Newcastle U21s Win First Match in CheckaTrade Trophy

The Newcastle U21s took the field to face off against League 2 Crewe Alexandra in Group D of the CheckaTrade Trophy on the road Tuesday evening.

This was Newcastle’s first appearance in the CheckaTrade Trophy which is a knockout tournament that pits all clubs in League One and League Two, as well as 16 Premier League and Championship Category One status Academies.

The U21s started their campaign off right with a 2-1 win over Crewe.

Liam Smith who was a former loanee for Crewe Alexandra opened up the scoring with a goal in the 4th minute to set the tone. It was an important goal for him as he spoke prior to the match about how nice it would be to score against his former club.

After the lead, chances from both teams amounted. Crewe hit a shot wide, and Dan Barlaser came close on a chance as well. At the half, it was 1-0.

In the second half, it was Luke Charman that came up big for Newcastle with a tap in from a good cross by Mo Sangare. That gave United a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute.

It looked as if Newcastle would hold a shutout, however with three minutes left, Crewe were able to make it a nervous ending with a goal by Jordan Bowery.

Newcastle gets the early lead in group D with a win. After match one, Newcastle are in first place with 3 points. The top two teams in each group advances to the knockout stages.

The U21s next match is on October 3rd on the road against 2nd place in the group, Port Vale.

CheckaTrade Trophy HERE

Head Coach Peter Beardsley had this to say about the match,

“Crewe had seven of their starting line-up from the weekend playing tonight, so overall, its a very good performance and a very good result.”

Newcastle

Team: Paul Woolston, Jamie Sterry, Curtis Good, Kyle Cameron, Macaulay Gillesphey, Jack Hunter, Dan Barlaser, Callum Roberts, Liam Smith, Victor Fernandez, Luke Charman

Subs Used: Callum Smith (46’), Mo Sangare (67’), Stefan O’Connor (72’)

Goals: Liam Smith (4’), Luke Charman (67’)

Crewe Alexandra

Team: Garratt, Bakayogo, Walker, Bowery, Cooper, Nolan, Lowery, Pickering, Ainley, Kirk, Sass-Davies

Subs Used: Wintle, Dale, Reilly

Goals: Bowery (87’)