WANDERERS under-18s went into their festive break off the back of a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Saturday.

David Lee's side had been confident ahead of their return to FA U18 Premier League North Group action following their FA Youth Cup victory at Portsmouth in midweek.

But a failure to take their chances cost them dear as their winless league run stretched to 11 matches.

After a sluggish start from the hosts, the Magpies took on 20 minutes when forward Jamie Holmes back-heeled home from close-range after latching on to full-back Jamie Cobain's right-wing cross.

Wanderers were brighter after the interval but could not make the most of their opportunities to find a leveller.

And that disappointed coach Lee who said: "We didn't expose Newcastle to enough pressure in the first half, allowing them too much time and space.

"Our attacks were few, with only a couple of half-chances and we conceded a goal after 20 minutes, when Newcastle scrambled the ball over the line.

"Our second-half performance was much better, with intensity and purpose in phases of play.

"Chances kept coming, with attempts from several players only to be denied by a combination of poor finishing and lady luck being against us.

"We continued to pressurise Newcastle right up to the final whistle but it was one of those days where we could have played all day and still not scored.

"It was a great learning curve for the players after such a good FA Youth Cup win.

"They need to produce the same level of performance on a regular basis."

In contrast to Lee's mood, Newcastle U18s boss Dave Watson was pleased with the away win.

He said: "We should really have had a more convincing win than we came away with in the end as we played really well, and created a lot of chances to score.

"The goal was a really good move – we had a cross put in from the right-hand side and Jamie was in the right place at the right time."

Wanderers U18s are back in action on Saturday, January 10 when they travel to Stoke, kick off 11am.