Hat-trick hero Neave reflects on Boston victory | OneFootball

The young Magpies netted three times in the opening 45 minutes at the Jakemans Community Stadium courtesy of Neave's treble, with the 18-year-old striker opening the scoring from the penalty spot before completing his hat-trick with two composed finishes before the break.

Boston pulled a goal back shortly after the restart through Frankie Maguire's strike but it proved a mere consolation as Newcastle's youngsters continued their 100 per cent winning start in the competition following August's 4-3 comeback win against Gateshead.

Neave, who signed his first professional contract with his boyhood club in the summer of 2024, told newcastleunited.com: "It was a top performance from the team. We knew it would be a tough game coming into it. Last year, we came here and got beat so it means a lot to the team to be able to come here and win this time, especially getting a hat-trick.

"I went a few games without scoring which was affected me a little bit but when I scored the penalty, I was getting my confidence back and it was good to score three goals.

"I never change my mind with a penalty! For the second goal, I made a good run through the middle and showed composure to dummy the defender and score across the keeper and then, for the third goal, it was another good run through the middle and showed composure when one-on-one with the goalkeeper."

The Winlaton-born forward, named on the bench for United's Carabao Cup final victory against Liverpool in March, has netted seven times in his opening eight games at under-21 level, including six times in his last five away matches.

After making his first-team bow for Eddie Howe's side during a pre-season friendly against Celtic FC in July, Neave is hopeful of adding to his goalscoring tally during the 2024/25 campaign and help his side qualify for the National League Cup quarter-finals for a second successive season.

The highly-rated teenager, a representative of England at under-18 level, added: "I've been proud of my start to the season. I went through a few games in a bad patch but I feel that now I've scored the hat-trick, it can push me on further and I can keep the goalscoring run going.

"We came here tonight expecting to win but also knowing it would be a tough game so beating Boston is a good result and, hopefully against Scunthorpe and Halifax, we can get a result against them to top the group and get through to the next round."