall, 1-1 was probably a fair result and it was a good test for York in terms of next week, getting ready for the National League, and good for us going forward."