Man Utd 18s unable to make possession count in Newcastle loss ahead of cup final

Manchester United U18s had plenty of possession but came back down to earth with defeat at Newcastle after their Liverpool win.

The United youngsters still have plenty to look forward to this season with a final game against Stoke and then of course the FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City.

But away at Newcastle today in the U18 Premier League North, first-half goals for Newcastle from Rory Finneran and Casey Wooster proved the difference.

The Reds, who beat Newcastle 3-0 at Carrington in December, came into the game against the third-placed hosts on the back of a 4-1 victory over Liverpool at Carrington on Wednesday.

Newcastle began brightly as Henry Johnson headed over inside the six-yard box from a corner, before Alfie Seldon’s left-footed strike from the angle flashed over the crossbar in the opening three minutes.

And the hosts took the lead in the 11th minute through Finneran, who brought the ball down from a United clearance and drilled a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner from 20 yards.

Darren Fletcher's side started to enjoy more possession and had to be patient as Newcastle made life difficult all over the pitch.

The first real attempt came midway through the half as Jariyah Shah’s 20-yard shot was blocked by Jayden Koussou.

The task got harder for United when Yuel Helafu was robbed of the ball and Newcastle’s top scorer Wooster advanced forward to find the same corner as Finneran’s goal with another low effort to double Newcastle’s lead in the 27th minute.

The Reds applied a strong spell of pressure just before the break but went into the dressing room with work to do.

As United made a positive start after the interval, James Overy took aim with a low shot through a crowded penalty area, which brought a save from Newcastle goalkeeper Roman Dowell.

Less than a minute later, Newcastle had the ball in the net again as Michael Mills hooked home after Seldon’s cross was headed away, but this time it was ruled out for offside.

At the other end, Samuel Lusale did superbly to get the better of Luke Gilligan down the right flank before Helafu laid the ball into the path of Shah, whose first-time effort was kept out by Dowell.

Fletcher made a triple change to freshen things up for United as Noah Ajayi, Douka Nkoto and Dante Plunkett entered the action in place of Helafu, captain Amir Ibragimov and Nathaniel-Junior Brown.

Ajayi looked to affect the play immediately as he drove at Newcastle captain Johnson and looked to have been fouled on the 18-yard line but referee Thomas Lishman waved away his appeals.

Newcastle went close again through substitute Muawiya Ghanem, whose curling effort was inches wide of Cameron Byrne-Hughes’s left-hand post.

Shah dug out a right-footed effort, while slightly off balance, which drifted harmlessly off target and Lusale’s header from Overy’s cross was straight at Dowell as the Reds kept pushing.

However, despite having more of the ball throughout, United could not get on the scoresheet for only the third time this season and left the north east empty-handed.