Not Bad, Brad

By Dan King

After helping Newcastle Reserves into the final of the Sage Northumberland FA Senior Cup, Brad Inman revealed his aim was to catch the eye of Magpies boss Alan Pardew in the St. James' Park showpiece.

United beat Ashington 2-0 on Wednesday night and Inman, 19, scored the crucial opening goal to break the deadlock and earn Newcastle the right to play Blyth Spartans in the trophy decider on a date to be confirmed.

The Australia-born midfielder admitted he was beginning to wonder if a goal would come for him after Colliers keeper Karl Dryden denied him on a handful of occasions in the first half, but he gained his reward for a lively display on 52 minutes after driving home from Michael Richardson's pass.

Inman told nufc.co.uk: "We knew we had a great chance against Ashington, but it was a matter of getting that first goal. When the first one came, the second was always going to come.

"In the end we could have got more, because we created more chances and we could have easily won four or five nil.

"I thought it might not be my day after the first half, but it was a great chance by Michy and I couldn't really miss."

Now Inman, who was an unused substitute for the first-team at Manchester City in January 2009, is hoping to force his way into the senior fold as well as helping Newcastle win the competition for the 32nd time.

"It would be a good tournament to win and it's great, because the final's at St. James' Park," he said. "You're playing in front of the manager, too, which is another incentive.

"I just hope to impress him for next season and push on. That's another reason why it was good to score tonight - I don't know if he was here tonight but if you score goals, you get noticed by more people, so it was a good night for me and the team."