6 mins: David Bellion burst into the toon box from the right flank with Quinn loitering nearby but reluctant to get involved. His low angled shot seemed to pass through Collin and into the net at the away end. The same home player had skied an easier chance over the crossbar a minute earlier.

Half time: mackems 1 Newcastle Reserves 0

Tommy Craig's mixture of fringe squad players and young 'uns failed to come away from wearside with anything on Monday night in an absolutely dreadful game played out by two comically rotten teams.

Our sole effort on goal was a tepid Quinn shot just before the break which posed their keeper no danger. Other than that, nowt. 

The frustrating thing was that even a brief cameo of footballing prowess from someone would almost certainly have brought an equaliser for the toon, but they just couldn't be arsed to lift themselves. 

In fairness to our side, a number of them were making the step up from the academy, but the fact they didn't look out of place in the side was due to abject displays from McClen, Bassedas, Quinn and Gavilan.

The mackems fielded what could be deemed a strong side but were equally as culpable in managing to avoid passing the ball or looking vaguely interested in the contest.

What entertainment there was came from the antics of the teenage supporters of both sides who attempted to wind each other up with the usual litany of chants. 

As is usual the stewards and police managed to find fault with the behaviour of a few from each side and they were promptly ejected - the lucky beggars.

PS - one or two emails about some trouble after the outside the ground post-match, with a few punches thrown and the police having to step in to shield Newcastle fans walking back to the metro from coins, bottles and general abuse during which at least one arrest was reportedly made.

Sad to hear, but despite the fact this was a reserve game the open display of Newcastle colours on wearside by some wasn't the cleverest tactic in the world. 

The absence of anything else to do in this ramshackle armpit of the region means that this game was always going to be a magnet for the hard of thinking, and wearing black and white shirts just makes it easier for them to target outsiders.

However, the lack of preparation by the police is a worry, with the metro station apparently un-policed until a squad of them belatedly rushed in after things had calmed down. 

We only have the emails and saw nowt at all except for some teenagers running about the street so can't confirm or deny any of this this. 

However, what has come across in the correspondence received is that some older locals helped chase the youthful wearside troublemakers away from the group of returning mags - something that's worth recording. 

Biffa 

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