6 mins Dom Ballard shot. 0-1

13 mins Garang Kuol shot. 1-1

(29 mins Derrick Abu sent off - straight red)

42 mins Moses Sesay shot. 1-2

Half time: Southampton U21s 2 Newcastle U21s 1

79 mins Sam Amo-Ameyaw shot. 1-3

86 mins Josh Donaldson shot. 2-3

90 mins Princewill Ehibhatiomhan shot. 2-4

Full time: Southampton U21s 4 Newcastle U21s 2

There was a first U21 start for goalkeeper James Taylor, while Jamie Miley featured following the end of his loan spell at League Two Newport County. Scott Bailey and Garang Kuol both made PL2 debuts while Fraser Harper came off the bench for his bow at that level.

Were Southampton's fourth goalscorer to end up wearing black and white, his thirteen letter surname
would match that of Zurab Khizanishvili and Keith Kettleborough as the longest in our history....

Newcastle U21s lost their first Premier League 2 game of 2025 on Friday afternoon, beaten by Southampton at Staplewood despite the home side playing with ten men for over an hour.

The postponement of last week's PL2 meeting with Boro meant that it was a month since the Magpies had last played competitively before today, defeating Chelsea 3-2.

United lined up with a completely different side from that game due to a mixture of senior call-ups and selections for the previous night's FA Youth Cup tie. Two of that XI also made loan departures this week; Charlie McArthur to Carlisle United and Travis Hernes to Danes Aalborg.

The Saints had restarted their season a week earlier with a 5-0 home win over Fulham which featured a hat-trick from Dom Ballard. And the striker continued his scoring form, taking just six minutes to beat debutant goalkeeper James Taylor from close range following a corner kick.

Diarmuid O'Carroll's Magpies were level seven minutes later however, when Garang Kuol hit his first goal for the club - taking Alfie Harrison's pass and showing some nimble footwork to evade two challenges before firing home from 12 yards out.

Southampton were then reduced to ten men just before the half hour mark when Derrick Abu was shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

However the depleted Saints then regained the lead three minutes before the interval when Moses Sesay shot home from close range.

The hosts looked to have confirmed victory when Sam Amo-Ameyaw put his side 3-1 up on 79 minutes, only for Josh Donaldson's 86th minute effort to give United a route back into the game.

The next goal crucially went to Southampton however, substitute Princewill Ehibhatiomhan on target in the closing seconds of the game - giving James Taylor an unwanted quartet.....