Newcastle 0-8 A-League All Stars - Young Mags embarrassed in Melbourne battering

It was a brutal night in Australia for a Newcastle side full of teenagers as they lost 8-0 to the A-League All Stars at the 53,000 Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

A really tough one to take for our young lads - I feel for them and the Aussie Mags in attendance - but I'm not sure you can blame Howe too much for resting so many senior players who started against Spurs just days after a gruelling season and 22-hour flight.

The boss promised to field youngsters before the game and he did exactly that. Aside from Mark Gillespie, who captained the team between the sticks, we saw the likes of Harrison Ashby, Alex Murphy, Joe White and Garang Kuol, with Kieran Trippier, Lewis Hall and Elliot Anderson the only senior players on the bench; not that any of them featured.

Bruno Guimaraes and Miguel Almiron had left for Copa America, Joelinton has returned to his homeland ahead of his wedding, while Alexander Isak and Emil Krafth left the camp early ahead of Sweden friendlies.

In hindsight, the young lads could've done with a few old heads to help them out, especially when the likes of Ritchie and Dummett have barely kicked a ball all season. But it's not clear why they weren't in squad, with Pope, Burn, Barnes, Wilson and J.Murphy also missing out. The trip was always a money-making exercise, but today wasn't a great advert for a club trying to build their brand on that side of the globe.

STARTING XI: Gillespie - Ashby, A Murphy, Thompson, Charlton - White, Turner-Cooke, Hernes - Diallo, Parkinson, Kuol. SUBS: Harris, Trippier, Hall, Anderson, De Bolle, Stanton.

It was quite literally men against boys and it showed. Ben Old gave the All-Stars and early lead after four minutes and, after two decent stops from Gillespie to keep it 1-0, goals two and three followed to give the Aussies, who benefited from some poor defending to move 3-0 up shortly after the half hour mark.

https://twitter.com/aleaguemen/status/1793910029550301575

Garang Kuol missed a big chance to pull one back after some good work from Ben Parkinson, but he blazed over. In the end, his blushes were saved as the offside flag was raised, but it's clear he's low on confidence and must find the right loan move this summer.

Norwegian midfielder Travis Hernes had some nice touches as he attempted to burst from midfield. Alex Murphy and Harrison Ashby were the only two defenders who look remotely comfortable on ball and our front three of Kuol, Parkinson and Diallo were really struggling to get into a game dominated by the A-League side.

Howe made two changes for the second half, seeing Lucas De Bolle and Ellis Stanton replace Jay Turner-Cooke and Ciaran Thompson, and it started with Gillespie rushing way off his line. The All Stars broke clear and fired into an empty net, but the offside flag saved our blushes.

At the other end Diallo almost went past the goalkeeper after bursting in behind, only for a recovering defender to deny the former West Ham talent who looks set to be released this summer.

The Aussies made it 4-0 on the hour mark after more sloppy passing was punished, this time via an edge of the box finish from Stamatelopoulos. Another change then followed, as 17-year-old goalkeeper Aidan Harris replaced Gillespie.

Four then became five as Stamatelopoulo scored again with 15 minutes remaining to make it 5-0, with Harris making a decent stop moments later to deny the hosts a sixth. It was a tough watch and a shame to see our Young Lads torn apart, although we did see moments of class from Hernes, who was our standout performer on a difficult night.

Sadly, it got even worse for the lads as the lively Irankunda - set for a move to Bayern - burst down the right again before setting up Hollman to tap in. 6-0 became seven in the 90th minute as Courtney-Perkins tapped in from a corner before they added an eighth during three minutes of stoppage time.

Thankfully, a few Aussie Mags got their moneys worth after the match, as a few of our absent senior stars shook hands, signed autographs and took pictures with fans in the Newcastle end:

https://twitter.com/NUFC/status/1793952200890146969