The young Magpies took the lead before the half-hour mark at Heritage Park courtesy of Sean Neave's penalty before Ben Parkinson marked his return from injury by doubling United's lead within two minutes of his introduction from the bench at the restart.

O'Carroll was pleased with the contributions of both goalscorers, with Neave involved at the Magpies' first-team training base in recent weeks and Parkinson netting his 12th goal of the 2024/25 campaign at second-string level despite being sidelined since January with an "innocuous" foot injury.

The Irish coach, who joined Newcastle from Scottish Premiership side St Mirren in September 2024, told newcastleunited.com: "Sean has skipped out the under-21s which a lot of the players, when they're destined for things, do and that's been brilliant. The lines of communication up and down have been great, being up (at the first-team training ground) myself to watch some sessions and I had a good chat with the staff.

"Everything is specific to where we feel, from our experiences with him, Sean can develop and they can see different stuff as well. I've seen a real progression in him in terms of maturity, professionalism and standards which the first-team demand and, hopefully, it rubs off on the Academy as well.

"There was 60 minutes in the bank for the two of the boys who've been up with the first-team (Neave and Leo Shahar) tonight and they both looked sharp which was really positive. All the reports coming back from the first-team have been really good so it's an incentive for all the rest to be in that position.

"It shows what we're all about as a club that they are up there training, getting that level of expertise and exposure before coming back to play with us.

"Ben had such a frustrating time. He was building, like Jay (Turner-Cooke), towards January to go out on loan and further their experience but got injured on New Years' Day.

"He was ready for that, to play at a good level but it was innocuous what he got injured with and the fact it took him ten weeks to get back is a frustration but we're hoping he can now have a positive finish to the season."

Newcastle's youngsters recorded their first clean sheet since November, with Magpies goalkeeper Aidan Harris also marking his return from injury with a solid performance in-between the sticks, accompanied with the backline of Leo Shahar, centre-back duo Cathal Heffernan and Ciaran Thompson as well as Dylan Charlton.

O'Carroll added: "It was brilliant for Aidan to come back with a clean sheet after a frustrating few weeks with his injury. It's good to see him back in and we think a lot of him. The back four, collectively, were brilliant and fair play to them.

"We've been conceding goals of late but not necessarily due to the defence. Credit to Cathal (Heffernan) and Ciaran (Thompson) who've played the whole way through. Cathal has been one of the standout players along with Garang (Kuol) since the turn of the year and Ciaran has been very good alongside him.

"It's what they deserve because their performances have been very good. They've probably been frustrated, at times, with the goals we've conceded but it shows when you've got a solid base of any level of the game, you've got something to build on."

With three league fixtures remaining, Newcastle's youngsters now occupy 11th place in the 26-team division, with the top 12 qualifying for next season's Premier League International Cup.

While the development of young players remains at the forefront of academies, O'Carroll is keen to instil a winning mentality into his side as the young Magpies, who face Heaton Stannington in the Northumberland Senior Cup semi-finals on Tuesday night, approach the closing stages of the season.

"I've been big on the lads trying to win games," he explained. You need to teach the young players that winning does matter. It's not the be-all and end all, we want to play good football and develop them but teaching them to hate losing.

"We're at a club where we are pushing the standards in everything we can do. We want to be in the play-offs and the Premier League International Cup next year, pushing for the top ten and higher.

"That's what the expectation is from myself and the staff. We've got so much younger as a group, one of the youngest in the league, which is fantastic and as we go next season, we'll get even younger again."