Newcastle United Women’s head coach reflects on “lucky” late draw

Newcastle United Women’s head coach Becky Langley had to dig deep and make a few tactical tweaks as she praised her side’s performance in a league of ‘fine margins’.

“We’re lucky we pinched that goal in the last minute today,” Langley said reflecting on a 99th minute equaliser from Deanna Cooper which cancelled out Southampton forward Freya Gregory’s early effort.

“You’ve got to keep concentration. That’s the biggest thing I can say about going up the leagues.”

Newcastle could be happy with a point gained, rather than looking at two points lost, as they rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat with a goal at the death. It saved the Lasses’ unbeaten record at St James’ Park in the seven games they’ve played at the ground.

The club had hoped to beat the record attendance for the Championship, set by Sunderland at the Wear-Tyne derby earlier this season. However, a crowd of 11,620 was short of the 15,000 plus that attended the Stadium of Light to see Newcastle win 2-1.

Nevertheless, Langley said the crowd was ‘such a big part’ of what the club are looking to build.

“We want to inspire the next generation,” she said. “To see the crowd again come out in numbers is so important.

“I know it was a bit of a smaller crowd than what we’ve had previously, but it was so noisy especially that last ten minutes of the game, you could really hear the crowd behind the girls.

“I’m super proud and super pleased about everyone that came out and watched.”

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Second-half tactical changes were necessary to counter the strengths of Southampton in the opening 45 minutes, with the Magpies setting up in a 3-5-2 formation for the final 45 minutes of the game.

“We felt more threatening with two up top and I thought that we switched the play better with a back three.”

It’s a challenge that Langley has had to deal with – moving up the leagues so quickly has meant that she has had to adapt as much as her squad has. Back-to-back promotions from the fourth tier to the second has not come as a shock though, the club has sky-high ambitions of WSL football.

“I’ve grown massively on and off the pitch over the last six seasons,” Langley admitted.

“The emotional investment in the team [from the owners] has helped a lot. I’m still a sore loser, but I’m more calculated in my approach, I’m more level-headed. But I’m still as competitive as ever.

“I’m on this journey and I’m not finished making memories yet.

“It’s my ambition to take this club to the WSL.”