33 mins Joe White shot at the Leazes End 1-0

Half time: Magpies 1 SMBs 0

90+4 mins Bass handball. 1-1

Full time: Magpies 1 SMBs 1

Elliott Dickman reflected:

On the questionable equaliser:

"Looking back on the footage, the keeper wins the header. First of all I was disappointed he managed to get a free header albeit they've got extra players in the box because we're down to 10 men.

"It hits the post and comes back. I'm not too sure the ball will go in if he doesn't do what he does. It's not clear cut but it does look like he's used his arm.

"I'm a little disappointed the goal has been given but that's how football is sometimes. You get them in your favour and sometimes you don't. In my opinion, from what I've seen, we feel a little hard done by.

On the Turner-Cooke dismissal:

"The main thing is he's got to learn to handle his emotions and he's got to be really disciplined. I don't know what Jay did, I haven't seen that, but what I do know, looking onto the pitch, the goalkeeper kicked out at Joe White, who went down and then there was a coming together.

"My main concern was why is a goalkeeper kicking out at Joe White? The other thing I'm quite baffled at is that the goalkeeper got booked but I don't know why he got booked if the referee gave a free-kick to sunderland.

"It was a bit strange but from my point of view, Joe White went down, their goalkeeper kicked him and then there was a coming together. I need to look at it properly to see what Jay has done.

"The big thing for Jay is that his first booking is preventable if he's in the right position. It's understanding that he needs to make sure when we don't have the ball, whatever his recovery sprint is, he's got to make sure he's ready and in the right place to make sure that doesn't happen and he doesn't get booked.

"When you're playing 11 against 10 you're always going to try and have that momentum when you're chasing a goal and I think that's what they did.

"I thought we were fine to a point. There are a few things we could have done a little better, maybe engage the ball a little bit higher and quicker, but I did feel at a point we were going to see the game out and come away with all three points.”

Newcastle U21s extended their unbeaten run in PL2 to six games in front of 2,500 fans at SJP on Monday night, but had to settle for a point after conceding a dubious equaliser in second half added time.

Leading through a first half shot from Joe White, United were reduced to ten men when former mackem Jay Turner-Cooke saw red in the 79th minute.

The visitors then snatched a point in the fourth minute of time added on; goalkeeper Alex Bass coming up for a corner kick and deflecting his own header into the home net via a hand after it rebounded off the goal frame.

Referee Aaron Bannister ignored protests from Newcastle players and the game restarted, Bass the centre of attention again when turning Michael Ndiweni's shot around the post seconds before the final whistle.

The black and whites created most of the chances in a low-key first half, Isaac Westendorf, White and Josh Scott all putting their shots wide of the target.

That changed in the 33rd minute when White took a short corner at the Leazes End, Dylan Stephenson back-heeling the ball into his path and White firing in his third goal in as many games through the legs of Bass.

Shading the second period without applying sustained pressure, both White and Stephenson came close with efforts from distance - Bass tipping over a dipping shot from the latter on the hour.

The nature of the contest changed with 11 minutes of normal time remaining, after Bass collided with White in the six yard box and the Newcastle man went to ground.

Turner-Cooke promptly bundled Bass over as players from both sides got involved and the referee and a linesman intervened to separate the warring factions.

Both Bass and Turner-Cooke were booked, the Newcastle man then seeing red as a result of a first half yellow card.

Elliott Dickman's side then attempted to stonewall for a point and looked to have ridden their luck when Ben Compton headed against a post on 88 minutes.

Then came two corners in added time; over-age player Bass going upfield for both and making his ill-gotten gain following the second flag kick. The scorer later admitted that he expected his effort to be disallowed for handball.

While there's frustration at the manner of the late leveller, the dismissal of Turner-Cooke was as needless as the innocuous incident involving White that preceded it.

Before that when it was eleven against eleven, Newcastle too often looked ponderous in attack, wasting possession in dangerous areas despite some dazzling footwork from White.

Given all of that, a point was probably a fair return.

Biffa