Reds hold advantage

Liverpool’s youngsters moved a step closer to booking their place in the Final of this year’s Youth Cup as they came away from St James’ Park with a fine 4-2 win.

Played in front of a crowd of just over 5,000 people, the Reds took the lead in the 24th minute thanks to a 30-yard strike from Charlie Barnett which gave Mark Cook in the home goal no chance.

They doubled the lead 12 minutes later when Craig Lindfield cracked in a low shot that found its way into the bottom corner.

Newcastle came close to getting on the scoresheet before half-time when Mark Bertram saw his shot cleared off the line, leaving the visitors two goals to the good at the break.

Shortly into the second half, Ryan Donaldson looked to have brought Newcastle back into the tie, but his shot rolled agonisingly past the post. That miss was compounded on the hour mark when Ryan Flynn extended Liverpool’s lead, forcing the ball home from close-range and seemingly killing off the tie.

However, the Magpies didn’t give up and Andy Carroll headed home Mark Doninger’s free-kick on 63 minutes to give the home support something to shout about.

Flynn, though, then struck again, latching on to a misplaced back-pass to make it four and send the Reds strolling comfortably towards the Final.

Still gutsy Newcastle persevered and managed to pull back a second goal when another Doninger free-kick was turned in, this time by Jimmy Ryan, who inadvertently put the ball into the back of his own net and gave the north-easterners hope for the second leg on 19 March.

Newcastle manager Joe Joyce said: "In the first half-hour, especially, we didn’t get close to them. Perhaps we showed them too much respect.

"When we did get the ball, we gave it away too easily. But certain individuals did very well for us overall and Andy Carroll was the most effective player on the field.

"We needed to press Liverpool more and get the ball into the final third and we did that in the second half relatively successfully. Now, as a team, we’ve got to look positively at the way we finished the game - but we need to iron out the defensive errors.

"It would have been easy for the lads to collapse after the third Liverpool goal, but we were on the front foot at that time and we kept going forward."

Looking ahead to the second leg at Anfield on 19 March, Joyce added: "The first goal on the night is going to be crucial. If we get that first one, then anything can happen – but Liverpool are certainly favourites now."

The winners of this tie will face either Arsenal or Manchester United who play their first leg tie at the Emirates on 14 March.

Tickets for the game are on sale now for just £1 for concessions and £3 for adults, or £5 and £10 on the night.

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