Emotions will run high for former Newcastle United academy striker Lewis McNall when he faces his old club in the Northumberland Senior Cup Final on Thursday night. The 23-year-old has helped Blyth Spartans reach the final for the first time since 2017 and they will look to round off a challenging season with silverware against the young Magpies.
After being a prolific scorer in the Magpies academy, McNall saw his hopes of making the step-up into senior football hampered by a series of serious injuries. After being released in 2018, the striker went on trial with Gateshead before joining Northern League club Whickham to regain full fitness before stepping up into the National League North with Blyth Spartans last summer.
His first season at Croft Park has been productive, with McNall scoring six goals to help Spartans maintain their status in the second tier of the non-league game. But now he is fully focused on lifting the Senior Cup and racking up a win against his boyhood club and replicating some memorable St James Park moments from earlier in his career.
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He told Chronicle Live: “It was a happy time playing for Newcastle and wearing the black and white. I’m a Newcastle fan, I loved every moment, even the difficult times with the injuries.
“There are some great people at the academy and I don’t hold any grudges about how things played out in the end. Running out at St James will be emotional.
“I had some good moments on the pitch, scoring against Swansea City and Spurs in the FA Youth Cup in the year we reached the quarter-final. I’d like to score again because it’s just an honour to play on that pitch - but even if I don’t score, seeing Spartans win is all that matters.”
Despite only confirming their place in next season’s National League North last weekend, Spartans have hit one of their best patches of form in time for their meeting with the Magpies.
McNall netted the only goal of Monday’s 1-0 home win against Curzon Ashton means a 3-0 defeat at North East rivals Spennymoor Town is the only black spot on their record over the last seven games. McNall has taken confidence from that upturn in form and is hopeful his side can extend it further by upsetting the odds on Thursday night.
“It’s our best run of form all season and it’s not as if we are blowing teams away to be honest,” he explained.
“We are just defending really well and we have done that in two or three really tough away games. That has allowed us to nick a goal and get the wins we needed to maintain our status.
“It’s disappointing to only be surviving because we started the season really well. But we have also ended it well and now we want to give the supporters something to celebrate."
