By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter

In-form Dan Taylor scored the winner as a young Newcastle XI came from behind to beat Leeds at the Magpies' Benton training ground on Wednesday afternoon.

Taylor scored twice in his last game for the under-18s - a 4-0 win over Sheffied Wednesday - and played for Willie Donachie's second-string in their latest behind-closed-doors friendly.

Newcastle fell behind but equalised through midfielder Dennis Knight, whose left-footed free-kick flew into the top corner of the net and that reflected an even opening to the match.

But Phil Airey scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 and register his first goal since returning from his loan spell at Hibernian, and from there the home side never looked back.

Taylor made it three before the Whites pulled another goal back, but the Magpies were comfortable winners and could have added more goals as the likes of Brandon Miele and Adam Campbell added fresh impetus to the side in the second period.

Swedish winger Samuel Adjei got more minutes under his belt after recently returning to action after a long-term hamstring problem and 16-year-olds Jonathan Mitchell and Remie Streete both started.

Donachie's side are next in action in the Barclays Premier Reserve League on Tuesday, when they travel to Wigan, and the new Reserve Team Manager was pleased with the workout.

He told nufc.co.uk: "The man thing was the experience for the young players, who got the chance to play against a higher level of opposition. We had a young team and so did they, but it was a step up from under-18s football for many of them.

"We also had a couple of more experienced players and it was good for the younger lads to play alongside them. The likes of Tamas Kadar playing and talking to them helped them out a lot."

Newcastle United Reserves (Starting XI): Jonathan Mitchell, Michael Richardson, Stephen Folan, Remie Streete, Tamas Kadar, Ryan McGorrigan, Dennis Knight, Bradden Inman, Samuel Adjei, Dan Taylor, Phil Airey.