Mark Gillespie was Newcastle United’s hero against Tottenham Hotspur, handing the Magpies victory in the prestigious post-season friendly in Australia.
The not so thrilling contest went to penalties, where Newcastle United triumphed. All five of the Toon players converted their spot kicks, including Garang Kuol, who was making his first appearance for the club.
But the penalty shootout was all about Mark Gillespie, who smartly saved Bryan Gil’s effort from 12 yards to set Newcastle on their way to victory.
After Newcastle won, Dan Burn celebrated wildly with Gillespie as if it was the FA Cup final. But that is actually on Saturday, with Toon fans eager to see if Manchester City can hand them a route into the Europa Conference League.
Mark Gillespie reacts to Newcastle’s win over Tottenham
Before then, Newcastle have another game in Australia. They face the A-League All Stars on Friday, with Eddie Howe expected to make a lot of changes to his side.
The Toon boss has confirmed that Gillespie will be involved, and the 32-year-old might even get the chance to captain the side again. He got that opportunity in Melbourne on Wednesday, with Gillespie the only experienced player on the pitch by the time he was brought on to replace Nick Pope.
While it was just a friendly, captaining your boyhood club must be an incredible moment, and now Gillespie has reflected on what happened at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Following the win down under, Gillespie took to Instagram to provide his reaction. Alongside a picture of him wearing the captain’s armband, he wrote: “Canny cameo at the MCG! Amazing to see all the support here in Melbourne for the Mags.”
His post prompted numerous replies from his Toon teammates, with most of them commenting on him wearing the armband.
Bruno Guimaraes wrote: “Capitao.”
Anthony Gordon and Joe Willock both commented “Skipper.”
Jacob Murphy added: “Skipper. Proud of you bro.”
Bruno Guimaraes also got the chance to captain Newcastle
Gillespie was not the only Newcastle United player who got a rare opportunity to captain the side.
Bruno Guimaraes also got the chance to don the armband during the second half, and it certainly looked good on him. The 26-year-old always leads by example in the way that he plays, doing whatever he can to help the club.
The midfielder has enjoyed a spectacular season in black and white, and it is interesting to see it end as Newcastle’s captain. It does not look like Bruno will be involved in Friday’s game against the A-League All Stars, with Eddie Howe stating that his international players would be leaving the group.
Bruno has a big summer ahead of him, as he goes in search of Copa America glory with Brazil.
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