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Curtis relieved as United survive Stoke scare
Written by Rory Mitchinson
Curtis Good admitted that Newcastle United Under-23s made life difficult for themselves after almost letting a comfortable advantage slip out of their hands at Stoke City.
The defender opened the scoring just shy of the half-hour mark at Clayton Wood, before the Magpies moved firmly into the ascendancy courtesy of Luke Charman’s strike and a Callum Roberts penalty.
However, quick-fire efforts from Daniel Jarvis and substitute Jake Dunwoody set up a nervy finale in Staffordshire, the Potters throwing caution to the wind in search of a leveller.
But, despite the occasional scare, Peter Beardsley side managed to hold out, making sure of a third successive win in all competitions.
23-year-old Good acknowledged that the young Magpies were given an acid test of their character late on, but praised his teammates for standing firm.
“We made it tough for ourselves, didn’t we? It wasn’t the best second-half performance, but before that I thought the boys were great. It was always going to be tough, but we proved to be resilient. A few years ago, we might have lost that game, so it’s positive in the end,” he told nufc.co.uk.
“Stoke just changed the way they were playing. They played direct, they had a big boy coming on (Jordan Greenidge), and they just put balls into the box. In that situation, we have to try and secure the ball.
“It’s one of those games where you’re on the edge of your box, you’re pinned in and you have to defend. If they hadn’t have got the first one, I think it’s a different game, and we make it easier for ourselves at the end.”
After an injury-ravaged spell, Good has re-established himself in Beardsley’s starting line-up in recent weeks.
His headed strike at Clayton Wood was his second of the week, having notched the Magpies' first in Monday’s 4-2 win over Aston Villa at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle now sit a lofty second in the Premier League 2 Division Two, having leapfrogged both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham following another three-point haul.
And, after an encouraging five-day spell on both a personal and collective level, Good believes that confidence is flowing through the United camp.
“It was good to get my first goal on Monday, and I’ve got the feeling a bit now! It was Callum again with the assist today, and I was happy to get on the end of it,” he said.
“We’re definitely looking to get promoted, and we already have more points than we did last season. We’re confident now, and we’re in it to win it against anyone. It’s a positive season, and I think we’ll be (up) there at the end if we keep on going the way we’re going.”
Pic: Phil Greig, Stoke City FC
“We made it tough for ourselves, didn’t we? It wasn’t the best second-half performance, but before that I thought the boys were great. A few years ago, we might have lost that game, so it’s positive in the end."