The young Magpies, who were beaten 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, were looking to recover the form which had seen them seal back-to-back 3-0 wins over Derby County and Stoke City prior to that reverse at Rovers.

But Hugill had other ideas, sweeping the Red Devils into a fifth minute lead at United’s Academy.

Neil Winskill’s youngsters could have found themselves level midway through the first half, though, when Ben Parkinson struck the woodwork.

Instead, by the break they were two down as Hugill struck again before the whistle and Sam Mather then extended Manchester United’s lead moments after the restart.

It was starting to look like a long way back for the Magpies, and Hugill’s third of the day, teed up by Mather, put the result beyond doubt.

There was still time for Sam Murray’s corner to find its way in with just a couple of minutes left on the clock to round off the scoring, leaving United sitting tenth in the northern section of the Under-18 Premier League with seven points from their first six outings.

Next up for the young Magpies is a trip to Leicester City on Friday for a Premier League Cup tie (kick-off 4:30pm BST).

Newcastle United Under-18s: Max Thompson, Harry Barclay, Joel Green (Josh Stewart 77), James Huntley, Ciaran Thompson, Josh Nicholson, Ben Parkinson (Nathan Robertson 59), Jay Turner-Cooke, Michael Ndiweni (Josh Donaldson 81), Lewis Miley, Kyle Crossley.

Subs not used: Piotr Banda, Lucas Cooper.