U23 MATCH REPORT: Young guns lose out in derby fixture

Sunderland U23 0-2 Newcastle United U23

Sunderland under-23s lost 2-0 at the hands of Newcastle in the Premier League 2 at Eppleton CW on Monday. 

Goals from Luke Charman and Victor Fernandez either side of half-time were enough to see off ten-man Sunderland, after Brandon Taylor was shown a straight red card 24 minutes in. 

Elliot Dickman was boosted by the inclusion of Benji Kimpioka and Cieran Dunne, who were available for the mini Wear-Tyne derby after serving three-match suspensions.

With just five minutes on the clock the visitors won a penalty; Fernandez wriggled his way into the box and was tripped by Bali Mumba. 

Charman stepped up and emphatically smashed the ball down the middle from 12-yards. 

The lads were inches away from equalising just five minutes later when Dan Neil whipped in a dangerous free kick, but Brandon Taylor couldn’t quite connect at the back post.

Sunderland were reduced to ten men midway through the first half, when Taylor was adjudged to have handled the ball by referee James Bell, denying a goal-scoring opportunity. 

It almost went from bad to worse for the lads five minutes before half time, but Ludwig Francillette’s towering header from a corner dropped inches wide of the post. 

The Magpies raced out of the stalls in the second period as they looked to make their extra man advantage count. 

Charman almost grabbed his second immediately after the break, the striker worked the ball onto his right foot, but Anthony Patterson was on hand to expertly tip the ball round the post. 

And then skipper Jack Bainbridge produced a heroic goal line clearance from Tom Allan’s effort to keep the deficit to one. 

But Newcastle’s sustained spell of pressure soon paid off, when Fernandez latched onto a loose ball inside the penalty area and smashed into the roof of the net.

The goal would prove to nullify any Sunderland resurgence, as the lads tasted defeat for the first time this month.

Sunderland U23: Anthony Patterson, Bali Mumba, Kane Evans, Dan Neil, Brandon Taylor, Jack Bainbridge ©, Cieran Dunne, Ruben Sammut, Benji Kimpioka, Lee Connelly, Williams Kokolo

Subs: Jack Connolly, Ahmed Abdelkader, Nathan Greenwood, Andrias Edmundsson, Owen Gamble

Newcastle United U23: Dan Langley, Lewis Cass ©, Oliver Walters, Jamie Sterry, Oisin Mcentee, Ludwig Francillette, Thomas Allan, Jack Young, Luke Charman, Mo Sangare, Victor Fernandez

Subs: Kyle Scott, Jake Turner, Joe White, Elliot Anderson, Josh Scott