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I May As Well Claim It, Says Stuart
Written by Newcastle Utd
Stuart Findlay says he's happy to claim United Under-23s' equaliser at York - but admits he's fortunate to have been credited with it
By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter
Stuart Findlay says he's more than happy to claim Newcastle United Under-23s' equaliser against York City on Saturday - even though he admits he's somewhat fortunate to have been credited with the goal.
The centre half glanced a Callum Roberts corner goalwards three minutes after half time at Bootham Crescent, with the ball appearing to hit one of the Minstermen's defenders on its way past goalkeeper Luke Simpson.
But the Scot - whose dubious effort was his first goal in a black and white shirt since his arrival earlier this summer - says that while he believes United can take heart from recovering from a goal down to the National League outfit, he's not going to be complaining should the Magpies' leveller be recorded as his goal.
"I made a good run to the front post and I've got a little touch on it, and everybody knows it's hit him as well. But I don't score goals all the time so I may as well claim them when I can!" laughed the former Celtic defender.
"I celebrate like that whether somebody else scores or I score myself, so I was just happy that the team had got the equaliser and I'd had a part to play in it in some way.
"We didn't get off to the best of starts and we were a bit slow in starting. This was a big step up to what we'd been used to, but I still think that if we'd played to our ability we would have got a better result.
"They were a better team than what we've been up against, so to come back from 1-0 down and get something out of the game is obviously a positive.
"But we want to win every game, so hopefully we can move on and learn from that and try and get the result next time."
Aidan Connolly opened the scoring for Jackie McNamara's men inside the opening ten minutes as United struggled to get into their stride early on.
But Peter Beardsley's youngsters improved after the break, taking the game to the hosts and were unfortunate not to have recorded the victory that would have maintained their 100 per cent record in pre-season so far.
And 20-year-old Findlay says the reaction of the players to conceding early on shows that there is no shortage of character in the Magpies' camp.
"The way the first half went, we weren't happy at all, but we came out and put them under the kosh for the full second half - I think Nathan (Harker) only had one save to make, and we were peppering their goal - so we reacted in a good way. It's just frustrating that we couldn't get another goal to keep that 100 per cent record going," Findlay told nufc.co.uk.
"Personally, (Connolly's goal) was the first goal that I've been on the pitch for when we've conceded it, so it was annoying. But it's going to happen - you wouldn't learn if you don't react from setbacks, and losing that goal is a new experience for all of us, being behind in a game this season.
"It was interesting to see how we reacted, but I think the second half showed that we've got a wee bit of spirit about us that we'll probably need throughout the season."