Newcastle Youngsters Advance To Hong Kong Soccer Sevens QF

Newcastle United's squad took a step toward retaining their Hong Kong Sevens crown, winning their first three matches and advancing to the Quarter Finals as group winners. The first three matches have seen two braces from Sammy Ameobi and three clean sheets from Jak Alnwick on the way to a 9-0 aggregate scoreline.

Match 1 (HKFC Captain's Select):

Based upon a somewhat bare bones match report (maybe it's about accurate in length for a match that totals 14 minutes), it seems that Sammy Ameobi was easy choice for man of the match. The starting lineup looked something like: Alnwick | Tavernier, Dummett, Richardson | Newton, Inman | Sa. Ameobi although all 10 players saw time in the match for Willie Donachie and Peter Beardsley.

Match 2 (Southern District):

Goals from Bradden Inman, Sammy Ameobi (two more) and Michael Richardson (two) gave Newcastle a comprehensive victory in their second match. With 4 of the goals scored in the first 7-minute half, Newcastle largely coasted for the second half. Their second victory assured that they would advance to the QF round regardless the result of their third match, it would just be a question of if they advanced as group winners or as runners-up. (match report)

Match 3 (Leicester City):

Sammy Ameobi took a break from the score sheet as Bradden Inman got his second of the competition and James Tavernier bagged his first to lead Newcastle to a 2-0 win and a place in the QF round as group winners. One more goal would have seen Leicester beaten to the QFs by HKFC Captain's Select, but Newcastle were stopped at only the two in what club reporter Dan King described as a physical encounter. (match report)

Newcastle will next face Hong Kong side Citizen on Sunday.