Portsmouth spirit impresses Newcastle United coach in FA Youth Cup tie
Portsmouth Under-18s suffered a 5-2 defeat against Newcastle United in an FA Youth Cup tie on Tuesday night.
Portsmouth Under-18s have been praised for the attitude and spirit they showed during their FA Youth Cup third round defeat against Newcastle United.
The Pompey prospects were always likely to be up against it during a testing tie in the North East - and their bid to cause an upset was dealt a double blow inside the opening seven minutes of the tie as Magpies winger Michael Mills scored twice to put the hosts in control at Whitley Park.
Tayo Singerr reduced the arrears just before the midway point of the first half as the highly-rated striker produced a cool finish beyond England Under-17 international goalkeeper George Mair. However, that was as good as it got for Sam Hudson’s side as a well-taken hat-trick from Matheos Ferreira took the hosts out of sight and ensured an injury-time goal from Pompey substitute Brandon Downey was a mere consolation for his side.
The scoreline may appear to show a major gulf in the performance of both sides on a bitterly cold night on Tyneside - but Pompey had their moments during a particularly impressive first-half display that brought chances for Jermaine Osifo, Michael Ani and Beau Mullins. Even after the game had moved away from them by Ferreira’s hat-trick heroics, Hudson’s men continued to work hard and pressed their hosts at every opportunity - and their endeavour drew praise from Newcastle academy coach Chris Moore.
Speaking after his side set up a fourth round home tie with Crystal Palace, he told The News: “Portsmouth never stopped. We knew they’d be a tough team and at two-nil so early on, some teams would have folded - but they scored and they made the game really competitive right until the very end as well. I thought they had some really dangerous players, they stepped up on the night and it took some really good moments from us to get the win.”
Newcastle United U18s: Mair, Patterson, Durrant (Goodbrand), Johnson, Moran, Finneran (Taylor), Ferreira, Alabi (Miley), Wooster, O’Donovan (Pinnginton), Mills (Seldon) Subs: Dowell, Hutchison
Portsmouth U18s: Glover, Ani, Sizer, Buckland (Wilson), Mullins, Thomas (Bailey), Martin, Agu (Hammond), Chioma (Korsah), Singerr, Osifo (Downey) Subs: Allen, Wilson, Tregunna
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