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Coach accuses young Newcastle stars of ‘throwing the towel in’ after conceding 8 goals

8 years ago
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Newcastle’s young stars have been given a wake up call by coach Dave Watson.

The Newcastle Under 18s’ are accused of ‘throwing the towel in’ after conceding six goals in the final 27 minutes of their match on Saturday.

Everton were one up after only eight minutes, with Newcastle a man down after having a player sent off.

The scousers are currently second top of the Northern Division of the Premier League Under 18s league whilst Newcastle are ninth of twelve – Manchester United bizarrely rock bottom with only 11 points from 19 games.

Everton didn’t score their second on Saturday until just before half-time against 10 man United, but when the third went in on 63 minutes, Dave Watson’s team collapsed.

They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so hopefully Newcastle’s young stars of the future aren’t too shellshocked when they next step out onto the pitch against league leaders Manchester City at home next Saturday.

The 8-0 drubbing of course came only three days after the first team had their own embarrassing performance against Everton.

Newcastle United Under 18s 0 Everton Under 18s 8

Newcastle United: Smith, Todd, Gibson (Aziakonou 75), Donaghey, Pollock, Bailey, Spooner (Long 84), Allan, Aplin, Owusu, Lowther (Kitchen 46).

Newcastle United Under 18s Coach Dave Watson speaking to the official club website:

“It was always going to be a hard game for us given Everton’s place in the table.

“We had a few under-16s playing as well, so it was a big task for us to get something from the game even with 11 men on the field. To lose someone through a sending-off just makes the job twice as hard.

“It was one of those challenges where the lad is through on goal so bringing him down makes the referee’s decision for him. And it obviously changed the game, especially when they punished us straight away from the free-kick.

“But the lads were very good for the majority of the first half, Everton only got their second goal after 44 minutes and they found it hard to break us down for long periods.

“We started okay in the second half but after we went three goals down, then four, I was looking for strong characters in the team to pull us through.

“At that point it was just damage limitation but I didn’t see any characters today, which is really disappointing from a managing perspective, and that’s why it started to get embarrassing toward the end.

“Too many players were feeling sorry for themselves and threw in the towel to an extent which you don’t want to see at any level of the game.

“Sometimes when you get beat, especially by a high scoreline, you can learn a lot more and it can give you that kick and motivation that you need at this level.

“And it doesn’t get any easier for us (v Manchester City who are top) but hopefully next week we’ll have 11 players on the pitch and be able to give a better account of ourselves then.”

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